Malmö Modern

Hej hooo! A few weeks ago I was in shop heaven when I visited Malmö Modern which sells amazing scandinavian designer items and a few fab international pieces too including a selection from the very wonderful Scottish designer Donna Wilson. The good news is they've just opened an online shop too (sorry...Sweden only). As you'd expect, the owners have a very cool home which I thought I'd share with you.  A cream bun for the person who can spy the most designer items?!!

Marcus and Elisabeth from Malmo Modern. All photography: Vidir Geirsson.

It's a public holiday here today so we're heading off sailing for the day. It's a little choppy but hopefully that'll just add to the fun....! Have a lovely day. x

Changes at out House...

Being so focused on the interior of my home has left our outside a bit less than desirable.  When we moved into our house, we set priorities &  so the poor outside had to wait.  We fell for our house because it has a large, private back yard...  the back of it sort of turns into a mini forest and a stream runs behind our fence. 

I like that the woods in the back feel really natural and a little out of control (wild roses, honey suckle, clematis, black berries & a ton of other things spill out the edges of it into our grass) but I've always imagined that one day it would be a tad more manicured & purposeful...

{See how crazy it gets back there??}

Last year (and the year before) we made a few garden beds around the yard like the one below for dwarf holly (which looks sooooo much like boxwood) and herbs...

  But we never edged them properly and they've gotten a bit out of control... 

{Here's the beginning of our vegetable garden last year...  THAT's how we edge....  It's more like:

me- "Hey Dav, let's make a veggie garden today."  (I've never mentioned this but I actually call my husband "Dav"...  an old college joke where we used to call him "Daveed" and "Dav" stuck)

him- Big sigh... "Okay."

And he starts digging...  But before he can finish, I'm in his way planting stuff and saying, "Forget about the edges... And don't worry about turning up all that dirt.... Yeah, it's fine that it's clay."

SO... as a result, my garden beds are full of weeds and the grass runs right into them.  I sort of have Scarlett O'Hara's "I'll think about that tomorrow" attitude with my yard. 

{Can I tell you how much I love this fabric???!!!!}

BUT we found some great guys through a friend & got a superdeal on having our entire yard edged & mulched.  I AM OVER THE MOON!!!!  They came yesterday and went to town...  They're back today and are working on edges like this:

{not my yard...  image from finegardening.com...   They're still working so I'll post pics as soon as I can}

I am soooooo  excited.  Then...  we were at our friend-neighbor's house borrowing a wheelbarrow for the guys and she mentioned she was planning on getting rid of her kids' swing set now that they're getting older and so they gave it to us!!  My 4 year old is giddy beyond belief. 

...And....  (ok, truly nesting here; I have issues) I think I'm ready to change up our downstairs family room again...  I love the blue that's on the walls but I've always felt that it doesn't really fit with the feeling of our house & surroundings (with the blue walls and some of our accessories, it feels kind of coastal...  I originally had it REALLY coastal with this old painting... 

But it was driving me crazy...  so I switched pillows & accessories to ones with more of the green I crave:

{the room's pretty trashed in this pic...  sorry!}

...But I stole the rug, educational chart & lamp for other areas of the house & now my room's back to blank and blue... 

I'll be a little sad to say goodbye to the blue walls but I think I'm ready for the change.  We're keeping all of our furniture and I'll just rearrange rugs & artwork we already, have but the big change will be painting it white...  I sort of want it to feel more like my boys' playhouse:

I want it to be a more casual version of what we have upstairs & I'm hoping we can buy the paint today.  (I am aware this is nuts to do with our life/ schedule right now...  but I'm okay with that.)  Will be back with pics!!


If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Euro Trash at home..

I don't know about you but I completely fell for this space in the latest issue of House Beautiful.  They mirrors in the stairway are so gorgeous! I wonder if this would work on a curved stairway?  

I might be trying that out.  The entire color palette or lack of is really light and bright, I love it.

This is the home of Annie Brahler from Euro Trash.  I came across their site last week and put it together with some of my favorite images from around the web. 

Funny note.. this is the second time I have seen a LV bag used in the photos of a house.  Love that- mostly because this is the bag I have been sweet on for a while...

 

10 Monday Mix and match

Sometimes renovating my home feels like a complicated puzzle and some pieces simply won't fit. I've been scratching my head over the dining table and chairs for ages. Should they be a set of Eames? Wegner? IKEA? A simple rough wooden bench? And then my friend Sofia came over at the weekend and suggested a complete mix. YEEEESSSS!! It's so much easier to find a vintage bargain of just one piece too. Here's my inspiration.....I can't wait to get started!

I found all of these lovely pictures on Pinterest. And I feel incredibly guilty that just for the next couple of hours I'm going to have to credit them through my 'Fine Dining' board. But as soon as I find a quiet moment (I am at home with my two little girls this morning who are 3 and 1!) I promise to come back and credit each photo. 

See you shortly and Happy Monday!

 

You cannot go wrong with these two, grey cabinetry and tolix stools!  I like the minimalist approach with the shelves and clean lines.  The bevel on the island top is pretty amazing I wonder what material used?  Does anyone know?

I am so glad to find so many wonderful kitchen styles incorporating grey in the design, it makes for some great inspiration as I start to plan my own redo!

image source unknown 

 

Entertaining..

 

Entertaining outside is my favorite with candle light and lighting in the trees.  It is such a fun simple way to extend your home with a long banquet style table and a graphic runner.  

Do you entertain outside?  I would love to hear your secrets to keeping it special and intimate.

image via

 

Southern California Spring Garden Show

 

This week is the Spring Garden show at Crystal Court - South Coast Plaza.  I have not been in several years and had a chance to visit yesterday.  They had a great display at center court from Fiesta Floats of Pasadena.  It was amazing with several large butterfly and giant cone shaped containers filled with flowers.   I have not been to the Rose parade since I was a little girl so seeing the detailing on the pieces was pretty amazing.  It was about 2 stories tall.

 

 

Room and board had a small display- Love this long simple arrangement for the outdoor table.

 

I need to look this up because these were wood pieces that held water.  I want one of these in my new garden.

There was an abundance of miniature garden displays and Japanese Maples were everywhere.

There were several of these succulents- super cool!

We spied a cherry tree near the end, I now need to add this to my list of fruit trees.  I just have to see how well they grow in our area.

The variety of Orchids on display was also pretty amazing.  They are so beautiful, I wish I could figure out how to get them to bloom more than once when they are in my care...

The Garden show runs through the weekend with several events and lectures being held each day.  It was a fun morning visit but I suggest that you arrive early, it was very busy by 10:30 AM.

You can find more information here.

images by christina for greige