Ideas For A Happy Weekend

Hello from Copenhagen, folks! I've been in the Danish capital since Tuesday and will leave tomorrow evening. It is a week full of design and fun with fellow bloggers. But this weekend is reserved to more quite and private moments, a delicious breakfast in Copenhagen and discovering the city with my sweetheart. However, if you want to join us just a little bit, you can do so by following along on Instagram. I wish you a wonderful weekend wherever you are!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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Wall Painting Project With Farrow & Ball

A few weeks ago I was tweeting in desperation that I am getting my walls painted in my apartment. In the middle of it all I was really saying to myself: Why, oh why did I start all of this!? Everything was moved out of my apartment or shuffled around, I had to clean it and reorganize everything. But then, then came the moment: When I sat down and looked at my freshly painted walls. The sigh of relieve and happiness!

Everything started with the rough idea of painting my pitched roof walls in a shade of grey and maybe going for another feature wall in grey. Next I know I had two canisters of exquisite Farrow & Ball paint at home. Ok, ok, before that I got the colour chart and went through various shades of grey (not 50 though) until I came to a final decision: I wanted the velvety and dark 'Down Pipe' for my pitched walls and the smooth and light 'Plummet' for a feature wall in my living room. Plus, I decided to paint the arch between my living room and bedroom in 'Down Pipe'. 

The result is just the way I expected it. I wanted to create visual depth when you enter the apartment. Since my rooftop apartment is rather small and compact, you have a long view from the entrance door to the opposite end of the flat. That is where the pitched roofs are to be found and the arch in between. Thus, the eye beholds the dark grey ends framed by bright white walls and one mid-grey feature wall. All this is (or better will) be embellished with various colour accents for decoration. Moreover, I love the changing effects of the wall colour with the changing light situation - from brighter tones to velvety dark ones.

As you see with my pics, I am still in the middle of redoing my living room. The new sofa arrived, but I had no time whatsoever to embark on the final decoration project. I have a rough colour scheme in mind but way too many trips in my schedule to get it done. Thus, more home redo posts will follow later this autumn. 

What did I learn from this experience? I learned that coloured walls, even dark walls, are not necessarily a no-go for small apartments. Even in smaller places you can create a great visual effect and drama without creating a feeling of visual constriction. And I learned that it is smart to opt for high-quality paint as you want your walls to have the desired colour and last for as long as you wish. You can't go wrong with Farrow & Ball!

This post was kindly sponsored by Farrow & Ball. Thank you!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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DesignTrade Copenhagen: Interior Design News

A blogger life is really cool. I admit. Right now, while I am typing these words, I am sitting on a big table in the Bloggers' Zone with some of my absolute favorite bloggers and friends. To my left I have Nina from Stylizimo and Desiree from Vosgesparis, to my right Emma from Emma's Designblogg, Anna from La Maison d'Anna G. and Riikka from Weekday Carnival. Somewhere lost is Gerard from Walnut Grey Design, Agata from I Like Design and the mastermind Allan from Bungalow5.

After our booth stylings (I will blog about that later) and a few press events (some to be covered later, too), I walked around the fair in search of interior design news and eye candy for you. And yes, I've discovered quite a few highlights. I hope you'll like them too. Let's rock and roll!

1. Trip Trap's 'Georg Collection' by Christina Liljenberg Halstrom

This collection you might see on almost all of above mentioned blogs because in this case we were unilateral in our decision: big blogger love for Christina's amazing designs! She created the 'Georg Collection' for the entryway but it can be used in various spaces of the home. The simple yet sophisticated use of wood and leather is impeccable - it makes the functionality of each piece become visible and turns function into design and vice versa. The story is quite charming, too: Christina worked on this collection for quite a long time while her son was sick at home. He kept asking his mother why does this look like that or like that, so she had to work on her design philosophy constantly. Once she finished and her little boy recovered, she decided to call the collection Georg. Just like her son.

She also designed a beautifully simple collection of tea towels for the Danish brand Design Nation.

2. Broste Copenhagen

I've blogged about the home accessories brand Broste Copenhagen after my last trip to the Danish capital. I have to say that I am very smitten with their collection of beautifully made home accessories and textiles. They perfectly blend a natural vibe with a Scandinavian pedigree into their products and add warmth and texture to any home. I also used lots of their products for my own booth styling.

3. H. Skjalm P.

I admit I have never heard of this Danish brand before. But their booth stood out at the DesignTrade and made my stop by and snap a few pics for you. H. Skjalm P. offers a wide range of home accessories and textiles including lots of brass as one of this year's trends. I loved how they made colour stories in combination with the brass elements - a green, blue and orange colour schemes smoothly blends with the warm glow of brass surfaces into a stylish setting. Judge for yourself!

4. Cozy Living

Cozy Living is another Danish home accessories brand that caught my eye. They offer a wide range of cushions with nature motives and saturated as well as pastel hues, copper accessories and candles. They are pretty new and just entering the market so keep an eye on them if you like what you see.

5. Kähler

Kähler might not be a discovery in itself as it is widely known for its iconic stripe design on their vases. But I've discovered their new range with wonderful colours and no stripes which I am totally in love with. The deep blue is one of my favorites although the berry hues are no less charming.

6. Bloomingville

Another brand that no one of you would consider a discovery. However, I am such a weak soul when it comes to Bloomingville, whenever I see them I have to enter their stand and roam around. 

7. By Nord

Also pretty known but a highlight, too. The nature inspired home textiles from By Nord keep inspiring me and I love the strong Scandinavian DNA that is woven into its products adding that wild, nature focused vibe into any home.

8. Foxy Potato

Now this one has a double sense of interest - first, the coffee tables in geometric shapes and wooden magazine racks are excellent additions to stylish homes, and second, the name is so fun. Foxy potato!? How fun is it to tell your friends: 'Oh my coffee table, it's a foxy potato.'

Bye from Copenhagen from now. I will cover more over the coming days!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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Three Scandinavian Giveaways For You!

Now even though I usually present my '5 Happy Inspirations' every Wednesday, today is different. As you might know I am currently attending the DesignTrade fair in Copenhagen, Denmark, with a bunch of fellow bloggers and friends. I have even styled my very own booth here. But more on this subject later. Today I wanted to share with you some Scandinavian design happiness and what better way than offering you three happy Scandinavian home goodies which could go straight into your happy home?

The kind sponsors BoConcept, Tujuh.de and Live Like The Boy have offered some gleeful design accessories for you and if you want to win one of these, all you have to do is the following:

• Leave a comment under this blogpost stating which goodie you would like to win
• Please like the sponsors' Facebook pages here: BoConcept, Tujuh.de, Live Like The Boy

The giveaway is open worldwide and runs until Saturday, August 31st, midnight CET.

Good luck & happy hump day from Copenhagen!

Photography by Igor Josifovic, product shots breadboard via Live Like The Boy, desk lamp via Tujuh.de

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Why This Room Caught My Eye

Sometimes it's a single things that catches my eye, sometimes it's a compositions, an entire setting that draws my attention. Today's chosen room, a lovely living room, belongs to the latter option. Here it's the entire composition that catches my eye and inspires me to ongoing little redecoration projects in my own home. Here are the three reasons why I love this room:

• Gallery Wall: A lovely curated gallery wall with personal memorabilia is a fabulous way to entertain the eye - be it your's be it your guests'. I am working on my own gallery wall at the moment and hope to accomplish it as beautifully as it is in this room.
• Powder Pink Accents: This is my favorite pink hue! It is so soft, discreet, gentle and partners perfectly with grey, green, black and white.
• Black & White Contrasts: The overall black & white contrasts in this room set a perfect stage for the former mentioned interior design elements. It is sort of framing the entire room and making it look sophisticated.

What caught your eye? How do you like this living room?

Photography via Ellens Album

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From Place To Space: Go West - San Francisco

This week is kicking off with great news. It is not about a past trip, but the announcement of my big holidays this year and it will be happening in just a few weeks! Mid September I am off to Paris and then on the plane westwards to the US and Canada! I will be doing a roadtrip in the Pacific Northwest discovering Seattle, Portland and Vancouver and then heading southwards to San Francisco. Hence, I will show you the places where I will be staying during my big American trip and today I want to show you one of the absolute highlights - my 'home' in San Francisco for a week.

In bustling San Francisco I will be staying in the best place ever an interior loving guy could wish for. I will be staying in the home of design blogger icon and my all-time favorite blogger Victoria Smith of sfgirlbybay. When she offered her home to me, I was beyond happy and - truth be told - a bit speechless. I have admired Victoria's style and sense for design ever since I've embarked the interior design blogger adventure. 

Actually, I wanted to meet up with Victoria for a coffee in San Francisco, but she will be heading to Europe at the very same time as a keynote speaker for Meet the Blogger in Amsterdam. But I am pretty sure it will be like meeting her through her impeccable home. I love to 'meet' people through their personal homes and style. And this will be a more than pleasant rendez-vous in San Francisco.

I warn you, I will bring loads of pictures of Victoria's home back and share with you, but I am pretty sure you will enjoy it as much as I will. For now I am sharing her shots published on sfgirlbybay.com of her 'Modern Cottage'. 

I can't wait to head off to my 'Go West' adventure and up to then I will share my next American 'homes' coming Monday. Stay tuned & happy week!

Photography: Never Stop Exploring by Leslee Mitchell via society6; city view via Cachemire & Soie; Victoria's home via sfgirlbybay

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Ideas For A Happy Weekend

It is here - the weekend to breathe deeply and take care of my apartment. After my holidays in Serbia this is a short stop in Munich before I head off to Copenhagen next Tuesday. And after Denmark there are two more trips scheduled. Busy September ahead, I tell you. And yet I still have one big task to accomplish - my new living room. I painted my walls, bought a new sofa but I haven't had the time to finalize everything and round it up in one or two blog posts.

Currently my living room is in a half-finished state. I still need to reposition a few things and buy one tiny new console, I need to finalize my gallery wall and accessorize. For the time being I am experimenting with just a few things - like a new peace cushion, a disco ball and fresh blooms. Maybe I'll get some new ideas this weekend. What will you be up to?

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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