Snapshots From Home

June has commenced and I am wishing you all a happy new month! This month will be a very busy one and packed with travels. I will be off to Paris on Wednesday to attend the presentation of the new Habitat collection and discover a few new spots in the French capital. Next weekend I will be off to London with my Urban Jungle Bloggers partner-in-crime Judith to speak at Blogtacular about our green and thriving community. Then I am off to Amsterdam, Austria and back to Paris. In such busy times I love to save some rare but precious moments at home and unwind. Oh well, and enjoy some new little additions bien sûr!

I will not bore you with my future trips now, I will do that after the trip, ha! But for now I just want to  share some little snapshots of my home with you (yes, still the same small shoebox apartment). I have added a few new 'tchotchkes' to my home which I really like! Recently I've been e-thrifting and managed to score a few goodies like two vintage ceramic vases (mid-century German pottery) and a cute brass crane figurine - all found on eBay. I have also potted my new mini plants from Bordeaux (you remember from HERE) and the Sedum plant is now in my 'evil eye' planter, handmade by the potter Leandro Marcelino of 'Hey Camel Bazaar' in Vietnam.

For the scent of a comfy home I have opened the brand new KOTO scent diffuser which is perfect for summer as I tend to reduce my candle burning during the hot season. The diffuser is perfect as it scents the apartment gently and it looks pretty stylish. For candle lovers there is now a small KOTO candle too, all available through Skandinavisk.

Maybe you remember the motto I preach for small home dwelling: One in - one out. With all the recent additions it's time to restore the good balance which I will do by donating a huge pile of home goodies for free to a local flea market that will be organized on June 13th in Munich and all earnings will then be donated for earthquake relief in Nepal. That makes me double happy!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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Update: KOTO candle is now available in small!

The scent of a Nordic home is enticing, soothing, warm: Our KOTO candle, the world's first scented candle designed by nine European design bloggers (among them the humble me) in collaboration with Skandinavisk is now available in a regular small size. You can still get the candle in its extra large size with four wicks but if you want to test it first, opt for the small KOTO candle. Additionally, a decorative scent diffuser is available too.

Why should you have KOTO? Because there's no place like home and your home should be scented with a perfume that refers to the warmth of the home and the freshness of the Scandinavian nature. After all, KOTO is the old Finnish word for home and a good scent is one step forward to a really happy home!

Photography by Linda Elmin

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Home Fragrance: The KOTO Family Is Growing

Many of you will remember the announcement I made about the scented candle KOTO that we - that is our Design Bloggers United group - designed in collaboration with Skandinavisk. I blogged about it HERE - the candle was introduced on the market in a large size with four wicks. The candle was very well received on the market and now Skandinavisk has decided to extend the range of KOTO products along with other novelties for their brand new spring/summer 2015 collection.

From spring, KOTO will be available in a smaller size with one wick as well as a perfume diffuser - these will not only bring a wonderful scent to your home but will look impeccably beautiful as part of your interior styling and home decor.

With this wonderful collection of home fragrances I feel like spring can't come fast enough. But for the time being, I will burn my large KOTO candle and daydream of the crisp air and freshness of the Scandinavian nature. Happy week, friends!

Photography via Skandinavisk

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The Scent Of A Happy And Warm Home: KOTO

Autumn has kicked in with full force. Crisp nights call for that extra blanket. Evenings call for a delicious cup of yellow tea from China. And it calls for lighting a scented candle. But not just any scented candle. The candle that promises that no place is like home. Because no place is like home. It is time to light KOTO.

KOTO is the traditional Finnish word for home and the world's first scented candle created by design bloggers together with Skandinavisk. In fact it was created by the group Design Bloggers United that I am part of so it feels a little bit like 'my candle' too. Our idea was to create a candle for the home in its full complexity. It was a sort of a creative challenge for the candle and perfume experts at Skandinavisk to come up with a scent that captures this homey feeling. We wanted a warm and cosy scent to evoke the cosiness of a home. KOTO is thus the ideal candle for a happy and warm home.

KOTO promises delicate notes of baltic amber, exotic jasmine, mandarin and vanilla. Lighting the candle is like a little ritual during the colder season in my home. Coming home from work I feel the inner need for a moment of solitude and refuge. It is then that I light KOTO and unwind before I tackle other duties at home. That precious moment is enriched with the velvety scent of KOTO and makes coming home happier than ever before.

As you can see KOTO is not a small candle burnt up after a few weeks. It is a large candle with four wicks and burns 75 hours. It is poured into a hand-blown glass container with our minimalistic, Scandinavian inspired design. If you like to share this precious scent with us, you can get the candle HERE. 

Welcome home, welcome to your own KOTO!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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World's First Design Blogger Candle: KOTO

This week kicks off with a 'world premier' if you want so. And as world premiers are special occasions, this calls for special actions - so today I will dedicate the blog space to the world's first design blogger scented candle: I am honored to introduce KOTO to you. Why am I so excited about that? Well, because I am part of the 'Design Bloggers United' group who have collaborated with Skandinavisk and have designed this candle. Our scented candle is named KOTO, which is the Finnish word for 'home' and it promises to carry the scent of an intimate and cosy space to refresh the soul. Because no place is like home. 

The scented candle KOTO is an exclusive collaboration of Skandinavisk, a brand known for its wonderful scented candles that incorporate the unique Scandinavian way of life (I blogged about them HERE) and the 'Design Bloggers United' group, that I am part of. We thought about a way how to create that everyday intimate moment at home, where the simple gesture of lighting a wick creates the feeling of warmth and tranquility. That's how KOTO was born. You will notice that KOTO is bigger than regular scented candles and burns for up to 75 hours - this again is to pay reference to our home and to a long-lasting scent of cosiness and intimacy.

But KOTO does not only look sleek and is perfect for the design-savvy home. It also promises delicate notes of amber, jasmine and vanilla. To enjoy KOTO to its full extend all four wicks should be burnt until the melted wax reaches the edges of the glass. The scent will enchant you and add that intangible design aspect to your home - an olfactory moment of cosiness in your home.

If you feel as excited as I do about our scented candle KOTO or you're at least curious to smell it, you can preorder it as of now HERE. The candle will be available as of September 2014. Bring home a unique design scent to your own nest and enjoy it to the max! 

P.S. I will be on holidays as of tomorrow and I will see you back here next Tuesday! Have a fabulous week my friends!

Photography by Susanna Vento

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Happy Interior Blog Recommends: Skandinavisk

I am a mixed breed but one thing I can reassure you: I have no Scandinavian genes in my body. Yet I am drawn to a certain Scandinavian notion of interiors and interior styling. And to quite a few Scandinavian brands. One of those is a young brand that I discovered in Copenhagen last year: Skandinavisk. A truly Scandinavian brand founded by two English guys who fell in love with two Scandinavian girls - now this I call a happy brand DNA!

Skandinavisk is a celebration of Scandinavian lifestyle, of vast silent landscapes, of cosy shared moments, of the world's happiest peoples. Of hygge. I couldn't put it better than what they're saying about themselves. When I met them in Copenhagen I was immediately drawn to their beautifully designed scented candles. In the meantime, they've extended their range with adorably happy tableware collection named FIKA (I blogged about it HERE).

Today, I am focusing on one of their scented candles with the mysterious name Ø. What looks like a weird letter is in fact an entire word bearing the promise of freedom, air, sea and wilderness - it means 'island' in Danish. It is inspired by hundreds of thousands uninhabited islands scattered across Scandinavian waters. It carries the poetic promise of the 'solitude of the archipelagos'. 

Now as someone who had spent a part of his life in Greece on the shores of the Aegean sea I couldn't help but give the candle a Mediterranean twist. And this is the result. A salty breeze, the sound of the sea, the scent of a happy escape to the island. 

Happy hump day!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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Happy Interior Blog Recommends...

I'll tell you a little TV Story today. Now as someone who likes interior design and styling and someone who also shoots his apartment, I always find it terribly difficult to photograph the corner  with my TV. Maybe I just don't have a fancy TV. Or maybe I just don't know how to properly style and photograph that corner. Anyways. Recently I was talking with one of my friend who works for a home entertainment brand about the fact that many people don't have TVs at home but rather watch their favorite movies and series on their laptops. Sounds good but still - I really appreciate my TV for a good movie night at home.

You cuddle up with your cushions (like the fun new ones by Berlin based label 'Bermuda') on your sofa (like the North sofa by Bolia), you prepare a few snacks and drinks (on happy tableware by Skandinavisk) and you switch on your TV - better yet, you activate your entertainment center like the brand new BeoVision Avant by Bang & Olufsen. I mean this is really like a little home cinema - super flat screen, sleek design, unfolding sound panel and more. Admittedly, the price tag is cinematic too - I think my entire furnishing at home won't come up to this TV's price but sometimes you just have to treat your cinemaniac soul, right? 

Are you a fan of movie nights at home?

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