A simply beautiful Finnish home

Have you ever been to Finland? The Finns have a simply beautiful, natural sense of style - often pared-back and monochrome with a hint of colour. Nature also plays an important role. Today I decided to re-visit the lovely home of Maiju of indie days (formerly 'my second hand life'). I once showed her kitchen decked out for Christmas but never shots from the entire home. I think it's definitely about time don't you?! So here's a sneak peek into Maiju's lovely home full of inspiring details and new ideas. I could live here, could you?!

Maiju of Indie days, with kind permission.

Inspiring ideas to steal from Maiju's home:

Kitchen: black candles match the vintage industrial light fixtures to create balance, and a simple marimekko plate has been hung on the wall. Wooden birds add a touch of nature to the shelves. Mix and match Bertoia, Hay, Eames, and Thonet chairs. 

Sitting room: Muuto dots have been used throughout the home as decoration, a way to hang clothes and for lighting. A simple bench makes a great side board in the sitting room - I love how Maiju has stacked magazines underneath and plants, candles, prints etc are on display above.

Bedroom: I love the wallpaper (I am hoping to find out where this is from, so pop back later if you're interested) and DIY grey marble side table. The black top and vintage girls dresses emphasise the power of using clothes to decorate - so simple yet so striking (check out other ways to display clothes and shoes in the home).

Children's bedroom: I've never thought of placing a garland across the middle of a big window, what a great idea (maybe I should do this in the girls room?!). A black rug grounds an all white room. DIY bunting is a great way to spruce up plain white storage (check out this fab Finnish children's room for more inspiration). 

Anything that catches your eye?

If you're after a little more Finnish inspiration today there are some great homes to explore here, here and here. I think it's about time I got myself to Finland...?!

Have a lovely day! 

The calm Finnish home of Anna Pirkola

There's something wonderful about Finnish style. And the home of Anna Pirkola, a concept designer, interior, blogger, prop stylist and set designer is no exception.  Decorated in white, grey and light wood and peppered with design products- it certainly pays homage to the Finnish interior design style. But Anna's home is unique too.  She's added flee market finds in the form of beautiful kilim rugs and a mid-century bureau, DIY pieces (workspace lamp, wall hangings etc) and a large record and art collection. Enjoy the tour (with Nina Persson or First Aid Kit in the background perhaps?!).

 
 

Photography: Anna Pirkola of Da Daa. Inspired by French By Design, with thanks

A quick guide to some of the lovely pieces in Anna's home: Hay bella coffee table, Muuto silent vase, Dark blue painting by Hanna Perälä, Smeg fridge, Gubi Ronde pendant light. Muuto leaf floor lamp, white metallic shelves from IKEA, Visu chair.

Anna's blog is full of inspiration including DIY projects (lamp for your home office),  thoughtful items for the home (I love this little place to put your jewellery at night from here) and an insight into idyllic life in Finland (how nice does her brother's cafe in her great grandparents cottage look?).

See more delightful Finnish homes here - the Finns really do have a lovely sense of style don't they?

Before I head off I also wanted to alert you to a fab collaboration between luxury Swedish brand Hästens and award winning textile designer Gunilla Lagerhem Ullberg. The result? Beautiful 'Herbarium bedding' decorated in a kaleidoscope of clematis and hollyhocks (abundant in Sweden in the spring and summer) and made from the finest Egyptian cotton.

Have a great day!

An idyllic Finnish cottage with an outdoor summer kitchen

As January comes to a close and the short, snowy days continue,  I find myself dreaming of the summer sun more and more. And when it arrives - I'm going to be outdoors along with the rest of Scandinavia. That's why I thought I'd share the latest developments of one of my favourite summer cottages - an oh so idyllic family retreat on an island in the Finnish archipelego. The ongoing renovation project is driven by owner Minna Jones of Time of The Aquarius and her partner and has been well documented here on My Scandinavian Home (here and here plus her year round home here). To me, the residence epitomises the essence of the Scandinavian summer - life at a cabin with a beautiful, yet basic interior and maximised to ensure time outside enjoying the long awaited summer days. Last season the owners added an outdoor kitchen to the mix. And the good news? It's easily replicated.  Here are a few new snaps of Minna's home and her fab new outdoor kitchen.

Minna Jones, Time of the Aquarius

To get a similar outdoor kitchen: try painting an IKEA trestle table,  the water can with tap and lights are from Granit, buy a camping stove here. Finnish birch basket. Rattan furniture is set to be big this spring / summer - I'm a big fan of the uber comfy BYHOLMA chair.

Other items I know and love: Bertoia chairs, Butterfly chair and String shelves. IKEA PS 2012 chest of drawers and FÖRHÖJA kitchen trolley.

To get a full picture of the summer cottage and for more images of the plan, interior, grounds, surrounding nature and family life at the cottage you can wile away a few hours on Minna's dreamy blog.

I also absolutely love this Finnish log cabin with a sauna.

Summer in Finland anyone?!

And because it's still January (just): I loved how Scandinavisk summarises the 'Sense of Scandinavia' in Thursday's piece. And this beautiful video by Volvo featuring Amanda Begman's song 'Vintersaga' (winter tale) perfectly sums up the coldest season in Sweden- I was particularly excited to see it even features the beach by my house here in the South! Thank you AMM blog for the tip!

Have a lovely day!

PS Thank you so much to Ana of Blog Milk Shop for all your amazing technical help with my blog lately! Ana is not only my tech saviour but she also creates the most stunning blog templates available to buy here.