New from Skandinavisk

It is the little things in life that sometimes make the biggest difference. Like a nice cup of coffee, a stack of magazines (or beautiful catalogues like in my case) and the best hand cream. I have loved the candles from Skandinavisk for quite a while now and was so excited to try their new hand care range*. They not only work wonders and smell amazing, the packaging is as impeccable as it is for their candles. I love the minimal design and their neutral colour scheme.  

Here's my previous post about the candles. 

* These products were sent to me as a gift with no strings attached. All opinions are my own.

Christmas Preparations

My Christmas preparations are slowly getting under way with a few decorations here and there, a couple of gifts already wrapped and ready to go. I was surprised to find spruce branches in florist stores for the first time, and despite the needles probably not holding for very long, seized the opportunity to bring a bit of Nordic familiarity into our home. 

Since we are having Christmas in the middle of summer (something I will most likely never get used to), it's all about those little details that I need to get into the Christmas mood. Some familiar foods (certainly not all, as it is too hot to eat the traditional Finnish Christmas meals), traditional songs and decorations from my childhood, as well as sentimental scents are the most important part. 

These candles from my favourite candle company Skandinavisk are essential for Christmas, but the new collection with the most stunning porcelain vessels make a beautiful gift all year around. I will be burning the Heia* candle this Christmas, and its familiar scents are bringing back so many lovely memories from home.

Wishing you a positive week ahead, I will try and drop by again before Christmas to share some more photos, so stay tuned!

*This candle was sent to me as a gift from Skandinavisk with no strings attached. All opinions are my own.

The New Nordic Diet & IKEA 2/3

I am continuing my IKEA collaboration series with yet another super simple recipe. These bite sized avocado and gravlax wraps make a great party food, but also a delicious lunch. Instead of using the soft thin bread as a wrap, you could also use dark bread (cut up in small pieces, if used as finger food, of course) or a combination of both! The combination of avocado and gravlax is quite mellow, so you may want to considering offering a dab of mustard and dill sauce alongside. This is such a quick and easy recipe idea even if guests are already on their way! 

Avocado and Gravlax Wraps

(makes 20-25 pieces)

soft thin bread, thawed 

gravlax (marinated salmon), thawed

2 avocados

fresh dill, to serve

mustard and dill sauce, to serve

1. Peel the avocados and remove the seeds. Mash the avocados with a fork. 

2. Spread some avocado on a piece of thin bread and top with 2-3 slices of gravlax. 

3. Wrap the bread into a roll and cut to bite sized pieces. Decorate with fresh dill and serve with mustard sauce. 

The New Nordic Diet & IKEA

I am so excited to be teaming up with IKEA to promote the Nordic diet in Australia. Ever since I started this blog back in 2009, I have been doing my bit to help spread the word about the Scandinavian way of eating. Time and time again, I have mentioned the health benefits of a traditional Nordic diet, which includes plenty of seafood, game meat, wild berries and mushrooms and other fresh, seasonal ingredients. There is so much goodness packed into the cornerstones of the Nordic diet that it is about time we start taking real action towards making it familiar to the larger public. 

We all know how ingenious IKEA is in its approach to furniture, and I've always been impressed by their selection of Nordic food as well. I love finding familiar ingredients and I always stock up on a few key products for our home: different types of herring to have with knackebrod, lingonberry jam to have with pretty much everything and those handy bread mixes for long weekend breakfasts. 

In this three part series "The New Nordic Diet & IKEA", I'll share recipes using some of those ingredients found at IKEA. I'm starting off with a traditional salmon soup. This is a great dish for the cooler autumn nights we're heading towards. It's simple food and quick to prepare. If you're keen to make it that extra bit healthier, just leave out the cream and make a clear soup instead. Add seasonal vegetables like carrots and swede, and use fresh herbs for flavour. Knackebrod with cheese is a perfect companion for the soup. I can't even imagine having it without some on the side.

Creamy Salmon Soup

(serves 4)

1 litre of water or fish stock

10-15 whole peppercorns

1/2 teaspoon (or to taste) salt

1 onion, finely chopped

6-7 potatoes, peeled and cut to chunks

500g salmon fillet, cut into bite sized pieces

300ml cream

a whole bunch of dill, finely chopped

knackebrod, to serve

cheese, to serve

1. Add water or stock, peppercorns, salt and onion to a large casserole. Bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes. 

2. Add potatoes and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are half-cooked.

3. Add salmon and simmer on low heat for a further 10-15 minutes or until the fish has cooked through. Finally add cream and let the soup come to a boil. Turn off the heat, add chopped dill and serve with knackebrod and cheese.

Life in Style

I am filled with inspiration after spending the day at Life in Style here in Sydney. So many great vendors with beautiful new products! I especially loved seeing so much Scandinavian design available, even some Finnish products! 

These cool Arch:You concrete houses were one of my absolute favourites today. There was definitely a lot of marble, concrete and copper everywhere, and to my delight quite a bit of dusty pink and leather details as well. Those two will have to make an appearance in my home in not too distant future. 

Graphic By D

I am absolutely in love with this Light Stones IV print from Graphic By D. It brings the much needed change in to our living area and fits the space perfectly. Go check out the other prints on Dorothee's website, there are heaps of different styles and colours available. I am planning a few more small changes here and there, so stay tuned!

I am off to Life in Style this weekend. Looking forward to seeing some new-to-me vendors and products, but most of all getting tons of inspiration on the way. Have a great weekend everyone!

From My Office

A rare moment of peace in my "office". A Saturday afternoon well spent catching up on emails, blog posts and whatnots. I hope you are having a lovely Valentine's Day where ever you are!

A New Year

Starting a new year organising and decluttering our home. It feels like a detox for the closets!

Saturday Morning

A cup of coffee and some online shopping on a Saturday morning.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

* Leather iPad case and woolen cushion cover are from www.pikkukota.com

Day Dreaming

I've been doing some serious day-dreaming lately. I'm always obsessed with Scandinavian design and would love to have some of the classic pieces in my own home. Gubi Grasshopper Lamp and Wegner Wishbone Chair have been on my wishlist for ages, but I do love that pink sofa as well as the gorgeously elegant andTradition dining table! One can always dream, right? 

I would love to hear what are some of your favourite Scandinavian designs!

MENU

Don't you just love these bottle grinders from Danish design company Menu? I love the new "Nude" colour and I think they look perfect with grey, light wood and marble. 

Don't forget to check Menu's new catalogue for more beautiful design!

Muuto Favourites

Here are a few of my favourites from Muuto. Wish you a dreamy weekend! 

1kertaa2 - A New Textiles Collection Available at Pikku-Kota

I'm so pleased to announce a new textiles collection available at my online shop Pikku-Kota!

Finnish brand 1kertaa2 has a beautiful selection of high quality knitted textiles made in Finland and designed by duo Piia Kalliomäki and Marika Lehti. All 1kertaa2 products are made of 100% wool and have a soft luxurious feel. They are easy to take care of and have a modern, sophisticated look.

Available at Pikku-Kota are the following 1kertaa2 products (with more products hopefully available soon!)

Rihmat - throw

Kylä - throw

Kihlat - cushion cover

Sormus - cushion cover

All images in this post are by 1kertaa2

B & W

I thought I'd share a few recent snapshots from our home. I've slowly replaced a lot of the wooden features and decorations with mostly white ones and recently more and more black has crept in as well. I'm in no means making our home completely black and white, but I do love this combination with grey and wood. We still have a big splash of colour on our living room wall, provided by this Marimekko fabric (stretched over a frame) and although I am constantly keeping an eye out for new fabrics, I'm yet to find one to replace it.

           

Sewing a new cushion cover is such an easy way to update the look of the sofa; this time I used black and white fabric with little elephants in it. I think it brings a fun detail to our otherwise rather serious interior.

Once again, these shelves are the first to see the change. I made a quick trip to IKEA last week and bought more storage boxes for books, craft items, papers etc. I'm not a big fan of small decoration items, but I rather complete the look with a few simple vases in the same colour scheme.

Even my afternoon tea looks (unintentionally) matchy with the recent colour addiction! A few pieces of licorice with a cup of black tea, this gorgeous magazine and a black notebook on my desk.

Lundia

I just stumbled across the gorgeous Lundia catalogue while researching storage solution for our home. Lundia is a Finnish family business making wooden furniture; mainly shelving units, but also side boards and beds, even lighting. I love the simplicity and the amazing quality of these products and I'd swap all our side boards to these in a heart beat, if I could.

All product photos by Lundia

5 x Coffee Tables

1. DLM Table by HAY 2. Artek's Trienna Coffee Table 3. Block Table by Normann Copenhagen 4. Tablo Tray Table by Design House Stockholm 5. Tablo by Normann Copenhagen 

There are a few pieces of furniture we still need in our home. Firstly, I haven't been able to find bedside tables I really like (they are often too bulky in my opinion), secondly I would like to get a new dining table and chairs to replace our old ones and thirdly, we desperately need a coffee table. I've found most of the coffee tables way too big for our living room area, so we've been using these IKEA stools as a temporary solution. I really don't want a coffee table that sits in between the sofa and the TV, but rather a small side table that doesn't take too much space.

I really can't pick a favourite amongst the Scandinavian design pieces I've gathered above. They all have pros and cons, but I could easily imagine all of them in our living room. As you can see, I've already decided on the colour, but I'm indecisive of the style. For purely practical reasons, I could go with the Block Table from Normann Copenhagen (the bottom layer would be ideal for magazines, for example) or the Tablo Tray Table from Design House Stockholm (the tray is separate so it doesn't take much space), but the Artek table is quite a design piece on its own and I quite like the two other tables shown above as well. Decisions decision! I promise to show you the outcome once I've made up my mind.

Which one is your favourite? Or is there another coffee table you like?

SS 2014 Favourites from Scandinavia

All photos by the product suppliers

1. Ikono Lamp in Mint is by Normann Copenhagen 2. Gorgeous marble tray by Danish brand HAY 3. I am absolutely obsessed with anything from Kähler at the moment, this pink storage jar is available in March. 4. & 5. Copper candle stick and vase are both from the Danish House Doctor, another one of my favourites! 6. Copper eggs from Madam Stoltz would be stunning for Easter.

For the past few weeks I have been browsing and drooling over the new SS 2014 collections by various Scandinavian design companies. I can't pick my favourites so here are a few ideas of what's coming up in the Northern hemisphere spring and summer. There are still lots of pastels as well as copper/brass accents and of course marble which was a big hit already last year. 

Pastels would look lovely in a spring home in the Northern hemisphere and well, for us heading towards autumn those brass accents wouldn't look out of place at all, especially if combined with something like the Pantone colour of the year. 

I'm still waiting to see what else is coming up so I'll have to make another post in a few weeks time. In the mean while, I'll be adding lots more beauties on my wishlist for the coming season.

Photo by ferm LIVING

Photo by ferm LIVING

Photo by Broste Copenhagen

Photo by Bloomingville

Scandinavian Mood Board: Radiant Orchid + Grey

All photos by the product suppliers

1. Iittala Aalto Vase in Purple 2. Normann Copenhagen Nabo trays in Grey 3. Ester & Erik candles in Bright Grey 4. Normann Copenhagen Brick cushion in purple 5. Muuto Elevated Vase in grey 6. Gerda woolen blanket in purple from Brita Sweden

Inspired by the colour of the year, I wanted to find a few examples of how to use purple at home. The purple of these products is pretty close to the one of Pantone's Radiant Orchid (although darker) and I just love how it pairs with grey. I think this is an especially tempting colour combination for the autumn 2014 here in the Southern Hemisphere! If you're in the Northern Hemisphere, however, you could go with the lighter shade of purple and combine it with pure white or turquoise/teal for a fresh spring look.

Joululimppu - Finnish Christmas Bread

Perhaps another 30C day wasn't the best choice for baking bread (or anything else for that matter), but I just had to have this dark, dense and sweet bread that always reminds me of Christmases spent at home in Finland. We call this bread joululimppu (joulu meaning Christmas and limppu meaning a loaf of bread) and I suppose this recipe is yet another influence from those sweet loving Swedes who also serve a similar bread at Christmas. Although the recipe calls for a whole 100ml of dark treacle plus extra for brushing the loaves whilst baking, the bread has a warm spicy taste to it, probably thanks to the fennel seeds that we also love adding to breads and other baked goods. 

I can happily retire to the comfort of my fan and air-conditioner now, with a few slices of joululimppu smothered with butter. For the recipe, please check my previous entry of the same bread. 

wooden bread board from Pikku-Kota

A Little Bit of Christmas

It's always hard for me to get into real Christmas spirit whilst in the middle of Australian summer. There's no need/point to burn candles and all the decorations just somehow seem really out of place against the sunny skies and lush green vegetation. Even food I grew up eating at Christmas just doesn't quite work here: oven-baked casseroles, filling salads and a hot cup of glogg are all a bit too much when the temperature reaches 30C and beyond.

I'm keeping the decorations to a minimum and sticking to my usual colour scheme of white and wood. I managed to make a himmeli (a traditional Christmas decoration made of natural straw) of some sort and although it's far from perfect, I'm quite pleased I had the patience to actually finish it. Since we won't have a Christmas tree, I've hung some decorations (hand-made and shop-bought) from tall willow branches we have in our living room all year around. The hand-crafted wooden star hanging on our window (it has a light inside) is quite old; I brought it back from Finland when I was there last year.

I think this is pretty much it for the decorations this year. I haven't even started thinking about what foods I might make, but chances are it will just be something that's quick and easy to make.