The modern housewife

Here is some eye candy from Danish photographer MARTIN DYRLØV. I love the light in his photographs and the minimalist styling! Have a nice wednesday everyone!




Photos by Martin Dyrløv.

Missoni has opened up a HOTEL in Edinburgh of all places! I have parted feelings about this place, some parts are really nice, like the restaurant or some rooms. And I really like the logo, how they wrote the H with plenty of Missoni! They got the colors right too, they are very harmonius and just how I like it! Then there is the bar that I don't like at all or the suites. There is too much pattern (I know, Missoni is a lot about patterns) and it feels cheap. The bar shaped like a flower feels really old and a bit bad taste. But overall it's good and if I ever went to Edinburgh, I could imagine staying in this hotel for a night or two.
















Images from Hotel Missoni's website.

Here is a home with character! It belongs to Lyndsay Caleo, who is a goldsmith and interior designer, and Fitzhugh Karol, who is a woodworker and interior designer. As you can see they are very much into wood and second hand things. That is what gives this house such warmth and a homy feeling. I love the dining table, it looks like they took some logs from the forest and put them in their living room. Lyndsay's favorite thing in the house is the kitchen sink that is situated in front of a window so that you can wash the dishes while looking out into the garden.
My favorite thing from what we can see of the house is definitely the mirror with the rounds and lines all around it!












Images from THE SELBY.

The French artist FREDERIQUE DAUBAL has evoked a subject that is very much in question these days, the Muslim niqābs. There is a big talk here in France (and the rest of Europe) weather they should be forbidden by law or not. Frederique has cut out pages from fashion magazines, sliced them into fringe and made them into masks resembling Muslim niqābs. She is evoking a statement on identity, transformation and what it means to be French today.
Very interesting!




Art work by Frederique Daubal.

The sharp, contrasted colors are a trademark for photpgrapher TIA BORGSMIDT. I love the wall in the kitchen with the different patterns, they fit so well together and gives this plain and quite boring kitchen lots of character! And I love the different chairs around the dinner table, and the mezzanine in the bedroom...






Photos by Tia Borgsmidt.

I am not much for complicated dresses with a lot of fabric and details. Adding an accessory to a quite plain dress can make the dress stand out right away without it becoming too much! Bows are very practical in this case and there are all kinds of different ones out there. Just look at these for example.

I love reading and especially in the summer when you can lie outside in the hammock with a glass of juice and a good book. Recently I have joined a book club where I live and the next book we'll talk about after the summer is a book from our home country since we are a very international crowd. What should I let them discover, a classic, one of all these criminal based books or something romantic and girly? If you have any tip of a good book, don't hesitate to share! I think I will have to take a look at ADLIBRIS online book shop and see what is out there. I'll leave you with this photo taken by PERNILLA HED in the meantime. It looks like a perfect bookshelf in a summer house! Doesn't it make you want to create a little summer library yourself?


Photo by Pernilla Hed.

Today it is the magic holiday Midsummer, one of my absolute favorite days of the year! I can really feel it for once, having had a beautiful day with at least 28 degrees and sun! I will celebrate the whole thing tomorrow though with a couple of Swedish friends. I am also going to surprise one of them with a little something. I will tell you more on monday in case she is reading this...
This photo, taken by CAMILLA KRISHNASWAMY, is a perfect representation for how I see midsummer! I love it!
Have a great midsummer weekend!


Photo by Camilla Krishnaswamy.

I know, I have showed you a lot of summer houses lately but how can I resist when they all look so cosy and filled with history. This house definitely has a history! It was bought 900 km from where it is standing today. In other words, the owners took it apart and transported it to the new terrain. Quite impressive I have to say! On top of that this house is worth showing just for its charm! And I would love to have one of those kitchen sofas! Imagine mixing it with something very modern, it would give the house some soul. I am not sure that A will think the same though...
You can find more images at HUS & HEM'S website.








Images from Hus & Hem's website.

I made this cake for my friend's birthday a couple of weeks ago and since it is midsummer this weekend and it tasted so good I will make it again.
If you feel like making a real midsummer cake here is the recipe:


Photo by Anna Nasstrom, The Modern Housewife.

3 eggs
2 1/2 decilitres of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar
50 grams of butter
1 decilitre of milk
3 1/2 decilitres of flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
A pinch of salt

Whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla sugar until white and fluffy.
Melt the butter and add the milk, mix it with the egg batter.
Mix flour, baking powder and salt and add carefully with the rest.
Pour the batter in a buttered form.
Bake in 175 degrees celsius, for about 25-30 minutes.

Lemon curd :
3 lemons
1 1/2 decilitres of sugar
50 grams of butter
2 tablespoons of potatoe flour
2 eggs
2 egg yolks

Mix peel of 3 lemons with juice from 2 lemons and boil it with sugar and butter.
Put through a strainer.
Mix potatoe flour and juice from the 3rd lemon and add it to the warm liquid.
Whisk the eggs and add them to the liquid, put back on the stove and stir until it becomes thicker.
Pour the lemon curd into a clean bowl and let it cool down.

1 vanilla pod
1/2 decilitre of sugar
2 liters of strawberries
3 decilitres of whippable cream

Cut the cake in 3 layers.
Scrape the vanilla pod and mix with the sugar.
Slice half of the strawberries and mix with the vanilla sugar.
Put the strawberries on the first layer.
Spread the lemon curd on the second layer.
Whisk the cream and add it on top of the cake with the rest of the strawberries.

Maybe you know about STYLEROOM, the website where you and me can show our homes to other interior fanatics. They had the great idea to gather the best of all the images on there and make a book. Said and done, "Som hemma" is now published and I am really pleasantly surprised how good it seems! Look at the previews below to see for yourself.
If you are a member of Styleroom you can get the book at a good discount. You can buy it HERE or by clicking on the ad to the right of this post. I think you should, I sure will!






Images from Styleroom's website.

I wrote about MIKKEL ADSBOL a while ago and then showed you some of his interior photos. He also takes photos of food and I find them very inspiring! They are as contrasted as all his other work and even a steak looks interesting in my eyes...which is quite amazing since I would never even consider eating it! This time there are much more colors, he has really put the natural hues into value!







Photos by Mikkel Adsbol.

I don't think these images need any words. They speak for themselves with their calm and zen attitude.
This is how I would like our upstairs to look like!






Images from ALVHEM MÄKLERI.

If you know Gotland (an island on the east coast of Sweden), you know that this house is perfect there! The grey exterior melts into the environement and the light yet a bit rustic (look at the table in the kitchen for example) interior permits the exterior lighting to enter and the island feeling to stay!
I love it!




Images from SKÖNA HEM.

This is exactly how I would like our garden to look like, lots of concrete pots with different plants and flowers! I love the geometric layout which feels organised without being stiff. The divider with small concrete pots in the holes is a great idea too to divide two areas without completely separating them!






Images from SKÖNA HEM.

VEE SPEERS is having an exhibition at newly opened FOTOGRAFISKA in Stockholm until the 5th of September this year. We can see costumed children on their way to an imaginary celebration in this exhibition. According to Speers, childhood games reflect roles in the adult world, such as father, mother, nurse or soldier and she got the inspiration to this project during her daughter’s birthday party. This is also the title of the exhibition, "The Birthday Party". It feels quite provocative and makes me think of German photographer LORETTA LUX who also takes photos of children with unnatural expressions and in strange contexts.








Photos by Vee Speers.

After having experienced a beautiful wedding this weekend between Princess Viktoria of Sweden and her Daniel, I can not not talk a little bit about it! You felt like you were in a fairytale yet it was so real and sincere. Love is definitely what brought these two together and I am so happy that they could finally show this to the whole world!
I made an image board to show you how I experienced the wedding. It was beautiful, Scandinavian, Royal, minimalist and I felt those special summer butterflies in my stomach that I can only feel in Sweden.
You can see photos from the wedding HERE at the Royal Court's official website.


Image board by Anna Nasstrom, The Modern Housewife.

Oh yes, I am in a wedding mood just like 90% of the Swedish population. Who does not know that our Princess Victoria will get married to her prince tomorrow!? I will of course see it live with a couple of friends in the Swedish church in Paris! I am so excited! I just hope that it will be as nice as everybody expects it to be, but with the amount of preparation they have, it should be more than a dream!
Have a good weekend everyone!

It almost hurts when you look at Danish photographer MIKKEL ADSBOL'S photos. They are so contrasted as if he took them in the middle of a sunny day with the sun as a lamp. All of this said, I really like them! You have to look carefully not to miss anything in the photo and the contrast part creates a certain mystery. Maybe it is the lack of light in Scandinavia or whatever other reason, but this lightening is quite unique to the Northern countries.






Photos by Mikkel Adsbol.

Me and A went to Berlin last winter but I think we must have missed something because we thought it was a horribly boring city! Then again we only stayed in the center and had one day to see everything, plus that it was extremly cold. If I could stay in this hotel, LUX 11, I would give Berlin another chance. This is everything I wanted to discover but couldn't find. Lux 11 is modern, fun, spacious, cosy and it feels a bit like you are in London by the exterior architecture.








Images from Lux 11's website.

Summer is here and it is time to take out your summer cups and the tealights that you can place all over on your terrasse. SAGAFORM has a lot of nice things that would work perfectly for a summer lunch or a dinner out in the open. I have the herbpot (my parents gave it to me on my birthday this year) and I wouldn't mind adding a few of these things to my collection, the black genius candle holder for example or the breakfast bowls with the graphic flower decorations.












Images from Sagaform's website.

Oh, how I want our future terrasse to look like this!!! I love the black and white with a touch of pink, the plants in big pots and the calm this layout gives you!


Image from HUS & HEM.

I love these designs by Finnish designer HEINI RIITAHUHTA for ARABIA! They are so summery and feels like they could last a really long time in terms of style and quality. Is this a new classic? Their names are magic as well : how about "Spring Drop" or "Winter Star" or "Autumn Glow"!? The young ceramic artist was inspired by the different Finnish seasons, as you can hear by the names.
You can buy them online at THE FINNISH DESIGN SHOP.








Images from Thefinnishdesignshop.com.

Anyone who lives in Stockholm, or even Sweden, must know about restaurant EAST! But for you who are outside of the Swedish borders, this might be a nice discovery! Illustrater LOVISA BURFITT has covered the walls of East with beautiful, dynamic, fashion like illustrations. I love the ambiance it gives the place and the contrast between a bit crazy creations with the sophisticated Asian menu! The restaurant is breathing a mix of Graphic Scandinavian style and Japanese thinking!








Images from Lovisa Burfitt's website.

Finally summer is starting to show itself and it is time to take out your bathing suite! I love bathing suites! And every year I buy at least two new ones. This year I think I will content myself with looking though because I have more than enough lying in my drawer (at least for this season anyways).
I love summer 2010 bathing trends! It feels fresh, flowery, girly, romantic and quite 1950's. Just the way I like it!
You can find all the bathing suites below at NET A PORTER.


Design Rosa Cha and Chloé.


Design Jets by Jessika Allen.


Design Zimmermann.


Design Aubin & Wills.


Design Undrest.


Design Missoni.
Images from Net a Porter's website.

It's the beginning of the week and I personally love it! But some people might need some glamour to forget about the everyday boring things we have to do. GREG KADEL is illustrating this very good in these photos! He is a fashion photographer based in New York. And that is pretty much everything I know about him because I can't find any biography on his website.






Photos by Greg Kadel.

Yesterday I was looking for a birthday present for my cousin on SUPERMARKET'S website. I didn't find anything for her but I found these! They are neckties that are hand sewn and are woven from 50% recorded audio cassette tape! and 50% colored thread. What is more amazing is that the tie fabric is apparantely audible if you run a tape head over it. The designer is Julio Cesar and the music that is recorded on the tape for the ties is from his cd "Between stations". A very smart advertisment idea!


Image from Supermarket.

You know you live in a nice village when the lady that lives two houses down see you work in the garden and bring you cherries so that you can take a break even though we have never met before... I love this place!!!


Photo by Anna Nasstrom, The Modern Housewife.

When it is grey outside and the sky is playing with your mood, it feels good to look at photos like these and imagine that this is where you are right now! A light interior with lots of flowers always makes me happy! Pastel is summer, warmth, dreams and fairytales. Flowers make me think of meadows filled with dandylions or midsummer night when you go and pick seven flowers to dream about your prince...






Photos by KARL ANDERSON.

Do you dream of a wedding in the country side with flowers from the meadow and colors from nature? Is there anything more beautiful than nature? These tables make me think of just this. When nature offers us such beauty, why not use it and make a wonderful day for both us and the surrounding!

This weekend is full of parties! Today my little cousin is graduating in Sweden (Happy graduation Helena!!!). I was'nt able to go unfortunately but I am sure that she will have a great day!
Tomorrow a friend of ours is turning 40 and this is of course a really good excuse to have a big party! It will be lots of fun! Especially since all their friends are great and that we live 5 meters away from them (which means both me and A can sit and sip on some rose, or beer in his case, without having to think about who will drive...)
Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Can you find any better inspiration images for summer picnics and dinners on the terrasse than these? Stylist CAMILLA KRISHNASWAMY is the creative mind behind all of this. I get little butterflies of happiness in my stomach (even though I am a vegetarian and normally think meat is something very distasteful) when I look at the beautiful setup, the summery colors and the amazing lighting. And I wonder if her last name is taken from somewhere or if she has had it since she was small, it is very nice and original in any case.








Stylist Camilla Krishnaswamy.

Mmmm, I made chocolate chip cookies for the first time yesterday and I was surprised how easy it was! I got the recipe from amazing Leila Lindholm's "A piece of cake".



125 grams of soft butter
1 decilitre of sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 decilitres of flour
1/2 decilitre of oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
100 grams of dark chocolate
Peal of 1 lime (I took a lemon because I didn't have a lime at home)

Whisk butter and sugar until creamy and add the egg.
Mix flour, oatmeal, baking powder and salt and mix carefully with the butter batter.
Chop the chocolate, grate the lime peal and mix in the dough.
Make the dough into a roll (5 cm in diameter) and roll it in plastic foil. Freeze for about 30 minutes.
Slice the roll into 1 cm thick slices and put them on baking paper on a baking form.
Bake in 180 degrees celsius, for about 10 minutes until golden in the middle of the oven.

I can't get enough of all the talented photographers out there! PER RANUNG is one of them. His source of inspiration is light and his trademark is simplicity. Lifestyle images is his latest preoccupation and I think that he is doing a very good job! He has a bit of a different dream assignment ; to photograph the same chair for two weeks. Some of his clients are Elle decoration and Vogue (Australia).












Photos by Per Ranung.

I would buy this table for our house from ROCHE BOBOIS.
I don't have good memories from this store. We went to it once when we lived in Lille just to discover their collection and we didn't get out until over an hour later. They wouldn't let us go and kept on trying to sell us an ugly leather sofa. We have never been there since but the other day I walked by the store in another city and saw this table. I fell in love instantly! It is everything I like : white, minimalistic, wood and with an original touch. The only ick is the price...




Images from Roche Bobois's website.

I don't know how it is where you are, but here it is grey and rainy today. It feels like I need some cheering up with these colorful and summery photos by ANITTA BEHRENDT. Sometimes all it takes is some color to change your mood:)




Photos by Anitta Behrendt.

I showed you a photo yesterday of how I would like my kitchen and that kitchen was made by KOBENHAVN'S MOBELSNEDKERI. They make really nice kitchens and here are some more eye candy for you to enjoy!






Photos from Kobenhavns mobelsnedkeri's website.

The architect firm SOMMARNÖJEN (summer pleasures) make modern, Scandinavian style summer houses. Who have never dreamt of a summer house next to the sea or the lake in the forest? I have for sure, and even more since I moved away from Sweden. Either I would like a really old house with plenty of charm and authentic style or a house like the ones Sommarnöjen make. Very minimalistic with plenty of windows to give you a panoramic view over the water.








Photos from Sommarnöjen's website.

I have found the perfect solution for the back of our kitchen island. The table top is deeper than the cupboards and first we thought of doing a bar but I didn't like that idea too much. That's why I am so happy having found this from KOBENHAVN'S MOBELSNEDKERI. All you need to do is buy two extra doors and some shelves. Putting it up can't be too difficult. This will also mean that the kitchen will look less like an Ikea kitchen (Ikea kitchen's are not bad at all, it just feels good to be able to personalize them somehow since there are so many people having the same thing in the world). I also really like the white bottom, it's a really nice contrast with the rest!


Photo from www.kbhsnedkeri.dk.

It will be a quick post today because I have to go and change the tires of our car very soon (I know, we are doing it really late...) I will leave you with some summery photos by talented photographer KALLE GUSTAFSSON and maybe I will be back later this afternoon with some more inspiring photos.






Photos by Kalle Gustafsson.

The real estate agency STADSHEM had this appartment for sale before. I can't find it anymore which probably means that it is sold. I understand that though, because it looks really nice with nice design details and plenty of white!








Photos from Stadshem's website.

I love sewing and knitting (even though I am not very good at it, but training makes you good right!?). Today I found out that there is a sewing/coffee shop in Paris called SWEAT SHOP. You can rent a sewing machine, learn how to knit, have a coffee with organic muffins, perfection your French or English... Definitely worth a visit!
Thank you Anne-Lise for the tip:)

Every little detail is important at a wedding! The hair is one of them and it is a very important detail! Why not go for the naturfal look if you have long hair. Or put it up in a simple pony tail. It feels very romantic and natural to let your hair flow freely!

I am really sorry for the lack of posts recently! We moved a week ago and internet didn't work in our new house until yesterday so it has been beyond my control... But now everything is more or less back to normal so bloging will be done on a regular basis again!