KOTO a new candle by Skandinavisk X Design Bloggers United

As from next week KOTO, the newest candle by SKANDINAVISK X Design Bloggers United will be launched at Formex fair in Stockholm. The cool thing is that we have been working for some time on this cool collaboration with SKANDINAVISK. 

After meeting our team at DesignTrade in Copenhagen in 2013 SKANDINAVISK says they learned about our common principles and design aesthetic. "Your innovative thinking as a Design collective and working together across Northern Europe, seemed a perfect match for our brand and ambitions". says Shaun Russell.

During the process we discussed fragrances, look and feel. The colour is no surprise.... Black! and for the name we came up with KOTO, because we love those small Finnish words, and KOTO means home, a word totally fitting the small moments together at home, SKANDINAVISK believes making Scandinavia so happy and successful.   

The beautiful large black hand-blown glass with a mix of perfume, natural and mineral wax and 4 wicks of 100% cotton, has once lighted 72 burning hours and notes of amber, jasmine and vanilla. KOTO will be available from September 1st. Curious already.... pre-order our candle at SKANDINAVISK 

pictures & styling Susanna Vento, our lovely new member of the Design Bloggers United team.  

Slowwood | Dutch design with a Scadinavian touch

Dutch designer Christien Starkenburg lives and works in the Northern Province Friesland. She has her own furniture line 'Slowwood', timeless pieces of quality furniture with a raw natural elegance. Her collection of tables is simple, pure and uncomplicated. Each piece is unique, handmade with love and attention by local craftsmen in Fryslan, using solid wood, 100% natural finishes and mineral paint.

I met Christien during Elle Inside Design some years ago and seeing her sober collection was love at first sight. Especially the soft blond wooden table with black painted legs from the MUN collection (wooden tabletop and wooden legs) stole my heart. There is also a series of wooden tabletop and iron legs tabes.

The collection was presented in a newly build, unfinished environment and I remember how much I loved the combination of the wooden tables with the concrete floors and industrial feeling of the building. 

Next to he wood/wood collection, several models are available in wood/iron. Christien: "Wood keeps you connected with nature and the feeling for a simpler, slower life in this hurly-burly world, the Iron gives it a bit of industrial look and feel" 

photography and design: Ben Lambers & Tatjana Quax - Styling: Tatjana Quax, Mandy Vera de Vries - Studio  Aandacht 

Minimal design | Tray by Christina Liljenberg Halstrom

This minimalistic tray is designed by Christina Liljenberg Halstrom, I wrote about here before after meeting her at Designtrade last summer where she showcased 'Georg' for Trip Trap. The tray is made out of a sheet of steel and connected by ash wood rods and rubber.  

pictures via C_L_H | producer: design nation dk

By Lassen Frame sideboard | A sneak peek at the new collection

If you followed us on our blogtour to Stockholm in February this year, you might have seen bylassen mentioned in a few of my posts. Their stand at the Stockholm furniture fair was my favourite and if you have a look at the pictures we made at the fair |Stockholm furniture fair| you can see the wall build up with the square boxes in cubic frames.

The Frame collection of boxes is now expanded with the new Frame Sideboard, a freestanding storage solution, which is made by a Frame49 and a cube-shaped base. I am showing you the black one because it is my favourite but they will be available in many more colour combinations.

I personally love the different ways you can use the sideboard, side by side it is a classic sideboard, but it can also stand alone. I can see my future night table already... available from the end of June, where would you use the sideboard?

pictures via bylassen with thanks 

Vinyl collections | Cool cabinets to store your records

It's been years I have no record player anymore, and my record collection is getting smaller with the years, most of them are stored in the garage nowadays. Some records went to my daughter, who has her own vinyl collection, and loves my old Lou Reed records.

I think a vinyl collection is beautiful to look at though, and these Palaset cabinets by Finnish designer Ristomatti Ratia look amazing together with the art posters and pictures. 

pictures via mundadaa

Norm architects | Menu

These pictures are from a project that Norm Architects recently did for Menu. Looking at them I noticed how the walls have a great impact in these shots. With the furniture being overall white, they add some colour to the image.  

Pictures via Norm Architects Facebook Page with thanks

A piece of Finland | Finnish design shop + coffee corner

It had to be a new Finnish design shop that opened it doors last week to introduce me to the 'WARM' coffee and tea set. A ‘mini classic’ of Finnish and Scandinavian design combining ceramic teacups and teapots with bracelets of laminated bent wood |Design, Brian Keaney|

'A piece of Finland' is a brand new store in my hometown, selling and promoting all things Finnish! Owners Ramona Korhonen and Anna Kelhu opened the shop last week and next to selling and promoting Finnish brands they love the store functioning as a cultural meeting point. 
The back of the store is light and white and the minimalistic painting on the wall represents Scandinavian winter. Sitting at the table in the coffee corner they kindly offer me my first Finnish Tippaleipä |Finnish may1st sweets| and a glass of Sima!

With a dose of enthusiasm they talk about how they grow up in Finland close to nature... and how they miss the silence of the forest sometimes. Selling travel books at the store and advise those travelling to Finland is part of their philosophy. More pictures of the store and the brands you can find at 'A piece of Finland' on my other blog Amsterdam Next

picture © vosgesparis | amsterdamnext.com

New design by Brdr. Krüger

Danish Brdr. Krüger currently most famous for their tray tables designed by Hans Bølling, now takes an important strategic leap forward with the launch of brand new designs created in collaboration with leading designers. the Ferdinand Lounge Chair, designed by Danish-based OeO Design Studio, and the Lune Lamp, designed by Norwegian Sverre Uhnger are the latest additions to the family business.

The Ferdinand Lounge Chair is rendered in soaped-oak with a pure-lined modern look. Woodturning guides the structural design, including the sculptural and very distinctive backrest. 

The Lune Lamp represents a fusion of woodcraft, material and modern technology and is inspired by a wood-turned object, in this case the sphere. The result is a modern lamp with a tactile and welcoming feel. 

The Lune Lamp is available in smoky, linseed-oil-treated oak and in soap-treated oak. Norwegian designer Sverre Uhnger, a trained cabinetmaker with a great fondness for woodcraft and woodturning, designed Lune Lamp.

pictures via Brdr. Krüger with thanks

IKEA PS Collection 2014 | A sneak peek in Paris

Wall shelf with 11 knobs by Keiji Ashizawa Tokyo, Japan

From April 1st the new IKEA PS Collection ' On the Move ' can be found in IKEA shops worldwide. The official launch was last week in Paris and I had the pleasure to be invited by IKEA to jump on the TGV and have a look at it for the first time. 

With more people who currently live in cities than in the countryside IKEA is responding to this trend with the new PS collection by and for young urbanites. A total of 15 young designers from cities around the world, including the Amsterdam design duo Scholten & Baijings designed 51 flexible , affordable and multi-functional design products .

It’s a collection for people and homes on the move: young-in-mind urban people living “in the moment” in a small space. The use of color in this collection is a little different than you're used to see from IKEA. In addition to the colors orange and red we see some softer yellow, green pastels and neon pink in this collection. 

Dutch design duo Scholten & Baijings are well known worldwide for their minimalistic forms and balanced use of color. For the IKEA PS collection they designed a series of clocks and posters. Stefan explained how IKEA and their team worked together on every little detail of the clocks, and how he hopes to reach a larger audience with this collaboration. 

The posters are typically Scholten & Baijings, who In their design make use of light effects, grids, transparency and layered patterns. The look of the posters change when you look them from different viewpoints.

"I wanted to design something simple for children to encourage play and move ment. They can balance on it, jump over it, crawl under it... then sit down on it to relax... so they can do it all over again!” Balancing bench by Henrik Preutz Älmult, Sweden

“I have designed two pieces both of which I would describe as open.The wardrobe is a piece that is free from codes. It can be placed anywhere and due to its camouflage it adapts to any kind of home furnishing. It plays with what ́s hidden and what ́s revealed and it allows you to create your own design. Wardrobe in white or grey/silver by matali crasset Paris, France 

“The inspiration for the pendant lamp came from science fiction and video games. The main idea is that the customer can change the shape of the lamp shade and the light output by pulling the string. Pendant lamp by David Wahl Shanghai, China

“The idea was to create a work environment within the living space. The furniture we design allows you to continue working at home, but more importantly, to keep your work separate from the living area when you’re spending time with your family.” Bureau by Krystian Kowalski Warsaw, Poland

                                 PICTURES 1|2|4|8 IKEA   3|5|6|7 VOSGESPARIS

Asplund | Blog tour Stockholm #5

I am a huge fan of styled corners and also in my own home I like to add small objects together to make little still lifes. The thing I love personally is to have a little starting point as a base, like a marble plate, a bunch of magazines or as in the picture above adding objects together in a mini vitrine. A cubistic form designed by Eva Lilja Lovenhielm for Asplund in lacquered metal with a thick crust in wood or like here in Carrara marble.

They caught my eye when we visited the store during our Blog tour in Stockholm recently, where we got a tour through the shop. And Johan Ridderstråle, who together with Mats Broberg designed the Tati tables one of Asplund's big success stories, took us through their collection. The Tati tables are available in a variety of colours, including lilac, white, grey and green. This year the series is extended with a mirror, coatrack and two different tables — a rectangular and a circular dining table. 

After our tour through the shop we had a delightful Turkish dinner together with the lovely people from Asplund, designers, stylists and our group of bloggers at these minimalistic tables surrounded by great design. I loved to see the huge suspensions by Petite Friture and eating from the minimalistic elegant Frame tables. Thank you Asplund for the great reception and wonderful night!

Pictures by Riikka Kantinkoski for Bloggerstour.com 

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Kids Work spaces in Black & White | Ferm Living

During our blog tour to Copenhagen last august where we styled the Bloggerzone at the first DesignTrade fair, we also had the pleasure to meet the people behind Ferm Living. A Danish brand with a wide range of interior products including wallpaper, textiles, decorative objects, wall stickers and designs for the kitchen, bathroom and office space. 

I loved to see two of my friends working together on a serie of new pictures in Riikka's home for Ferm Living. You can see more of their work on their blogs, here on Emma's designblog and here on Weekday Carnival where they show the pictures they made mostly focused on the kids products. Next week they'll show some more grown-up spaces so keep checking back.

pictures via Emma's with thanks

Creative with BEMZ | Blog tour Stockholm #4

A few weeks ago I wrote about how I would love to exchange my current grey sofa for a white and linnen copy |here in this post| and I think a white linnen sofa might be even closer than I thought. During our Blog tour in Stockholm we visited BEMZ on our first night in town. 

If you have a piece of IKEA furniture at home and you are bored by the look of it just like me, this is where BEMZ come in handy. They provide custom designed covers for a large range of IKEA chairs, sofa's, cushions, bedspreads and many more. Big chance they can make a brand new cover for your couch as well. 

We visited their flagship store in Stockholm |Odengatan 22| where we could see examples and fabrics. After a few bits and bites we were challenged to design our own cushion cover... we could choose any fabric or paint as some of us used| from their huge samples table in the middle of the store. 

In case you would love to design your own cover, they provide free fabric samples for those who are not able to come to the store! See many examples here on the Bemz website. 

With this sofa and it's designer still in mind I chose to work with black and white linnen and to keep the stitches visible on the outside. The pattern is somewhat predictable but I liked to work with this technique and the super soft linnen. 

Here are some more examples in white of IKEA furniture transformed with BEMZ covers. I had a wonderful first evening and would love to thank the girls over at BEMZ!

Bemz cover for Tylösand 2-seater sofa with 1 armrest, fabric: Absolute White Panama Cotton.Bemz daybed cover, fabric: Absolute White Panama Cotton | Picture by Bemz

Bemz daybed cover, fabric: Absolute White Panama Cotton | Picture by Bemz

                      Pictures Riikka Kantinkoski | Vosgesparis |Bemz 

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Stockholm Furniture fair | Blog tour Stockholm #3

It was the first time I visited the Stockholm Furniture fair during our Blogger tour in Stockholm and really enjoyed the atmosphere. I always love to see how the various brands show their new collection and I was especially happy to see the stand of Danish brand by lassen. I am a huge fan of their design. I think it is the iconic kubus form that I am attracted to most, as I have always loved square shapes more then any other. 

By lassen is a family business whose simple mission is to carry the Lassen legacy forward and I loved meeting the great grand daughter of Mogens Lassen who kindly showed me around in their stand. I also choose their 'Twin' table as my favorite item from the Furniture fair |more about that at the end of this post| because I love its versatility and shape, it will be available from April 2014. 

 

The same shape and color pattern is used in the stand - white - wood - grey and copper. The art prints are from Kristina Dam, I wrote about her work last month here: Kristina Dam studio | Graphic objects 

Due the short time we had, we mainly focused on Hall A and the Greenhouse area where our blogger team collected favorite items and booths for the Furniture & Light Fair blog. We thought Menu, String and by Lassen  really stood out.

String 

 Menu

Gerard also wrote a review on the Greenhouse area, the area for young designers where we spend a lot of time talking to many of them | I will link it here as soon as it's on the Furniture & Light Fair blog | meanwhile check it here on the Mr. Walnutgrey blog. I think we all loved the secretaire by Karen Toft in this area and I loved the work of Hanna Dalrot who showed here graduation project for Product design at Beckmans College of design.

Karen Toft Secretaire

Graduation project of Hanna Dalrot

We only had a few hours to walk around and as always... it's a matter of too little time and to much to see at fairs like this. We had a little break at Maze and they kindly invited us to have lunch with them. It was also great to talk with some people I met in Paris and Milano before, and of course, the most important! to have a look at the brands presenting their new collections and meeting new, young and talented designers.

Pictures by Riikka Kantinkoski for Bloggerstour.com 

Thanks to UBER for driving us to the fair and around in Stockholm

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