A beautifully renovated parsonage in the Swedish countryside

This parsonage from the 1700's and featured in Lantliv had been uninhabited for fifty years. And then Gustaf Willers took it over and gave it a whole new lease of life. I absolutely love that he has stayed faithful to the style and the location but added a modern touch. I dream daily about buying a beautiful old Swedish house and renovating it. Perhaps one day i'll be posting about that? but for now, here's someone else's beauty!

Pictures: Lantliv via Planete Deco Photography: Anna Kern

If you understand Swedish it's worth taking a read of the article. There are so many lovely touches to the renovation, such as Gustaf's mother colouring in the 800 hand-printed flower baskets on the bedroom wallpaper by hand. Now that's dedication!  Makes me think. What can changes can I make in my home just by taking the time to use good old fashioned handiwork?

Art for Office (Cozamia)

Hi all!  I had planned on painting a large canvas for a giant blank wall in my office, but chickened out about hanging my own artwork in there.  I also fell for an artist (Cozamia) I recently discovered on Pinterest, a site I find myself on daily, so I ordered one of her prints, the one below, that I'll probably hang horizontally.  I think it'll add that perfect pop of color to the room.  I can't wait to receive it!

I had some trouble narrowing it down, because I also loved the ones below. 

And check out her office- so cool!

All images via Cozamia



Do you have a favorite source for art?  I'm seeing more and more art I like on websites like Pinterest and etsy, and plan to incorporate more art into our home this year.  

Henry's Nursery- "The Big Board"- Part 1

Okay as promised nursery details are here.  Let's start with the single item I had the most questions regarding- Henry's Big Board as we call it.

It all started with a simple idea.  I wanted a huge board in Henry's room for pictures, etc. but I wanted something different than cork board.  I am going to have Patrick write about the initial conversations of what I envisioned but this was the very primitive sketch of what I wanted.  

In the beginning I planned on using old reclaimed floor planks from a local company that specializes in those sort of things but when hanging something over a crib, weight quickly becomes an issue.  Originally I wanted this board to be much larger but again, over a crib changes some details.

So after a lot of debate about safety Patrick went to work.  I had also planned on using amazing hardware for the corners but we ran into a lot of issues so in the end we used simple brackets to connect the boards.

 While most of my original ideas were scrapped/edited for one reason or another, one idea did make it all the way through- burlap upholstery tape woven across the back to hold up pictures, etc.  Ordered from an upholstery supplier this part was easy- weave, tighten and staple.

Several of you asked how we attached it to the wall so I included this picture to show the supports behind the board.  These boards (painted to match the wall) are screwed into the studs and the board was attached to these with hanging hardware.  I can tell you that board is not going anywhere, we were very careful about safety over the crib.

 Up after completion.

 I decided to include this too (although it is less than flattering) but it shows another view of the ceiling and light.

Closer view of materials.

Part II- Items on the board coming next.....

 First Image (the one better than the rest) courtesy of Paula of Two Ellie

A Swedish black and white home with a lovely mix

Susann from Purple Area blog once told me if you would like to find a beautiful home, always look at the home of interior design bloggers (Suzann's home looks wonderful by the way, you can see pics here). The latest Plaza magazine also proves this with the home of the blogger behind the great blog 'Hannas Room'.......

The home has such a lovely mix of furniture, with modern items from IKEA such as the MINNEN extendable children's bed (I've got it for my little girl in white and love it) and beautiful mid-century vintage pieces like the dining room chairs. The bulb fairy lights are likely from Swedish shop Granit as are the white storage boxes shown above. And look.....it's shoes on display again... wonderful!

Media Cabinet Makeover {Bookshelf Styling}

Hi all!  Hope you had a great Monday!  Over the weekend, I spent some time rearranging the media cabinet in our living room.  I was getting bored with how the bookshelves were styled, thinking it had too few books and needed more color.  I've gotten asked before about where we purchased the cabinet, but it's actually a built-in unit. You may remember how it's looked for the last year.  I painted the back Jamestown Blue by Sherwin Williams when we first moved in.

The blue in the first picture isn't a good representation, but rather a result of poor camera settings. But it's not actually as dark as the photo below either:)  

Anyways, I think you get the idea about what the shelves looked like.  So after shopping our house for more books (brining some cookbooks out of the kitchen and into the living room- a previous faux pas for me) and buying ten used hardcover books at Half-Priced Books for just $1 each, I had much more visual interest.  I also ditched the paper covers and went solely with the books themselves.

One of the biggest differences is that I took out the shelves at the very top that were relatively empty, and filled them with books.  I also added a couple of decorative vases and boxes (already owned from Home Goods).  I like keeping the photos in the shelves because seeing them just makes me happy.  Here's a closer peek.



In keeping our bookshelves practical, the Pottery Barn clock counts down to nap and bedtime, and the kleenex are essential for a baby's constant runny nose.

My favorite row of books is below.  I love the colors and two of my favorite books (Interior Wisdom and Food to Flowers) are housed there.  The Christmas book is awesome too, and I was surprised to find such a pretty patterned book (the brown links) when I took the cover off of Nate Berkus Home Rules.

And all again at a glance.  

Better, huh?   

Monday, Monday...Inspiration

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

The pretty London home of Parma Lilic owner

This London home of Janie Jackson, owner of shop Parma Lilac is just so beautiful *sigh*. So simple, so light, so me! And I love the photographic style.

Pictures: Via Saint Honore

I remember reading an article about how to produce this type of effect with a camera, and one way is to cover the lens with a pair of thin denier tights, yes, I know! Worth a try anyway?! Unless you know of a slightly more modern app?

Happy Monday by the way. I hope you had a lovely weekend?!

Quiet Time

In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.  John 1:4

In My Head

In my head I am Martha Stewart...

I am one step ahead, I cook great meals and my drawers all look like this...

 Ooohh, or even this....

But in real life (or as was the case last night) I am one hour late for supper club* and I show up with store bought cookies and wine purchased last minute at Walmart while picking up formula which we are almost out of because I am in fact never one step ahead.  

C'est la vie.....Happy Friday!

*And if you are more like me than Martha I hope you have a group as wonderful as this supper club because they don't mind.

**Also, as many of you have pointed out, those Walmart cookies are actually really good.  I had never had them before but I was pleasantly surprised.