Living room snaps

The gorgeous spring sun seeping through the blinds inspired me to take a few pics around the livingroom.
I'm constantly arranging and rearranging my String shelves. I love them to bits, but never seem to get the setup just how I want it. But I guess that's part of the fun, right? I've never been big on color, especially not red. I've always leaned towards neutrals, however, these crazy colored germans have really won me over (they're all Scheurich). Apart from the crazy germans the shelves are currently holding WG planters, a Pantella lamp, a Muuto vase (a birthday present chosen by my dad!!), vintage Hadeland pieces, danish studio pottery, small model Panton chairs and books... My comfy leather chair is a Siesta chair, designed by Ingmar Relling in 1965 for norwegian manufacturer Westnofa. It's still in production, although by another company. Relling was the norwegian Wegner, a great designer from the Scandinavian design movement. You probably know that The Chair by Wegner was made famous by Kennedy in a tv debate, but did you know there are 16 Siesta chairs in The White House?

 

 

 

Ingmar Relling also designed these great daybeds for norwegian manufacturer Ekornes in the mid- sixties. They're called Combina and were part of a vey successful line of furniture that could be combined in many ways, hence the name Combina. We used to have them at home when I grew up, and one of them became my bed when my parents got new couches. The seat could be lifted to store my pillow and duvet when I had friends over. It's a classic mid- century piece of furniture, similar to several other daybeds of the era. These are not the ones we had back home, I found them in the exact same color after I put an ad on FINN (the Norwegian equivalent to Craigslist) What are the chances?

 

The aerial photos on the wall are for a project I did a few years ago. It's the last time I did one that didn't have a client. These are diagrams of the energy content and direction of waves and mapping of the topography on a site for a wave powerplant. I did it out of pure obsession and a solid dose of concern for landscape preservation and it turned into a thesis....

 
There's gotta be a solid dose of greenery in a home, right? I looove plants and planters. My most treasured planters are the 100 year old brown storage jars from Sandnes, near my childhood hometown. They were made by Graveren (later Gann Graveren) while they were still producing ordinary storage jars, baking bowls and roof tiles, before they started attracting artist and produced more colorful, patterned pieces. They're so rustic and cosy and remind me so much of home. My parents were kind enough to pick up these for me from an antiques store back home, they sometimes prefer driving instead of flying when they come to visit. They even found me a really large one.

 

My mom and dad are so sweet. They even found me this credenza in ... you might have guessed ... Stavanger!! It was made by a local furniture factory called Svena møbler, that was really big in the 60s. It's got such a great shape and so many gorgeous details, I just love it! Through the door you can see my new kitchen. My goal was to get a better connection between the living room and kitchen, color and material- wise, and I'm so glad it's finally done! I'm trying to convince my husband to paint the wall behind the credenza black. It would be such a great contrast to the teak and the kitchen wall that you see through the door. No luck so far... The big old radio next to the door used to belong to my husband's grandparents, and we were so lucky to have it handed down to us. I'm not sure if it's working, but it sure is a great place to put some pottery.

 

Finally, I'm sneaking in some pics from the kitchen counter- new use for old pottery, Stavangerflint Sera and Brunette. Have a great week!! 

  

A few kitchen snaps... and a couple of thrifts!

Yay- finally all the boxes are empty and all my things have found their places in my new kitchen. And my conclusion is- there is leftover space for new thrifts! I'm not sure if that's my husband's conclusion, though...
So this is how it looks like now. I'm so pleased with the large wall of cupboards where the fridge, microwave, freezer and other kitchen machinery is hidden behind gorgeous teak. My ceiling lamp is back in place. I had set my eyes on a new black one, but we needed some instant light, and when the old one was up, it didn't look half bad. I think I'll hang on to it for a while longer.

 

I got a new String shelf up to display some vintage treasures. Sadly, they don't come in teak anymore, but walnut looks very close after having been exposed to sunlight for a while. The number 7 chair in the image above was originally the darkest greyish brown walnut, now the color is almost exactly the same as the teak cabinets behind it. 

Ok, I still have kids who spill stuff from time to time, hence the tablecloth... There's teak underneath it. I dream of a Carrara marble top tulip table... This is the table where everything takes place, meals, homework and hobbies. Now you can see where the Wiinblad wall plaques went! I'm balancing them with some black and more rustic pieces, as they tend to look a bit cute. I've always been scared of "cute". As a child, I hated pink. A bit on the dark and gloomy side already then...

I did a little bit of thrifting this weekend, though I was sooo disappointed when two of my favorite stores were closed... I did however do a couple of bargains. I found the Stelton creamer and sugar bowl set to go with my coffee pot. We got the pot almost 20 years ago. It was designed by Erik Magnussen in 1977, and is still a best seller all over Scandinavia, and I'm sure pretty much everywhere else too. I've always loved Stelton for the simplicity and sharp lines. Their designs are both modern and timeless.

In this corner are also the Muuto salt and pepper grinders that I got from my sister, a tray and cutting board from Formverket and a vintage teak cheeseboard. Instead of letting the switches and plugs blend in with the walls, I chose to go the opposite way and let them go with the black theme.

 

I also found a small Stavangerflint Sera dish, designed by Inger Waage. It's small, only 15 cm long, perfect for small biscuits or chocolates. This pattern is so shiny, it's a bit hard to photograph. I tend to fall for black and brown things, and this combines both! How great is the Stelton strictness paired with that gorgeous Sera pattern?

 

 

I was so happy to find the West German "little brother" of a planter from a previous thrift haul, with a pattern from the 70s (I think! Correct me if anyone knows for sure!) that I REALLY love. It's quite small, so I guess it will be a challenge to find a plastic pot that fits inside it...

 

 

I also found a large Arabia Teema salad bowl in a rich chocolate brown. The Teema range is also one of those great simple designs that never really dates. Designed by Heikki Orvola and Kaj Franck in 1952, it's still looking very clean and modern.

  

Finally, a real treasure! We got this from my mother in law recently, it's the plate my husband used daily as a child. It's one of those great children's sets from the 60s, and I think this pattern is SO cute. It's "Venner" (Friends) from Stavangerflint, designed by Gro Pedersen Claussen. I haven't been able to find the exact year it was designed, but it must have been some time during the 60s. My childhood sets are still in my parent's house. They're also Stavangerflint from the 60s in a different design, I'll show you some time!

New shelves!!

The String shelves have arrived! I'm so thrilled. Designed by swedish architect Nils Strinning in 1949, they're a great piece of mid century scandinavian furniture. They made a great change to a former quite dull area of our living room. They still have some free space, I'm still arranging and rearranging, trying to find out which setup looks best.

We chose a combo of black sides and walnut shelves. They remind me a lot of the Tomado shelves, and provide some contrast to the pale walls. Walnut very easily changes color when exposed to daylight and sun, the color becomes warmer and very similar to teak. This has been the case with our other walnut plywood furniture, they are now very similar in color to our teak pieces. Which, of course, is no disadvantage.

I'll leave you with some images of the String shelves as well as a few other living room snaps. I'm noticing how big my living room looks, it's really not!!