Black and white studio by KASIA ORWAT

This studio apartment (46m²) is designed by talented Kasa Orwat home design in Poland. The black and white zones work really well. The living area is nice and light and has got lots of interesting details. I'm impressed they've managed to make the space feel as spacious as they have. There are specific zones for the living room, workspace and kitchen/diner. For a studio apartment the kitchen is surprisingly large. As most things in this studio are black and white, the wooden legs on the dining table and the light grey kitchen units softens the look. I love the milk bottles and the black SMEG fridge. I'm also a lamp addict, so this apartment really speaks to me. The Victor Vetterlein Trash Me lamp is my favourite here. 

With permission from Kasia Orwat photos by Weronika Trojanowska

Hope you're enjoying the Easter weekend!!

We're off to the airport. 

I'll show your more photos from Norway and Sweden very soon. 

hx

Herbret Antik

Last week we spent a couple of days in Sweden near Bengtsfors (Dals Långed to be excact). I visited vintage shop Herbret Antik and loved every minute of it. A shop with my colours and so many special finds. 

Owner Therése decorated the white Easter eggs in the window display herself.

all photos by me

Fancy a visit to do some treasure hunting?

Happy Easter!

hx

Breakfast with Mille Moi

I'm really enjoying my time here in Norway. I had a bit of an unplanned blog break because we've been catching up with my family. 

A while back I was sent these lovely blue and cream cups, bowls and plates by Mille Moi called "Hverdagslykke". The star bowls are my favourites and I really like the way the blue colour jumps out at you. 

There's a styling competition between some Norwegian bloggers. I do of course like a challenge, so I've styled breakfast at my parents home. I have to say it was fun styling with somebody elses stuff. I found so many nice things to include in my photos. The stool in the hall belonged to my Grandad and it's from the 1940s. I even found a copper coffee pot hidden away in the basement. Not to mention this magical light. 

Breakfast is served! 

all photos by me

Coffee anybody?!

hx

Tuesday Tips - Window Room Divider

I've seen lots of different room dividers, but one of the nicest solutions I've seen I noticed in a shop in Sweden (I'll show you more of this beautiful shop later in the week). 

A vintage window has been suspended from the ceiling with metal wires to act as a room divider. It breaks up the room, but you still get all the light and you can still see everything. It would work really well in a living room between the sofa and the dining table. The window would seperate the two areas without it feeling too enclosed. 

photos by me

If you've missed any of my (many) Tuesday Tips you can of course still read them here.

Have a nice day!

hx

Off to Norway

Magnus and I are travelling to Norway today, so I'll be blogging from there. :) Thanks so much for the comments on my plywood shelf!! I'm hoping we'll manage a trip to Sweden too. I'm sure there will be lots of cool things to show you.. 

Zara mini lookbook photo by James Stokes

Right, let's get those bags packed!

Speak soon! 

hx

Tuesday Tips - DIY plywood shelf

I've had fun building a plywood shelf, so I thought I would share this DIY with you today. 

What you need:

Plywood (I used thickness 18mm - B&Q can cut it for you in store)
Wood glue
Spirit level
Set square
Screws
Screwdriver
Pencil
Measuring tape

My shelf measures; back panel 61cm x 183cm and five shelves of 10cm x 61cm. 

First you decide the size of the gaps between the shelves. I decided I wanted to have one larger shelf in the middle. Here are the measurements I used. These are the gaps between the shelves; 34cm, 30cm, 42cm, 34cm and 30cm.

Once you have decided where you want your shelves, you draw a line with a pencil. It's important that the lines are straight obviously, so I would suggest using a set square to keep things completely straight. 

You then follow the line and make a straight (ish) line with your wood glue. I would recommend a really strong wood glue, especially if you're going to use the shelf as a display unit more than a bookshelf. (TIP! If there's any excess glue you can remove it with .. wait for it.. make up removal wipes. The wipes even take away fingerprints and pencil marks if there are any, they are so handy for DIY projects) I applied glue on both the back panel and the shelf. 

When you have glued all the shelves you have to leave it all to dry. After about an hour my husband and I added the screws. They offer extra support, so I think it's important to add screws as well as glue. We put in 3 screws on each shelf. They are of course on the back and you wouldn't even know they were there. 

Your shelf is now ready to be used. You can of course paint it if you want to. I'm leaving it natural just now as plywood is of course very trendy. Just like large knit cushions (this one is from B&Q).

Unique vintage upcycled plates by Yvonne Ellen.

Hope you like my DIY shelf and that you'll build one! 

You can read all my Tuesday Tips here.

hx

The materials used in this tuturial were sponsored by B&Q. 

Product review easyGrow™

This weekend we tested the new B&Q easyGrow™ concept. I thought I would have to help Magnus (6 years old, sorry I mean 6 and 3/4!), but he was happy to do it all by himself. When he finished he actually said - I want to plant some more. 

The new Teabag Technology™ is more enviromentally friendly, less messy and it's seriously easy. The plants come in "teabags" and are ready to be planted either in the ground or in pots.  As we don't have a garden, because we live in a flat, we planted some flowers in window boxes. They'll look nice and colourful very soon. 

There's no mess and no chance of damaging the plants. Some of the roots had already grown through, so you can see how well the teabags work. It took Magnus about 5 minutes to plant one window box and that was with me taking lots of photos too. 

I think this is a great new concept and would definetely recommend it. From an early age Magnus has been helping me in the garden and we used to grow all kinds of things when we lived in France. I think it's great to see kids enjoying the outdoors and getting an understanding of how it all works. Now all we have to wait for is the flowers to come out. I don't think it'll be too long.

Do your children like taking part in the garden? 

hx

The plants in this post were sponsored by B&Q.