I just received a Kreativ Award from the talented and lovely Trish over at Trouvais.  I met Trish months ago and I was immediately drawn to her exquisite images and her always interesting blog posts about antiques and French Interiors & Gardens. I learn a lot from her. And she always ends her personal comments with “Merci”!. I like that too! So dear Trish, Merci! It is an honor to get your lovely recogniton!

Here are some images from her blog. Lovely, n’est-ce pas?!

Here I am supposed to say 7 things about myself. But this time I am not going to tire you with more facts about me. Instead I refer to an earlier post here.

I enjoy every single blog I follow, they are all special and very close to my heart. This time I have decided to pass this award forward to 7 creative blogs that I just recently started to get to know (or know better!) . They are all amazing & lovely. They all cover different areas (which I like – I love to learn new things!) and they are all genuine & friendly! Love them!

Dandelion & Grey

EMD Design Journal

Beadboard UpCountry

The Clueless Crafter

The Design File

Sogni e Sorrisi

Lilla Huset på Prärien

Happy Kreativ Blog Award to you! Share 7 things about yourselves (that we all should know) and pass on the baton to 7 other blogs that you like!

We have seen decals on walls for quite a while.  As well as numbers and quotes on just about everything. But what about taking that traditional, gold mirror to the next level, with a written bold statement or quote ? (Can you tell that I had Punk Rock tendencies in my younger days?!). If you don’t want to use your treasured family heirloom piece then there are tons of large, gold mirrors at consignment stores waiting for a new (& fun) home!. I am really fond of the second image!

Images via the lovely Lotta Agaton

All that’s left is to figure out what paint to use (safe on glass without being permanent as well as Windex tolerant, which has alcohol in it) and what the actual quote would be!

I am personally not a super fan of mass produced wall decals but the ones from the French company, Harmonie-Intérieure, are an exception. Their decals are really classy and beautiful and look like they were tailor made and hand painted.

Happy rest of the week, wonderful friends!

Not many words needed here. I am totally, madly in love with this reading nook. And that’s because, I am a huge book & art lover. I like my book areas to be organized but show life. I love the color gray. Seats should be comfortable with a capital C. Mixing old with new is my style (look at the ceilings and the industrial book shelves). Slipcovers work great with 3 young kids, messy huz & 2 spoiled cats. I crave daylight. I like just about everything in this room down to the simple reading light and the fresh flowers. (This image is going straight to my personal “So Me” file).

Happy new week to you all! I hope you all are off to a good start! Sending you warm thoughts and good energy. Hug, Monika.

Image from the always lovely Belle Vivir.

Oh how happy my desserts would be in an antique cupboard like this in our dining room. It would function as a buffet and it would be the center piece of the room. My guests would be served only Champagne (I go nuts for Champagne!) from simple, antique flutes together with the most decadent individual Pavlovas. Certain rooms in my home are definitely more modern, but I love my dining room old style with a lot of heart & warmth. (Also love the Magnolia branches in the gray vase. No need for masses of flowers).

I am so going to try to make my own Pavlovas (discs of meringue layered with organic whipped cream and fresh strawberries) this weekend.

I found the recipe (and these images,  from an old magazine) in Oprah At Home. Does this look heavenly or what? Here is the recipe.

And a little bit of history, folks:

Pavlova is a named after the Russian ballet dancer Ánna Pávlova. Colloquially referred to as “pav“, it is a cake of meringue with a crispy crust and soft, light inner. The dessert is believed to have been created to honour the dancer during or after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s. Where it was created and the nationality of its creator has been a source of argument between the two nations for many years, but research indicates New Zealand as the source.

I don’t blame them – I would fight hard for that dessert too!

Happy rest of the week, friends!

Image via Flickr

Happy Tuesday to you wonderful friends! (I took Monday off due to President’s day. All we did was to enjoy the sun - which is not always out in lovely Seattle!).

I don’t know about you, but in these times of economic down turn, we are paying more attention to our budget than ever before. No unneccesary purchases. I am so tired of things anyway. I want less – not more. I want to surround myself with good quality objects and things I really LOVE. And for the first time I am so ready to take on some Do-It-Yourself projects not only for budget reasons but also to bring even more personality and heart into my home.

There are 3 things that I would love to start and hopefully also get finished in March. (Am I too ambitious?). And this is where I was going to show you a close-up image of my $37 (!) consignment wing back chair before it will get a makeover (and I know it is going to look fabulous once its done! Maybe like below).

Wherever I look – I see fabulous wingback chairs….

Image via House Beautiful

Image via Coco &  Kelly

I was also going to show you a fabulous mirror (found at the same store) that I am going to paint. But you see, Prince William (2.5 years) took off with the camera on Valentine’s day - and it is nowhere to be found! I have turned the whole house upside down. Zip, nix, nada. Camera is in hiding.

So here is a 1 year old image of the chair and me (with the criminal!). You can’t see much but at least it will give you an idea. (I will bring you more pics as soon as the camera has resurfaced! The chair has wonderful bones and is so comfortable. It is just in need of some love and a good upholstery makeover.

Camera thief – Prince William!

Here is another project that I saw over at A Perfect Gray. And now I want this in my home too! The talented home owner/blogger (yes, that is her lovely living room!) put together those wall panels with mirrors. Hello!! She had two of these lovely antique French panels. And on them she attached vintage  Sunburt mirrors. (I might visit my local antique restorer and have him make a pair of panels for me). How lovely! How personal! How Splendid! (And her white wingback chair looks like mine – pre-makeover.)

Any DIY projects you are extra proud of and would like to share with us? Please step forward, friends! We all want to learn some new tricks!

Image via Flickr

I am constantly fixing, re-doing and moving things around in my house. But sometimes I get stuck in my own thought processes and the creativity well is running mighty low. Thank goodness for the blog world, that’s all I can say! There are some ultra mega talented & creative people out there to learn from and get inspired by. Just look at these rooms with  updates/makeovers we all can do in our own homes without starting from scratch and bringing in the big sledge hammer.

First some images from blogger extraordinarie Brooke Giannetti over at Velvet & Linen. Her dining room went through some styling for a recent photo shoot. (And I hope she keeps the new look!)

The dining room went from this sweet and more traditional room.

To this. A much more clean and current look. A mix between traditional and modern – e.g transitional. I love how she incorparated a zinc industrial dining table and mixed chairs (she kept Grandma’s in the middle!). (People, furniture sets of any kinds are just, shall we say, not very personal). Her leather covered chairs are beautiful (really like the color and nailheads) and I love her new simple lantern and the Merida rug. (Brooke gets an extra star in my book because of her love for and knowledge about Swedish antiques!)

Another absolutely wonderful blogger Janell Beals, with Isabella & Max Rooms, based in my neighboring state Oregon, has me all hooked and drooling over some of her inspirational rooms. This was Janell’s family room before she decided to give her room a light facelift. Oh come on, we have all seen this look!

And here it is now. The fireplace mantel she felt was not in proportion to the built-ins (and she was right). So, a new mantel was built and then everything in dark wood was painted in a soft tan. With her color choice and updated furniture, this room went from ok to fabulous! You absolutely rock, girl!

Here are a few other room makeovers, via DesignSponge, that made me stop in my tracks.

A little bit more extensive work here (but handy people can most definitely pull this off themselves). A custom vanity was built and stained in a light blue-gray. The old mirror was reused (with a new frame) and a light was hung above a new sink and faucet from Lowes. The rubber floors were replaced with marble tile from a local stone shop, and the marble theme continued on the walls with inexpensive tiles which were cut in half and placed in a brick pattern. For more on this project go here.

Now to this kitchen re-do that is beyond lovely and created by rockstar designer/blogger Lauren over at the fabulous Pure Style Home.

They started by ripping down the upper cabinets and  putting up beadboard & shelving. They replaced the kitchen floors, painted the cabinets themselves and added inexpensive nickel drawer pulls and knobs. They painted their dishwasher in the same color as the cabinets (did not even prep for it.)  And the best of all, they had the fridge PAINTED in chalkboard paint. My yaw just dropped! If this is not getting your creative juices flowing, then I do not know what will!. For more on this project go here.

And not so much a room makeover but rather a chandelier makeover that dear blog friend Erin recently wrote about on her lovely blog This Lovely City. I just couldn’t resist!

How cute is that! In time for Valentine’s Erin hung some antique (poetry perhaps?) pages in her chandelier. And the whole room gets a unique and personal lift! You know you already have a loyal fan here, Erin!

I feel I need to take a serious look at my own dining room, my cabinets (although I have had the family room entertainment center and fireplace mantel professionally spray painted in a darker gray/green (“Equestrian Gray” by Benjamin Moore) and it looks fantastic).  But please do not paint yourself if you are not an expert. You don’t want to ruin the look and see brush strokes all over!).

This is exactly the inspiration kick I was in need of. Thank you all creative people out there! I hope that I gave you some new ideas as well. Happy rest of the week lovely readers. You are the best!

If Swedish is part of your DNA, if you would like to visit the country one day, or if you are just an art lover in general. Then you need to know at least a little bit about Moderna Museet (The Swedish Museum of Modern Art) located in Stockholm.

And who better to tell you than my wonderful childhood friend Camilla Carlberg. She works as a Senior Curator at the Moderna Museet. She is hugely talented, has been with the museum for years and is the person in Sweden I turn to if a have a question about contemporary art. Let’s all meet her!

Moderna Museet’s objective is to collect, preserve, exhibit and communicate 20th and 21st century art of all kinds. It has one of the world’s best collections of art, spanning from 1900 to the present day.

The photographic collection comprises works from the 1840’s onwards. The art collection includes key works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Henri Matisse and Robert Rauschenberg, as well as new acquisitions by contemporary artists. Swedish art is largely integrated with the international works, presenting Swedish artists such as Vera Nilsson and Siri Derkert parallel with Oskar Kokoschka and Georges Braque.

What sets this museum apart from all the other museums of the same genre?

The collection is supposed to be the best one of modern and contemporary art in northern Europe.

Recently our director Mr. Lars Nittve launched The 2^nd Museum of Our Wishes, which is a project that encourages donations to the museum to enable us to buy more art by international female artists active in the 1950s to 1970s, where our collection is particularly strong but there is a dominance of male artists. We have received a total of almost 50 million SEK which is what we wished for. It has enriched our collection immensely. Since we started, many museums of modern art around the world have started similar projects to be able to buy modern art by female artists.

Moderna Museet has a rather unique tradition since the days of our legendary director Pontus Hultén. He thought that children visitors are equally important as adults. Therefore the children’s workshop has always had a central position within the museum and it still has. He organized exhibitions that could be played in or were playful in themselves. For example SHE by Niki de Saint Phalle and other artists, where the exhibition room was in the form of a woman’s body (one of Saint Phalle’s famous Nanas) and the visitor’s entrance was between her legs. Inside, all kinds or artworks were displayed and a milk bar was placed in one of her breasts. This playful and experimental attitude is rather unique for a prestigious art museum I think, and it’s an important aspect of Moderna Museet that we are eager to preserve. (This exhibition took place in the 60′s. Progressive Swedes!)

 

Camilla, how long have you been at Moderna Museet? What is your role?

I started at Moderna Museet in 1995. I came fresh from University. I started out as an assistant curator in the photography department and then moved over to contemporary art. Photography was big in contemporary art then, in the mid-end nineties. I worked as an assistant curator to curator Maria Lind, who is now internationally famous and based in New York. When she left the museum I started curating my own shows of international contemporary art. Since 2006 I have  been working as Senior Curator and teamleader for a new department called Learning.

 Barbara Kruger’s installation at Moderna Museet (Between being born and dying, 2008)

What has so far been your proudest moment at the museum?

 

I very much enjoyed working with American artist Barbara Kruger. She is a legend, an icon within modern art. She was born in 1942 and became very big in international contemporary art in the 80s with her text-and-images based work. Her work like “I shop therefore I am” is very wide spread and known throughout the world. She is an excellent artist, clever, shy and quite friendly. In 2005 she was awarded with the golden lion at the Venice Biennale. The golden lion is only given to one artist per biennale, and only the very best get it. So she’s definitely good! At Moderna Museet we commissioned a very large work by her in our entrance areas (there are two of them) where we covered the entire walls with her texts and images. My proudest moment was when she and I inaugurated the work together in May 2008. I consider myself so fortunte to have worked with her as her curator.

 

There was a lot of controversy a few years back when the Museum moved into its brand new buildings desinged by the Spanish architect Rafael Moneo. Has the dust settled?

 

Yes, the dust has settled! In 2001 mould was discovered in the building. It was quite bad and people who worked here got sick from it. The whole museum was closed down for three years. During its closure we decided to do something about the things that we thought didn’t work so well from the beginning. For example, the walls in the galleries were not white, but pinkish! With little daylight, the pink gave a gloomy atmosphere to the whole place. So, the museum got a facelift and now we have a functional, light art museum. And we never hear people complain anymore!

 

 

 

What is an absolute must see and do at the museum?

 

Must do’s at Moderna Museet include: Lunch in the Restaurant with a panoramic view over one of the most beautiful parts of Stockholm. Visit the collection. Take part of our children’s workshop program (if you have kids). And see the Pontus Hultén study gallery with an unique art viewing machinery, a true “Deus ex macchina”.

 

What is your read on the “state of” Swedish contemporary art?

There are a some really good artists and a some really good art galleries in Sweden. The finance crisis hasn’t effected the Swedish economy too much, so institutions have not suffered as much as elsewhere.  It’s business pretty much as usual.

 

List some contemporary artists that you feel have done a lot for Swedish art on the international scene?

Lately…  Jockum Nordström and Karin Mamma Andersson, Annika von Hausswolff and Ann-Sofi Sidén.

Any new and up and coming Swedish artists that we should pay extra attention to?

I am following Christian Andersson, Jonas Dahlberg and Ann Böttcher… Three very different but all very promising artists. Cecilia Ömalm Krajcikowa as well. Look up these galleries: www.gallerimagnuscarlsson.com and www.nataliagoldin.com plus www.nordenhake.com. They represent these artists and many other interesting ones as well.

The museum shop is also quite lovely!

Yes! I buy books in our shop (we have the best selection of art books in Stockholm) and they also have great candy for those days when I’m tired and need a blood sugar boost! They also keep very interesting design items and I find the prices rather low.

Thank you very much, Camilla! I just learned a lot. I know this was a long post, dear readers. But brew yourself some tea (if you haven’t already) and at least skim through it because there is a lot of good information here to enrich your art knowledge which could come in handy in some dinner conversation!

Photos: 1. Private (Camilla). 2. Espresso bar -  Flickr, 3. Pablo Picasso (Moderna Museet), 4. Interiors Moderna Museet, 5. From the exhibition Andreas Gursky, Works 80-08 (2009)  - Flickr, 6. Anish Kapoor, Mother as a Void (1991) -  Flickr, 7. “Hon” (Moderna Museet/Hans Hammarskiöld), 8. The children’s workshop  Moderna Museet, 9. Barbara Kruger installation (Moderna Museet), 10. Moderna museet –   Flickr, 11. The restaurant – Flickr, 12. Children’s workshop Moderna Museet, 13. Alexander Calder, The Four Elements 1961 © Alexander Calder/BUS 2009, 14. Cecilia Ömalm Krajcikowa Malmaison VII (The Gallery), 15. Giftshop - Flickr

Image via WeHeartIt

Don’t expect many great Valentine’s ideas from my corner of the world! Birthdays and anniversaries – bring it on! But Valentine’s day is just not for me. I am sorry. (Maybe I am not romantic, horror! I haven’t thought about that.) I don’t know what it is, I just don’t like the idea of celebrating love on a special day (assigned by others) on the calendar. My poor hubby knows not to get flowers on that day or even dinner reservations. Having said that – I will absolutely make the day special for our little ones and the near & dear around us.

After I have finished this post (around midnight), I will get back to my match box project. I made them for little Elsa’s class last year and they were hugely popular (see last year’s post). I cover small match boxes with pretty paper and decorate them. This  year I will pack them with small chocolate hearts. 

Ok, friends here is a a follow-up picture. This is what I have accomplished last night. 8 more boxes to go!

Image via Martha Stewart

A yummy dessert of some sort will also be made. Chocolate – well of course!

And cards will be most definitely be going out. Now what I am about to write  makes me more giddy than a Valentine’s dinner. I won, people! I won a whole set of lovely Valentine’s cards as a giveaway on the FABUTASTIC blog The City Sage. (A must read blog for everyone). Anne e-mailed me and I almost made a summersault. I never, ever win anything! So thank you Dear Anne! The company behind the cards is the Minted. They offer a whole range of wonderful cards for holidays and celebrations. A treasure trove in my opinion!

Any fun & personal Valentine’s ideas you want to share wit me & us?

I have no idea why I have missed this design institution in Amsterdam called Moooi Gallery. But I almost feel I want to hop on a plane now. Not only does Moooi Gallery showcase products from some of the best within Dutch design, as well as other recognized designers, but they also contrast their contemporary funishings with sprinkles of beautiful 18th century antiques from – YES!, you guessed it – Sweden! Here you see once again (and you have heard me rant about this since the very beginning of my blog adventure) how beautifully Swedish antiques, with their simple lines and quiet look (especially the pieces with gray patina), work with modern pieces of today. I can go on about this all day long!

I see some antique Swedish beauties in the background.

But this is when I start to hyperventilate…. I have a few lovely antique pieces myself. But there is one piece I have always wanted, and I hope to one day be the lucky owner of. That is a Swedish antique clock cabinet. I almost fainted when I saw this stunning piece over at the Moooi Gallery.

Here are a few clock cabinets for sale, represented by US antique dealers with great reputation.

Images – Swedish antique clock cabinets via:

1) Tone-on-Tone, 2) Eleish Van Breems, 3) Avolli, 4) Watkins Culver/1st Dibs, 5) Tara Shaw Antiques/1st Dibs, 6) A. Tyner Antiques/1st Dibs

If, no when, an antique clock cabinet moves in with us, I will pair it with a really nice and comfy chair and a wonderful painting. That’s it. Nothing else is needed. And I would sit in that chair for hours and purr like a very content cat! Happy Monday, friends!