It feels like we have been seeing fabrics with really thick stripes for years (especially black and white and dark blue and white). When I came across this image in the latest issue of House & Home, I had to stop and stare for a while. I realized that I had forgotten about my early love -  thin striped fabric! In vogue or not — who cares. I will definitely add more of this to my own home. Simple, calm, casual and classy.

I might also need to add some pretty & festive bulbs to my chandelier for the winter holidays.

Hugs to you all!

Are you holding on to your hats, folks? (In my case a helmet). Speedy season is here. Gas pedal pressed down hard. Woosh!

I don’t know about you, but I have hardly had any time to focus on new fall decor. I am keeping everything pretty much the same as last year. I did manage to carve out a few minutes though to dress up a few vases around my house with cheesecloth, burlap and jute ribbon. I added berry branches from a local grocery store. Not much, but I like the look. Rustic, simple and “fallish”. Then when winter comes I can just replace the branches with thick pine branches. (I am a practical Swede after all!).

My Austrian grandfather, Max, once went on a hike in the Alps and found a pretty and rare Edelweiss flower. He had it dried and mounted into a brosche that he gave to my mother with her name engraved on the back. I added it to the the arrangement and now it has so much more meaning.

I put some mini pumpkins in a candle holder dressed in burlap.

So a little bit of fixing & relaxation at home… (with a little bit of music to work to)…

… and a lot of things happening on the store front.

First, thank you to the chic People Magazine’s Style Watch (in stands through November) for putting our store and the Ilse Jacobsen boots we carry in the limelight.

Second, as a Thank You to all of our followers and readers, we are offering a splendid giveaway. It is a Facebook sweepstakes. It is easy. All you need to do is to like us on Facebook.  One lucky winner will walk away with a $350 gift certificate to spend on anything in our store. Not bad, right, before the big holiday seasons! Sweepstakes ends on Friday October 26th. Enter here.

Fall season means rainy season — at least here in Seattle. We have added Ilse Jacobsen’s latest models and colors to our store. The new 3/4 length coats are selling like mad. (Europe is almost sold out!)

More jewelry has been added. I personally like precious metals but I don’t want my jewelry to be mass produced. Astrid Bjork’s wonderful sterling silver ring is a Swedish design classic. She has been making that ring for 18 years. Timeless and stunning.

Also new in our store are a few pieces by the popular Swedish brand Sahara. I wear the earrings almost daily – and get compliments all the time! (They look even better on than in the picture). Sahara was founded by the talented Swedish gal, Lovisa Wester Bäckström in cooperation with Camilla Läckberg, who is a mega big suspense author in Sweden. To date she has sold over 5 million books. An added bonus since I am a big time Suspense Novel reader!

We are delighted to say that we have added a whole new lighting line to our store! We have picked styles that are current and timeless and lights that are affordable. There are many handsome light fixtures to chose among — and more will be added!

More goods for the kiddos have been added.

And more new items will be unpacked in time for the holidays.

We are happy for one of our great designers, Emma Sjogren, who just had one of her beautiful wall hangings (print on linen) featured in the leading country homes magazine in Sweden (Go, Emma Go!). We are the only store in the US to carry many of Emma’s popular designs.

From walls to floors. We are now carrying Brita Sweden’s immensely popular handwoven plastic rugs. If you are looking for a rug/runner that can handle lots of traffic and spills – this might be your solution. (I have thrown away too many sisal rugs because their natural fibers can’t handle stains!). Brita Sweden uses plastic that contains no heavy metals or toxic softeners.

The birthday tees have been flying off the shelves. More colors have been added. The lovely and talented Stacey with Design Addict Mom just shared images from a photo shoot with her readers. And her adorable son Ian was dressed in one of our tees. Awww, Stacey! Ian is so precious!

A brand new store category Ewa and I are working on right now and that I am personally very excited about is – “Splendid Dining”. I am looking to add unique, good quality tabletop items for my own home for the upcoming Holiday Season. I am (as you know) picky, picky and I gravitate toward forever pieces. You will see what we have added to our store in the next couple of weeks. All I can say is – top notch.

So there. A little insight into my hectic (but fun!) daily life. My post about white wall colors will appear next week. I got a little side tracked! I hope you understand.

Fall hugs to each and every one of you.

Image no. 1 via Handmade Spark, images 2-4 via Splendid Willow.

When I moved into my first home in the US, in San Francisco (a long time ago),  I looked all over the nation for good gray linen to turn into 12 (!) non-frilly roman shades for my many living room windows. Ended up schlepping linen with me from Sweden and had shades custom made — simple Euro style. I don’t have to tell you that that little design adventure came with one hefty price tag…

I am happy to see that Restoration Hardware now offers wonderful ready-made roman shades in all kinds of pretty linen — incl. gray. Looking good! And the prices too.

Also liking Ikea’s new gray linen style fabric for its classic upholstery line, Ektorp (sofa, ottoman, chair). Bullet proof for rooms where kids (and messy husbands) rule! In my opinion, great value for the price.

And speaking of Ikea. My friend Erika Storm Wasser (also a good friend of Splendid Avenue) is on a roll. She hosts the design show “Spaces” on YouTube which quickly attracted some 3 million views. One of her fun segments is called “Splurge or Sweden“.

You can view it here. Pop over and say hello from me if you have a moment.  She is one fun gal to hang with!

Hugs to you all.

Note: to all my blog friends. I have had absolutely zero, zip, zilch time for blog hopping lately. Whatever you think, it is not you!

Somehow, somewhere I need to find more hours in the day…

How can I look at these stunning rooms from an old Danish home and not feel they should belong to me?! Me, me, me! I am on such a light kick right now. But I am really just going back to my Swedish roots? Or am I mentally preparing for the long dark months ahead? I clearly need something to off-set that mood! Light  – come on in!

(Also heart the light gray walls. And the large contemporary painting with a touch of orange in it).

Even the cats are perfect.

What a beautiful eating area. Imagine it lit with candles for the evening supper. I would never leave the room.

My Mom has always said: “Invest in a good pair of quality silver candlesticks”.

I’ve heard it a zillion times. But she is so right. Timeless beauty. They never go out of style.

Rust you can always trust for a pretty patina.

Love  it all.

Also L.O.V.E this oil painting “Gray Island”.

I purchased it from my dear blog friend-sis Michele’s Etsy store.

I found a recycled barn wood frame at a local framing store that I think works well with the painting. When I put the two pieces together the young sales assistant asked me:

“Did you paint this yourself”? “Nope,  a dear friend of mine did,  I said. “It is so cool!”, he exclaimed. It is more than cool. It is original and beautiful — and very affordable. A most perfect gift.

Hop over to Michele’s store here - and browse her other pretty art pieces.

“Gray Island” would fit right into any of the rooms in that beautiful Danish home. Perhaps above the linen chair to the right with the b/w cat on it. Look at that area again. It screams for just a bit of color and something that “embraces light” just like Michele’s paintings do.

In my next post we are going to talk about white paint colors. I so often get e-mails asking for paint recommendations. I am going to share some. And I hope that you want to share your favorite white shades with us. Yes, salute white!

Hugs to you all.

Images: Image no. 6 via Splendid Willow. All other images via Skona Hem.

It really should have been all about good memories (thank you to all my old, wonderful SCO high-tech colleagues. So much fun seeing you all after 12 years. I treasure each and everyone of you! Only dear Ms. Barbara and Mr. Brian missing… and too little time with Ms. Tamar…) and perhaps another batch of perfume…

Here’s the story in a nutshell…

I fly down to California for a fun company reunion. My close girlfriend-sis Jodi sniffs my perfume and drags me to Anthropologie to pick up a bottle. And so it happens that once a year in San Jose, CA, Anthropologie teams up with The Perfect Dog, a local dog shelter for a joint, meaningful collaboration. Eight adorable dogs are hoping for new, good homes. Trust me, a dog was not exactly on my radar…

… until I met this mellow fellow, a 6 month old Jack Russel Terrier and Chihuahua mutt.

He is calm and super sweet and does not bark or nip. His eyes say it all - an old soul in a new (and small) package. Jodi calls my husband (I don’t dare) to tell him I am, not leaving San Jose Jose without him!

I scramble to get him an air ticket, a health certificate, an airplane carrier, and new toys. (Thank you Laura for taking such good care of him!). The next morning we are flying back home to Seattle!

And now he is ours and we LOVE him! Love, love, love!

Let me introduce you to MILES! (Named after the great Jazz musician Miles Davis. Hubby’s pick).

I thought I saved him. But he is really saving me and forcing me to stop and smell the roses.

The kids are over the moon ecstatic and he is showering the whole family with grand love.

So there, my first (spontaneous perhaps) dog purchase. I/we scored. Big time. (He is sitting next to me while I am writing this).

Before I headed to the airport, Ms. Jodi who, together with my business partner Ewa, is my go-to friend for (among many other things!) excellent, easy, and healthy food, served me this dreamy and oh-so-good pumpkin scone. Fresh from the oven, I wolfed it down in a matter of seconds. (She took these pictures while I was biting my nails waiting for Miles!).

Jodi, a high-flying PR executive in her day job, runs the food blog Garlic Girl - a must destination for me and for anyone looking for easy and good-for-you comfort food. And I should know. I have been indulging in her dishes for the last 14 years!

Jodi’s pumpkin scone recipe can be found here. Make sure to bookmark her blog for many other fabulous recipes. (Look for her healthy smoothies. Jodi takes great care of herself and she looks it too!). You can thank me later.

There you have it. And you thought I was going to say I dragged a new, grand sofa with me! This beats any kind of fancy-schmanzy piece of furniture. A fun reunion, wonderful company & food and a precious dog. I’m whistling over here!

Hugs to you all.

Images: No. 1 unknown, 2-7 via Splendid Willow, 8+9 via Garlic Girl.