IKEA at Liljevalchs Konsthall

This exhibition was worth going to. Vintage Ikea catalog covers. I particularly liked some of the early ones from the 60s and 70s (surprise).

Cool looking baby seats, but they probably would have failed every safety test around these days.
The first plastic chairs from Ikea were produced at a bucket factory. I love the lamp in this pic. (I found a white one at Gamla Lampor, but it had a dent in the screen and was priced at 900 kroner. I did not buy it.)

I think this sleeping couch looks great.

Some of Ikea's vintage fabrics were also on display. These two were my favorites.

The café served 'Six cookies and a dream' for 69 kroners (a favored price at Ikea, it seems. The entry cost the same, as did the exhibition catalog.)
The more bizarre part of the exhibition took part in the basement. It housed a vintage shop, where people had donated their surplus Ikea items for the museum to sell on. All for a good cause, of course (Stadsmissionen). In one corner they had even installed a very authentic basement storage room full of old Ikea furniture.

Nordiska Galleriet

Here are some of my favorite furniture pieces from Nordiska Galleriet in Stockholm. (Sorry about the reflection in the window.)





The fantastic one-of-a-kind drawers (designed of vintage drawers) are by Wis Design.

Stockholm purchases

There is so much great design in Stockholm that it's impossible not to bring any of it home. Apart from the Lagerhaus items, this is what I bought this time around:
A yellow Ballograf bank pen. Now I will never again have to look all over the house for that one ballpoint pen that writes black and that someone 'just borrowed'.

'Thank you for tidying up so nicely'. What better incentive for wiping the kitchen tops? The yellow one is from Lagerhaus and the red horse is from the Dala horse museum.

My only vintage pottery purchase from this trip! A german cup and saucer from Stadsmissionen.

When I first told my son (soon to be 3 years old) that I was going away for a few days, I asked if there was anything in particular he wanted me to bring back for him. The reply came instantly: a yellow horse. This was a bit surprising as I hadn't heard him express any wishes for a yellow (or any other colored) horse until then. But if he wanted a yellow horse, he should damn well get a yellow horse. This brought me to visit the Dala horse museum in Gamla Stan. (Dala horses are traditional wooden, hand-crafted and hand-painted toys in Sweden. Now used mostly for decoration.) The museum shop did have a yellow one but is was over 700 kroner (about $100 US) which I wasn't prepared to pay. In a moment of creativeness, I asked them if they perhaps sold unpainted ones, and for 180 SEK I had myself a little craft project. I was home at 11 pm Friday night, and quickly gave the wooden horse a yellow make-over (of acrylic paint) so that it was ready to be presented when my boy got up in the morning. Now, kids have a tendency to change their mind about things, so just to make sure, I put the same question to him in the morning.'What was it you wanted me to bring back from Stockholm?' Luckily he gave the same answer as earlier, and I'm happy to report that the horse hasn't left his hands for very long at any one time since. I call that a success.


Seeing as I have a thing for yellow details at the moment anyway, I'm rather pleased with that little horse. The bright velvet fabric in the picture was picked up in the sales at Marimekko, and I'm thinking cushions again. Possibly for the kid’s room.

And talking about kid’s room – I was unable to resist buying two vintage miniature 'Syveren' chairs by Arne Jacobsen when I found a whole stack of them at Gamla Lampor. I already had a red A.J. stool in the kitchen of my dollhouse, so these go really well.

Lagerhaus, Stockholm

I had seen some items from Lagerhaus in Swedish interior magazines before, but never actually been in their shop. Being in one was a mixed experience, as they had lots of fun stuff, but also blatantly copy other designers.




Like these lotus patterned salt and pepper shakers, for instance. Such a Cathrineholm rip-off.



And this coffee set looked nice at first glance, but it's too similar to a German 'Thomas' range, and the fact that they have named it 'Berså' is enough proof that these people have no shame.


Having said that, I couldn't resist this bedlinen... Or the flowery paper cups and plates.

A full day in Stockholm

We got up at 4.30 am to go to the airport and fly to Stockholm last Tuesday. It was good in a way, because we got a lot done. I wasn't going to do a lot of shopping, but when Marimekko has a good sale on, I'm there... We also had a look around the interior shops at Birger Jarlsgatan, then had a nice lunch at Vurma where lemonade, extra greens, coffee and cookies are complimentary.


My latte might not have been free, but served in a beautiful glass...

One thing that is a bit annoying about Stockholm in the middle of summer, is that a lot of places are closed. Like Bakfickan at the Swedish Opera House, which we had down on our list for dinner that day. Instead we ended up next-door at Operabaren, which had the same menu, but very different interiors - all Jugend style.



We had traditional Swedish 'husmannskost'- trout grilled whole, stuffed with dill and bacon, served with boiled potatoes. Not my favorite dish of the trip, but the creme brulée for afters was unbeatable.

That evening I had an old dream come true - we went to the singalong 'Allsång på Skansen' - a Swedish institution as far as summer entertainment goes.


We got more than we bargained for when the band Larz Kristerz rounded things up with their version of Purple Rain. As long-time Prince fans, Maggie and myself were in despair. Frankie, watching the whole thing live on TV at home, texted me: They really killed it. And not in a good way.' You can see it here (if you dare):



* I feel a separate blog post on the Swedish phenomena of 'dansbands' coming on...

Stockholm trip preview

Yesterday I got back from four great days in Stockholm. We stayed centrally at Stureplan in a spacious room but unfortunately with not much of a view. A beautiful window, though...

I have lots of stuff to post from my trip, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. I'll just leave you with some great Swedish packaging design for now. Little pyramids containing milk for coffee... (Once a graphic designer, and so on.)

Olle Eksell wishlist

I got this book about Swedish graphic designer Olle Eksell a couple of years ago, and I keep coming back to it. Eksell became famous for his involvement in re-shaping Swedish graphic design in the 1950s.


Now I really want a poster with the Mazetti Ögon logo that he designed. It is one of the best known brands in Sweden, apparently. I was hoping to be able to pick one up in Stockholm when I go there, but when I search online I can only find this gallery in Malmö selling it. If any of you readers out there would happen to know of a place in Stockholm that sells them, please, please let me know!


I also wouldn't mind some of this fabulous black-and-white fabric (called Margret Rose) designed by Eksell, and a vintage tin of Ögon Kakao (Eyes Cocoa).

My beautiful laundry

Even towels and pillowcases hung to dry can be inspirational,if you're that way inclined. Better get that machine going again. Not to mention the iron...

Have a nice weekend!

Puppy playtime

Kurt and his dog cousin Xavier met for the first time yesterday. Kurt was neutred two days earlier, but this didn't stop him from throwing his weight around with the little dachshund, only 12 weeks old. They had the best time, beating each other up for hours.

Ready, steady, GO!


Long snout = great target.


A short water break


..and here we go again.


Even very energetic puppies must sleep at some point.

Exhibitions on my Stockholm list

There's quite a lot I'd like to do when I get to Stockholm next week, and these are some of the exhibitions I'd like to visit:
This summer’s major design exhibition at Liljevalchs’ Konsthall IKEA AT LILJEVALCHS. For all of us IKEA fans, this one should be good. (Thanks to Gro for the tip!)


A bit of info from their web: «Liljevalchs’ pleasurable plunge into the subject takes the form of a reflection of the development of modern society – from the emergence of the Swedish Folkhemmet to our time and to the globalised future. The exhibition provides a sky-high recognition factor as well as surprising gems from IKEA’s production.»

Then there is this Reform – nytt liv åt gamla prylar (New Life to Old Things), at 125 kvadrat.


A group of students from Kosta Glascenter are the creators of this exhibtion. They have questioned consumer habits and our tendency to buy and dispose of things at an ever greater speed. The results are re-designed objects made from thrift shop items.

One of my favorite places in Stockholm is Moderna Museet.

They now have works by artists Barbara Kruger in the entrance area. I would like to see these.

Other than that, I'd quite like to see the photography exhibition Åter Till Verkligheten (Reality Revisited), based on 1970s photos from the museums collection (mainly American and Swedish photographers).

I wasn't going to write about the other big exhibition at Moderna Museet at the moment, Clay Ketter, as I didn't think his work was my kind of thing. That was until I saw this photo of one of his works.

Being a retro dollhouse fan, I instantly recognized the shapes of Swedish dollhouse Lundby, deconstructed and all flattened out to make this piece of art. Now I'm intrigued. It says that Ketter «produced works in the borderland between architecture, sculpture and painting.» So. It looks like I might have to spend a bit longer than first planned at Moderna Museet...

Stockholm i mitt hjärta (Stockholm in my heart)

After New York, Stockholm is my favorite city. I've been longing to go there again for some time now, and reading this and this blog (scroll down a bit for several great Stockholm posts) just reinforced that longing. To cut a long story short, my friend Maggie was eager to go somewhere too, and yesterday we booked our tickets and hotel, leaving in a couple of weeks. We intend to explore and be tourists rather than shoppers... I still hope to make a few vintage bargains. It is Stig Lindberg and Marianne Westman country after all.

I visited Stockholm for the first time 10 years ago with the experienced traveller (not to mention shopper!) Paul Löwe (now of Sweet Paul fame) and I couldn't have asked for a better guide. I picked up the Stockholm Modern - a guide book to the city's design, then, and although some of the info is now dated, I still love it. (It's a shame it hasn't been updated, because it is such a well designed book.) Today I picked up my second Stockholm guide book, the Phaidon Wallpaper City Guide. It is very small, but has some good stuff in it.


In recent years I've come across the program Allsång på Skansen on Swedish TV, and having watched it a few times, it grew on me. To the extent that I now want to go there and be part of the crowd... NOT because of the audience's participation in the singing or because I hope to get on TV or anything (heaven forbid!). I think it must be that whole Stockholm atmosphere brainwashing me. So, fingers crossed, I might finally make this tacky little dream come true :-D



Top image from flickr.

Mon Amie from Rörstrand

This beautiful cup and plate are new products from Rörstrand featuring a vintage pattern by Marianne Westman from the 1950s. It's called Mon Amie (My Friend). Just right for the season, I think.

My little gardener

I'm not good in the hot weather. Sorry about the complaint, but I'm just not. Luckily I have a little garden and someone to entertain me while out there.



Watering the flowers.


Watering the dog.