Vintage from Valdres

I've been to the countryside again. Here are some snaps from the house in Valdres where we stayed overnight. (If you are a follower of this blog, you might have seen some photos from this place before.)

I want this bedlinen.

The wallpaper is going, unfortunately. (Or maybe just as well?)

Freshly painted to the owner's delight. The house was built in the early 1940s.

The office, now serving as a guest room. Turid's grandfather had good taste in (solid) office furniture.

...and was a horse enthusiast.

Better than Best Lights? I wish I'd checked this lamp for a maker's stamp.

There is also a playhouse on the property.

Lots of fun for both kids and grown-ups alike.

The playhouse interior looks the part.

Vintage Barbie interiors

Courtesy of ebay, here are some vintage Barbie interiors that caught my eye today. You'd think only the best would be good enough for Barbie, but it looks like all she had to sit on in the early days was cardboard, before Mattel Inc. advanced to give her some plastic furniture. Regardless, it all looks so much better than today's Barbie stuff.

Like a set design from Mad Men.

Barbie's sitting room in 1962.

Late 1960s? The furniture is not cardboard anymore, but the surroundings look rather two-dimentional.

1973. I got the yellow sofa + matching chair for my son's Barbie :-)

My favorite. From 1977.

Some more 70s chairs for Barbie to rest her little bum on.

Best birds from Figgjo and Porsgrund

Intricate bird decorations is not a new thing. These are from the 60s and 70s. If you've been following my blog you might recall having seen the top two dishes here before (both Figgjo Flint). The other two are new additions: the small blue and white dish is from Porsgrund while my favorite of the lot – the one in the bottom right hand corner is another Figgjo Turi-design item, the name is "Grill".

(Click on the image for a more detailed view.)

Fab London town house

Some interiors sticks in my mind. Like this one found at Apartment Therapy. It is owned by Beth Ewans in Dulwich, South London. Take the full house tour here.

When the dog's away...

...(sunning himself in a messy flowerbed)

...the boy will play. (In the dog's bed.)

Comment trouble

First of all I want to thank my readers for leaving comments. It's a big part of what makes blogging so interesting. Secondly, I owe some of you an apology – it seems that not all of your comments have been published. I realized this today when I had trouble publishing some comments. Blogger is having some technical difficulty, and I keep getting error messages. I hope it will be fixed soon, so that I can publish all your comments again!

My friend Åse's house

These photos are from the latest issue of Nytt Rom (#19). They're taken at my good friend Åse's home in Oslo. It was built in the 1960s and I love the good atmosphere and layout of the place.

The kitchen has recently been redone and it looks stunning.

One end of the L-shaped living room. The long modular shelf is designed by Johan Ørbeck Aase. It consists of shelving boards and vertical dividers only which makes it very flexible - no screws or tools necessary to assemble it.

The TV-lounge which also function as the kid's play room. What kid wouldn't love to have this Eero Aarnio chair?

And talking about kids: Åse and her family throw the best birthday parties. (And no, this particular photo is not in the magazine... )

Retro Bullet planters

In my search for background info to do with my previous post, I stumbled upon these beauties. I'm not sure if you can get them outside the US, but wow... They come in 16 colours and 3 different heights. For the whole story, click here.

Red, yellow and blue the 50's way

Orangy-red, mustard yellow and pale blue is a favorite colour combo for me. Such a classic pallette from the 1950s and still going strong.

Love these planters from Pad outdoor, available here.

Excellent rug designed by Amanda of Red Jet Whistle blog.

A vintage Aldo Londi vase that I love and cherish.

Soft and lovely Orla Kiely towels.

Midsummer night

For the first time in years we had great weather for the celebration of the longest day of the year, St.Hans' as it's known over here. It's a custom to put together a big bonfire, which they also had at our summer solstice destination of choice – Hellviktangen at Nesodden. We had to leave before the bonfire got going, but it was still a very enjoyable evening in great surroundings.

A splash of colour

I found this little gem of an ad via Poppytalk. I thought I'd share it with you.

Flight of fancy

Oh to be able to catch a flight back to the 60s or early 70s. (Minus the on-plane smoking, of course. To think that was allowed not that many years ago...)

Rug love

I love the colour and pattern combos of this rug. Unfortunately I can't tell you anything about it as I have forgotten the source, but maybe you can tell me? (What I can tell you however, is that the pink stool - Dot - is an Arne Jacobsen design. In case you wondered.)

Summer dreams

I saw this floating cabin in Sköna Hem 2 years ago and it's been in my head ever since. Isn't it a great design? It is actually a boat, so the owners can enjoy a different scenery from their cabin whenever they like. I guess it's not too practical if you have small kids (or dogs who are water crazy). But apart from that, I think it must be a fantastic way to spend a summer holiday, preferably in a Scandinavian archipelago. Dream on...

The motors around the back.

If this tickles your fancy and you want to see more photos from the article (and/or read it if you understand Swedish), click here.

Bitossi lamp?

Who'd have thought I had room for another tabletop lamp? Well, when one as big and lovely vintage as this one turns up for a reasonable price, I make room. I think this might be a Bitossi/Raymor as the Italy stamp (see inset bottom photo) is very similar to the ones on my Rimini blue Bitossi items. And the pattern looks very similar to this one (click to open link).

I'm considering getting a different shade for it. What do you think?

Interiors anno 1961

Hope you've all had a nice weekend. I thought I'd start my blog week by giving you some nice living room interiors from vintage French magazine Art & Décoration, their april issue in 1961 to be specific. The magazines (as a lot of interior books) back then seemed to print mostly black and white photos – due to economics, I guess. But then again, the few full page color images are really a feast for the eye. (The last pic here is an ad, hence the text on it.)

I love the use of colors in these rooms. Petrol blue being one of my favorites.

Tote cravings

I love tote bags. Can't seem to get enough of them. They are so practical for all type of errands - grocery shopping, taking stuff to and from kindergarten, beach trips, you name it. The one above is my latest and I'm very, very happy with it. It's designed by the talented Heather of Skinny LaMinx and you can get your own from her etsy shop, click here. Not only has she sewed it but she designed the lovely bird pattern and printed it too.

There are so many nice tote's around at the moment. Here are some of the ones I got my eyes on:

Luxor bag from Marimekko. Pattern by Rinne Niinikoski.

By Lucienne Day. Sadly no longer available... If any of you know where I can get one, PLEASE get in touch!

Picknick pattern by Marianne Westman. Most known for prints on ceramics, but now also available on linen. From Designtorget. Part of a lovely collection - I wouldn't mind the tea towel either.

'Jakten' tote, also from Designtorget. Pattern by Ulla Bodin.

What the cat dragged in over the weekend

On my recent trip to London I bought an orange lamp (above) at Habitat. It was only £15 and I thought it would go well next to the tv in the living room. And it did. But on Saturday I went thrift shopping and found this:

Which goes even better. And was just £3.50! I just love the crafty feel to this one. It's a vintage West Germany ceramic item. The basic shade is new (from Åhlèns).


Here are some vintage cups I found at the same shop. The one on the left is by Staffordshire, England while the one to the right is by Stavangerflint.

My heart skipped a beat when I then saw this trivet... The graphics are just perfect. The material is a lightweight metal one with a cork underside.

I got lots of other stuff too, some of which I might put in a later post. All in all, it was a great weekend for vintage bargains for me.

My weekend away

These pictures are from the house in Valdres where I spent my weekend. There is a small group of us who go every year. The place is (finally) under renovation, but the old interior has its charm, I guess.

The lamp stand is like something extra terrestrial. And someone made a lot of effort carving trolls into the sideboard.

If you want to see more photos of this house, I did a post two years ago.