Design and colour trends for autumn 2014 from Marimekko

One of these days I am going to write about interior design and how it should be done to avoid having a catalogue home - which at least to me is a nightmare.

But to form a basis for my thoughts, let me first write a series introducing the trends of this era, starting from the Finnish Marimekko.

(All photos from Marimekko)



The black and white and the graphic elements are still represented. I speculate the Christmas 2014 will be black-white-grey again, too.

I quite like the design of this fabric, called Ararat. The harlequin motives have been all over for quite some time now and to find something that is even a slight variation of it, seems refreshing.

To me, though, all the black and white is really harsh combo. In Finland the daylight is not as bright and warm in colour as in the more Southern based countries and I have always been dubious as to why Scandinavians feed on white on white. Nowadays people have realised that there are others shades of white than only the white with a hint of black, or maalarinvalkoinen as it is known in Finnish.

Even the Ararat fabric base colour is not pure white, the base is somewhat beige. And that is good!





Saivu, here in two different shades, showcases another trendy colour of this autumn, purple, in pretty much all its shades. Again, in Scandinavia, block colours do not seem to work because the natural light is blueish in its tone, too. I love the quirky Marimekko designs. And the bold use of colour. IN comparison to many other fabrics by the meter, the price is not too bad. Especially considering the good quality of the cotton they sell. But sometimes I wonder who are the fabrics meant for?

In Saivu, the design is very 70´s style which I guess is the new trend. Or do they want to make it into a trend and put on store shelves the fabrics that were designed in that era? To  me, I understand the success of the harlequin-lead circus theme which has been in quite some time now. But the dungy 70´s..?

Yea or nay?





Next time I will continue on this note with another Scandinavian brand.

Gluten-free Stockholm, Stockholm with kids, shopping in Stockholm, design in Stockholm - FABULOUS STOCKHOLM

Stockholm is so close by that it is easy to forget how fabulous it is. 

Well, I just started this entry with a lie. No, you can not forget how good Stockholm is, the problem is I just do not visit it often enough!

This time I spent 3 fun-filled days there with my daughter. We went to Junibacken, Gröna Lund, shopping, eating, had ice cream, goodies, sushi, meatballs, pancakes, cotton candy, strawberries...

The owl in the book we saw in the Junibacken book store was overwhelmingly cool and cute. Shame the book was more for babies and toddlers than for pre-school-aged.

You gotta love the Swedes. Gluten-free meatballs AND pancakes. All for the regular price at the Junibcaken restaurant.

More gluten-free goodies. This time from Edelweiss cafe at the Gallerian shopping centre. Mandelhorna, or almond horn. And I actually got to choose what to eat! They served about 20 different cakes, cookies or pastries and around 6 (!) of them gluten-free. I chose this one and it was heavenly. 

I will bake these later and let you know!

More indulgences. A gluten-free whopper. Supposedly available at all Burger Kings in Sweden. Also, Maccie D and Max sell gluten-free burgers. 

Designtorget is all about the little things, such as these. I actually was looking for extra legs about a year ago and found none. And there they were, at Designtorget, ready to be picked. Just look at the shapes and the colours! 

I would like to get this HAY table, so I took a photo of the price tag. My daughter fell in love with the rug - and I understand her. I wanted to get one for her room a long time ago, but kinda just forgot about it. Maybe in the near future, then.

Finally, some photos from the Kungliga trädgården (is that correct?), or from the Royal garden. Love the flowers, so pretty.