Scandinavian web shops

 

: : these are currently my two favorite Swedish/Scandinavian web shops, offering a wide array of products from the best of Scandinavian design .

.Swedishness. I came across just recently, I love the layout of their shop that allows you to browse products without having to navigate through categories necessarily. It's a much more visual way of navigating. And I appreciate their selection of very unique and recent Scandinavian design products. They carry several items that I have been looking for for a long time.

.Huset. has a great collection of everything from housewares to clothing. I particularly like their coffee& tea category since I've started collecting coffee and tea cups in Swedish vintage patterns.

Happy Friday!

Fireplace Makeover

Hi everyone,

Well,as many of you know we have been doing some projects in our home and we are almost done of them so I am sharing the makeover that we gave our fireplace. Oh, and while you are here I want to show you our new chair that I was so happy to get. I have been seeing these in some magazines and didn't think I would find one here but my daughter was out shopping and spotted it for me and then called to tell me a couple of days later that it was on sale so that got me moving! I am loving some of these French style magazines and blogs lately.

Now,back to the fireplace first we primed it and then gave it a couple of coats of paint (Victoriana) then we had the carpenter build the mantle out and add a 'box' at the top with three turned posts .Our fireplace has a bit of a corner to it making it a little harder to decorate but I think this works well.

You can see the box at the top with the new crown molding.I also bought a new mirror for over the fireplace.

For once,I kept it simple on the mantle with just a few things-toile plate

a matching bowl

a cherub and some china plates

Before- now it didn't really look this bad but here it is with the wallpaper removed and renovation in progress. Don't worry the mantle was never decorated like this -I just moved things out of the way .Anyway,before pics are supposed to be ugly right. I couldn't find a pic with the way it was before we started.

This is a wood burning fireplace and I lit a fire just for you! Why don't you sit for awhile and enjoy this lovely book Waterside Cottages and have a cup of tea. I will throw another log on the fire.

Now,I can't let you go without sharing a few photos of what is blooming in our garden now.

I am joining Cindy's Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home again where there is always lots of beauty to see-go and have a look if you haven't already.

I hope you all have a very good weekend

&

Thank you for visiting,

Carolyn

Subtle Changes

Hi everyone,

It was cool and rainy here today so I worked on doing some little touches inside. I think little touches can make a big difference. So,I thought I would share a few new touches in our bedroom.

I know some of you have seen our bedroom before but I think I mentioned that I was having trouble finding fabric to match the gold and rusty colored toile wallpaper.

So,as luck would have it I found some toile that I had used on a table on the veranda one summer that had faded from red to rust so I was able to make the pillow shams with it.

Then I found the pillow in the background at a thrift shop.

I also found the chenille type bedspread that is a golden color there.

The two small pillows I made awhile ago from a dress from the thrift shop also.

I also found a Ralph Lauren king size bedsheet that matched so I made the tablecloth and some valances with it and the topper is the faded pillow fabric. So,now I am happy with how the bedroom is finally coming together. They are subtle changes I know but I think they make a big difference. Don't you just love when you find little treasures?

Thank you so much for visiting me and next time I will show you our fireplace makeover.

Take care,

Carolyn

Lets get outside !

Ok so where I live it can be 80 degrees one day and 50 the next. Ahhh April, but it is time to start thinking about your outdoor spaces, no matter how small !

A Spring Tea

I hope you will join me for a cup of tea on this nice spring day. It is overcast but everything is getting so green. I am really looking forward to having tea in the garden but it is a little to early here yet. Well, maybe not to enjoy a cup of tea but a little early for the garden to be filled in enough to make for a great picture!

So,it is a spring tea up in our little sunroom today.

I made some cupcakes for us-not the prettiest ones I have ever seen but I will work on improving that next time! They are tasty though so go ahead and try one.

I love this teapot that I got on our trip to Maine last year.

I found a few of these lacy napkins at a thrift store recently-they are so delicate.

Let's sit and linger for a bit as we have been busy lately and this is my first spring tea for awhile-not that I haven't had lots of cups of tea just not pretty ones!

Today,I am joining in again with Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage Inspirations for Teatime Tuesday .

I hope you will have time to visit Sandi and check out other lovely teas over there.

Thank you for joining me for tea,

Carolyn

Wishlist item no. 3 IKEA PS SVARVA lamp

: : love the quirkiness and the character of .this lamp.

wishlist item no.4

: : I found this beautiful tray by designer Maria Holmer Dahlgren on .from Sthlm. I'm so disapointed that it's already sold out. I need to be checking their site more frequently. Hopefully I can find it somewhere in Sweden though. I think it would be the perfect breakfast tray for bringing my breakfast with me out on the balcony.

Our Reading Nook

Hello everyone,

I hope you enjoyed your weekend. We had lots of sunshine and warmer days, which made me happy. I love having the windows open , the sound of the birds singing and seeing all the new growth in the garden. I am guessing some of you probably had a more exciting weekend but that is all it takes to make this gardener happy!

Now,I want to show you one of the projects we have been working on with the help of a carpenter.In our living room( which was our bedroom several years ago )there where two closets side by side that we didn't need there anymore so I thought the space could be better used as a little reading nook or extra seating when all the family etc. come for a visit.

So we had a carpenter come and tear out the wall dividing the closets and build this cosy little nook.

I have to make a few cushions for it and the foam has to be covered with the material instead of just wrapped over it but that can be a rainy day project.

We had wall sconces installed to make it bright for reading but I would like them on a dimmer for cosiness when nobody is reading.

There are two large drawers for storage underneath.

I got these corbels at Winner's( tjmaxx) and I think they worked well here.

It wouldn't be me if there was no toile but I am using a plain natural fabric on the seat but I am wondering about making it reversible on the other side with a different fabric so when I need a change I can flip the cushion.

I did try it with the mirror up top but wasn't sure-what do you think?

Now this is what it looked like when the carpenter took off the wooden doors and knocked out the dividing wall.

Below is an updated photo of our reading nook.

Would you like to linger with a book and a cup of tea-stay as long as you like!

Today I am joining in with Cielo at The House in the Roses for show off your Cottage Monday and Susan at Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.Be sure to pay these lovely blogs if you haven't already.

Thank you for visiting

&

Enjoy your day!

Carolyn

Early Spring Garden

Hello everyone,

I hope you are enjoying your weekend. We spent the day working in the garden-it was so lovely to be out in the sunshine and see the promise of so many good things to come, I took my camera out to snap a few shots of what is blooming in our garden now.

There are lots of daffodils in bloom in various sizes and colors.

The peonies are really shooting up now. We have over 100 peonies so there will be lots of bouquets coming along in June and early July.We are a couple of weeks earlier this year then last.

The hyacinths are blooming and sending up their lovely fragrance.

A double bloodroot

striped scilla or puschkinia- aren't they pretty?

This heuchera marmalade

another heuchera -I thought it was lime rickey but it looks a little different then I remembered. They do have dainty flowers later on but it is hard to beat the lovely colored foliage of these tough little plants.

a honeysuckle vine is leafing out

ice follies daffodils

The lilacs are covered with lots of buds-it has been frosty at night lately so I am a little concerned that the flower buds on some early trees and shrubs will get frosted but hopefully not!

We have over 40 lilacs in our garden all different varieties so it should be quite a show when they bloom.

more hyacinths

blue scilla are spreading around the garden.

That is a peek at what is blooming in our zone 5b garden here on Prince Edward Island ,Canada.Well,I am off to soak my weary bones in a nice hot tub-the first full garden day will ensure a good nights sleep with dreams of good things to come!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,

Carolyn