Merry Christmas!

This beautiful picture was taken by Pernille Enoch / Femina DK

Have you got any fun plans?  I'm taking a little time off to visit, family and friends which will be so nice and maybe even go on a road trip to snowy Norway (we'll see).

If you feel like a little Scandinavian interior inspiration in the meantime, I love these archives (some of them have over 100 homes - how crazy is that?!):

Swedish homes
Norwegian homes
Danish homes
Finnish homes
Vintage inspired homes
Bohemian style homes

And just in case you missed it - the best of My Scandinavian Home 2017 is now up (thank you for a wonderful year).

Wishing you a very merry Christmas! I hope your holidays are full of love and laughter.

See you January 8th!

Kram!

Niki x

PS This beautiful picture was taken by Pernille Enoch. See the DIY for this and other candle decorations here. So pretty!

A Mysig Swedish Family Home at Christmas

How pretty is this beautiful house in the suburbs of Stockholm, all decked out for Christmas? The beautiful home belongs to interior designer, photographer, storyteller and founder of Wiho Design, Jasmina Bylund who lives with her 'sambo' (live in partner) and their children - Winston (3.5) and Belle (6 months). Jasmina has decorated the house in shades of grey, white and midnight blue and a beautiful blend of old and new. "I don't follow a particular style, I simply follow my heart," Bylund explains.  Jasmina is a big fan of Christmas and loves to "gather family and friends, eat good food, bake, decorate and wrap presents." Evidence of this can be seen throughout their home - which is peppered with subtle festive touches  - including a Kungsgran tree, pretty wreaths, sprigs of pine  and paper star lanterns. No doubt there's snow outside the window too. Åh va mysigt!

Photography: Jasmina Bylund, shared with kind permission.

Oh so pretty, don't you think?

Get the look from Jasmina's home: living room - wall hanging from FROSTA design, Menu Turning Table, Hay table, seagrass belly basket. kitchen - wine glass rack. bedroom - on the wall 'Jotun Lady Happy Homes'. This natural bed linen is beautiful. sitting room - Bemz sell lovely linen slipcovers for sofas (see mine here!). The wrapping paper was sourced on Etsy.

For similar paint colours check-out the Jotun Lady range - they have so many beautiful colours (I used Blushing Peach for my bedroom). To achieve a similar textured surface seen on Jasmina's bedroom wall try adding Roll-A-Tex Sand Texture Additive to the paint (I used this in my dining room make-over and it worked wonders!)

If you'd like to see more of Jasmina's home and latest projects you must check out her lovely instagram feed and blog.

And if you're looking for more Scandinavian home tours with a festive touch - these will definitely get you in the Yuletide mood:

A Swedish country home at Christmas
A Danish home at Christmas 
A Norwegian home on Christmas eve
 Dreaming of a white Christmas in a Swedish home
A cosy Scandinavian home ready for Christmas 

If these have inspired you to rush home and decorate your own home I can recommend these beautifully simply DIY ideas:

Lovely, easy Danish Chrismtas DIY ideas
5 beautifully simple Scandinavian Christmas DIY ideas

Have a lovely day!

PS Are you still Christmas shopping (I am!)? If so this list of last minute Christmas presents for Scandinavian design lovers (and their children!) might come in handy. 

Subtle Festive Touches in a Norwegian Home

Morning! I'm a little bleary eyed after a red eye flight from New York, which landed at 7 a.m. this morning at Copenhagen (1am USA time) GUH!!! I think I'm on my third coffee and it's not working - help! Jet lag tips welcome! Despite my cloudy mind, I wanted to stop by and share some beautifully subtle Christmas decorations in the Norwegian home of photographer Elisabeth Heier (you might recall this inspiring post of her Christmassy home a few years back!). Elisabeth has gone for a 'less is more' approach this year since she is moving shortly. Even so, I absolutely love the festive touches, calm tones (with a hint of wine-red) and the combination of the grey with brass. Enjoy!

Photography: Elisabeth Heier / shared with kind permission. 

Oh so lovely! Everything looks so calm and organised! I could quite happily sleep off my jet lag here!

Is there anything that stands out to you?

Get the look: Pick up pretty brass Christmas ornaments at Ferm Living (incidentally - I also spotted a brass Christmass tree stand in the webshop too - love that!), I love this elegant candlestick holder by SKULTUNA, small brass tree.

I'm going to do my best to pop back in before the weekend kicks off but since I'm fading fast I'd better say 'have a wonderful' weekend now (just in case!).

See you Monday!

PS I was happy to see a write-up in the New York Times about Scandinavian-themed books this week (even more so, because it includes my Lagom Book - yay!). It's worth taking a peek if you fancy taking it easy this holiday with a nice (Scandi-inspired) book or two!

5 beautifully, Minimalist Christmas Trees

It's that time of year.... yaaay! In Scandinavia people source their trees in all kinds of ways - if they live rural they might chop one down from their own backyard / forest, others visit sustainable tree farms and of course, there's always vendors selling them on street corners for the urban folk among us! Either way, when it comes to decorating the tree Nordic style, in my experience, it's about keeping it fairly minimalist and allowing the beauty of the branches to shine through (update: thank you so much to Rita for pointing out that there are also Scandinavians who love to go all out too!). Here's our round-up of beautiful Scandi-style Christmas trees - for homes big and small!

Photo - Niki Brantmark / my scandinavian home, styling- Sarah Brooks-Wilson

The man and I were so happy with our new bedroom (see pics of the make-over here and here) that we decided to go all out and treat ourselves to a Christmas tree in the bedroom this year!! I decorated it with simple black candles (beware if you also decide to go for real candles (also seen on my tree last year) never ever leave them unattended!!) I absolutely love waking up to the smell of fresh pine!

Pella Hedeby

Ma Maison Blanche

House Doctor

Daniella Witte

So many pretty ideas to steal here! We hope you've found our tree round-up inspiring too! We'd love to see yours - please do tag us on instagram with #Myscandinavianhometree!

It's my last day in New York today - booooo! It's been wonderful (what a FUN city!!!), and such a magical place to be in the run-up to Christmas. I'm not looking forward to my overnight flight to Copenhagen later I must say, but it'll be nice to get back - as the Swedish saying goes 'borta bra men hemma bäst' (very loosely translated as - 'it's great to be a way, but there's no place like home!'). 

Have a lovely day!

Twinkle, twinkle little tree!

Sponsored post
The Scandinavians generally start decorating their home for the holidays on the first Sunday of advent (is it the same where you live?). As with all things Nordic, the decorations are beautiful in a fuss-free, subtle way.  Think earthy colours, natural textures and plenty of foliage for perfectly imperfect vignettes.  Every year we head to the forest to cut down our Christmas tree (one of our family's favourite days of the year,  not just because there's glögg and pepperkaka (ginger thins) involved, honest!). But this season I'll be bringing in another type of tree too - the Nobili collection by Denmark's oldest ceramics brand Kähler. Designed by Mette Bache and Barbara Bendix Becker, Nobili is a pretty series of six hand-decorated ceramic candle holders inspired by the clear frosty nights of the winter forest. Each is perforated with holes to allow the warm glow of candlelight to cast pretty shadows on the wall. Not only does it make for a cosy display on a table, mantel piece or windowsill, if you're very tight on space at home it's the perfect mini Christmas tree alternative!

"The distinctive silhouettes are inspired by clear frosty nights in a winter forest, when the shadows
dance and the stars glimmer in the soft, freshly fallen snow."

 "When darkness falls and the moon shines in the clear night sky, the shadows dance across the frozen streams and the soft, freshly fallen snow that covers hills and trees. It is these evocative hours and the wholly unique light of Nordic forests that inspired the range’s dark, vivid glaze."

Aren't they beautiful?! Sooo cosy too.

I love how pretty the dusty green, mouth-blown Omaggio glass vase looks in the vignette on the table too. "When the dusty green vase is combined with other shades of green, it creates a shadowy, fascinating contrast to the pale, Nordic aesthetic," the Kähler team explains. Yep, totally agree. It's very subtle and ideal for fresh sprigs of pine and other foliage gathered from the garden / nearby park / forest / through the cracks of the pavement - the more imperfect the better! 

You can pick up items from the Nobili collection and Omaggio glass range over at the Kähler web shop and a whole host of design shops (find your nearest retailer here). 

Bring on the hygge! 

This post is brought to you in collaboration with Kähler, however all words are my own and I only ever work with brands I love and think you will too.