modern mid-century apartment

I came across this incredibly beautiful apartment the other day. It’s in Stockholm and belongs to the prop stylist Joanna Lavén. I love the modern mid-century style with a  Scandinavian touch.

 

 

If I could choose one apartment to move to right now, it would be this one!

http://www.agentmolly.com , http://www.linkdeco.se, Photographs: Idha Lindhag

how to pick a sofa?

White/beige or dark…?

Before, I always liked white/beige sofas, like this one below

 

Bluebell from sofa.com for £1,195…

But then I’ve really started to like more colourful interiors, so perhaps a colourful sofa?

Elle Decor Photographer Simon Upton Featured in French Flair in London Issue April 2010

Blue?

Elle Decor Photographer William Waldron Designer Steven Gambrel Featured in Restorative Power Issue January 2009

 

Or a really dark one?

Elle Decor. Photographer Grey Crawford Designer. Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch. Homeowner Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor. Issue: July 2005.

 

Elle Decor suggests “shop the look” for the above article: Floating sofa by Edward Wormley for Dunbar for $9,500… Thank you for that advice elle decor.

1stdibs.com

 

Can velvet sofas be nice?

Elle Decor. Photographer: William Waldron. Designer: Steven Gambrel. Issue: March 2005

 

Elle Decor. Photographer: William Waldron. Designer: Philip Hooper. Issue: April 2005

I found this one on gumtree for £75

But then thought that it might be a bit too girly…

But a dark velvet sofa is actually really nice, never thought I’d like that. But this one below is gorgeous.

The Milo Baughman sofa – elle decor – photographer eric piasecki

 

At sofa.com they have this sofa called Descartes

Descartes from sofa.com

 

Green Descartes

Do you think the Descartes sofa looks comfortable or is it too… square?

sofa.com also have the bluebell sofa in darker colours, and velvet:

  

Does it look more comfortable compared to:

?

If the Descartes is as comfortable, I think I would go for this last one, the “elephant pure cotton matt velvet” colour. What do you think?

Only problem is that it costs £1,695. hmm.

But at made.com, who is “taking on the high street to offer you original furniture design at affordable price”, they have this Flynn sofa for £699

Flynn sofa – made.com

But maybe it looks too square and uncomfortable? and it doesn’t come in velvet…

Oh the sofa hunt continues…

Naja Munthe’s apartment in Copenhagen

Danish fashion designer Naja Munthe, part of Munthe + Simonsen, lives in this beautiful apartment in Copenhagen. The apartment’s colour scheme is sober white, grey and black. The colours, straight lines, big space, high ceilings and wooden floors make up this classic Scandinavian style. I think Scandinavian style can be a bit boring sometimes, but in this apartment, the oriental details add a more personal and interesting touch.

I love this bedroom! Naja Munthe started the Home Collection Casa de Luxe by Naja Munthe a couple of years ago and the bed linen are from it.

They can be bought online at rikkitikki

…where they also have lots of other things from the collection:

pictures of the apartment via 

inspiration board for the new living room

Following on from my previous post, I’ve taken my favourite pictures and made an inspiration board.

 

Inspiration boards are great tools to gather your thoughts and act as guidance when decorating and choosing new furniture.

style for the new living room?

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what style to have in the new apartment and I have been looking around for inspiration. I always know exactly how I want to decorate when I don’t have any space to decorate, but now when I do, I find it really hard! I’ve gone through my folders with downloaded pictures and I’ve browsed elledecor.com and several interior design blogs… but.. it’s just not completely right.

Take these pictures below as an example. I love this dark room. But can I have this style it in our flat? Probably not. The walls are light grey and the room is much smaller. Not really any space for that massive book case.

Elle Decor July 2005. Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor.

 

OK, so an example of a room I like with bright walls. The one below is so sweet, but again, it’s in elle decor (celebrity homes), so obviously a couple of more square metres than the flat we’re moving into. Can’t really say we got those high ceilings either.

Elle Decor ‘Keri Russell at Home’ June 2011

 

Elle Decor ‘Restorative Power’ January 2009

 

London home by Rose Uniacke.

London home by Rose Uniacke.

Maybe when I have a massive house with high ceilings…

So then I thought, ‘these are interior design magazine homes, obviously the spaces will be grand and a bit different from what I can work with. Check some real homes.’ So I went to Swedish real estate agencies’ websites, one of my favourites is bo-laget.se (you can find amazing flats there and I sometime spend hours browsing…). But all the apartments were so boring, cautious and modest!

ehm… I mean it’s not bad or ugly, it’s just so… uninspiring.

Don’t misunderstand me though, I like the bright scandi style too (when a more interesting touch is added to it), but maybe more for a summer house.. like this:

Anyway, so I keep on looking through my interior design folders (they take up some space on my laptop) and browsing the internet for something that is more suitable for the new flat. And I find these ones below:

Interior designer Frederic Mechiche’s apartment in Paris. Kikkette’s blog.

I just love all the books and the bright-mixed-with-black look.

flat from fantasticfrank.se

This is a bit too white in my opinion, but I like the 60s furniture. Although another way of decorating with 60s furniture can be seen below, and is not too white, maybe just not very cosy..

Elle decor. Designer Peter Frank. ‘Time Traveler’ July 2008

 

This room is cosier in that case, I think it’s because of the darker colours and the fact there’s more stuff.

Elle decor. Designer Nate Berkus. ‘Brian Atwood and Nate Berkus at Home in Milan’ April 2009

One of my absolute favourite pictures of a room:

Elle Decor. Designer Nate Berkus and Anne Coyle ‘An All-Star Makeover’ March 2010.

This one below is almost exactly the style I want, so it’s a shame I haven’t been able to find more pictures of this home, can’t even remember where I found this one.

 

Oh and then I found this living room below, which is so nice!

Elle Decor. Made to measure: A loft apartment by Len Morgan.

 

Text from elledecor: In the living area of a Manhattan apartment designed by Len Morgan, an Axel Vervoordt sofa, a Philippe Starck chair, and an antique English stool surround a cocktail table by Philip and Kelvin LaVerne. The 1957 shelving unit is by Franco Albini, the painting is by George de Forest Brush, and the armchair is by Josef Frank; 18th–century Chinese stools serve as a cocktail table, and the rug is Indian. 

 

The two pictures below are from Vogue, Miranda Brooks and Bastien Halard’s home in Brooklyn. The home has such a beautiful romantic vintage feel.

Vogue, Miranda Brooks and Bastien Halard’s home in Brooklyn

 

None of these are perfect, a mix of all of them would be. But from going through these many pictures that I’ve done lately, I think I can draw some conclusions. I think the new living room should:

• not be too white ( I can’t do anything about the walls at the moment, but I will try to add dark wood furniture, maybe even inject some black, and perhaps a dark sofa?)
• have at least one wall with lots of pictures hanging asymmetrically with different frames (I have always loved this and it will also add some colour to the room)
• be furnished with some old vintage furniture (we have already found some! to be revealed in later post)
• have large bookcases with lots of books (no problem there, I have loads)

I can’t wait to move in and start this project!

dark walls

I find dark and blue walls fascinating as they have such a calm and mysterious impact.

Elle Decor March 2010

Elle Decor

Elle Decor November 2006

Elle Decor January 2009

House and Home Oct 2010

House and Home Oct 2010

Vogue Living Australia Nov-Dec 2008

Vogue Living Australia Nov-Dec 2008

But you don’t see walls this dark very often in normal homes, white and other bright colours are safer…?

Is the key to make it work bright accessories like the paintings, fireplaces and crystals above?