Month: March 2015

Mar

2015

Happy Green Easter and Pessach

Easter chicken in the herbs. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Easter and Pessach is fast approaching. Time to style your home with decorations and plants. Not that I usually do that, but I just today took check at what decorations I had stored from previous years. Still hesitant if I will use it or not.

Yellow is the color of Easter. Plants with yellow flowers are nice to have and give som much needed color at this time of the year when the greenery outside is still not awake.

Minidaffodils. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Bought them on Sunday. Not a single flower had opened then. They all opened up yesterday and today. When they are “done” I plant them outside in one of the flowerbeds so they can come back next year, outside then.

Kalanchoe. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2015

I also got a yellow kalanchoe to brighten up the kitchen window.

Wooden tulip. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2015

My red, wooden tulip also does its best to brighten up the kitchen.

White and yellow roses. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

In the livingroom I placed 12 white and yellow roses that I got for free from Plantagen because I bought six eco herb plants at the fair last week.

Roses. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2015

Roses are fascinating flowers. Almost too perfect in their form. No fragrance from these ones though.

Easter eggs. Photo: ©nijni.tjader.2015

Intended to go out and cut off some branches to hang the small easter eggs in. So far didn’t get around to do that as the rain has been mercilessly pouring down the last couple of days (around 40 mm in two days). Today is sunny, but I have other plans (food shopping).

Easter eggs. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Also found a couple of empty easter eggs laying around. No point to take them out if not filling them with all kinds of sweets. Need to do some shopping… Normally don’t have sweets laying around. Too tempting…

Not that I celebrate Easter or Pessach in any way, but Happy Holidays everyone.

Mar

2015

Nordiska Trädgårdar Garden Fair 2015

Fritillaria. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

On Thursday March 26th I visited the Nordiska Trädgårdar Garden Fair 2015 at Stockholmsmässan in Älvsjö.

All my images from that visit can be found here.

Nice fair, but too many visitors already the first day. The hunt for cuttings of pelargonias and other flowers was on all the time. Some of those visitors… ran all over you, pushing, got in the way, apparently afraid that they would miss a bargain.

There were so called idea gardens. I only liked one of those, the one called Hanging Garden by Trendstefan (Stefan Nilsson).

Hanging garden Photo:©nini.tjader.2015

Some had brought in trees from Germany, timed to flower when the fair opened one of the exhibitors told med. They timed it right and the fragrance was lovely.

Flowering trees

There were also a balcony competition. I didn’t like any of those balconies… What is the point of a balcony if it is so crowded with things that there is no space left to sit and enjoy outdoors on it?

Overdecorated balcony Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

One of the magazines that were there might have sold lots of subscriptions as every one who bought a subscription got a bag on wheels with the subscription. Saw those ones all over the place later…

“Dramaten” Free, provided you bought a subscription of a certain magazine. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

This kind of fair sell things, hats, tools, flowers, cloths… and a lot of other things too.

I bought three things. A plant-lamp with natural light (LED) done particularly to give flowers indoor the right amount of light. And six different herbs. The lamp comes in several different colors and can be found here at Venso Eco Solutions.

Natural light lamp. Photo ©nini.tjader.2015

No, they are not going to remain on the kitchen table. It is a temporary placement testing the lamp.

I also bought a “plantcage” because I liked it, not because I needed it. Presently hangs in the kitchen window. It has a similarity to the napkin holder I bough years ago. A bit hard to water the plant in the cage though I noticed.

Caged flower Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

The rest of the images can be found here.

Mar

2015

Picture walls

Picture wall in the livingroom. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

The subject of picture walls keep turning up at various sites and blogs and there are many opinions about how to create a picture wall.

I think you don’t need all that many rules for how to create a picture wall. I think you can place them pretty freely. Just find some sort of balance on the whole.

Should all pictures have the same frames? Should they all have the same background (passe-partout)? Should they all be of the same colors? Should they all be of the same style? Can you mix older images with new and aquarelles with photos? Should they all be of the same size? I think you can mix just anything and combine just as you like.

The most important thing is that you actually LIKE what you put on your walls and like watching the pictures yourself. Don’t just put up pictures/images because they are in fashion presently (I see a lot of those in various blogs). (A certain photo of a girl from behind with wings comes to mind…). Personally I am also pretty allergic to posters with text. I have one exception in the livingroom (see above) but that tells a whole story.

Should pictures be placed in strict lines in one direction or all? Or could you line them up any way you want? In my opinion you can line them up any way you want though it is good with some symmetry, not too much, and some straight lines, but not too many.

What I show here are some examples of how it can be arranged. All from my home.

Picture strip in the bedroom. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Should you use one or several picture strips and regularly exchange the pictures? Why not. Above are two picture strips that become one. Couldn’t find one long enough for the length I wanted.

I also put some smaller items on the picture strip. Important here that they are of a color that is in contrast to the color of the wall. These two pictures actually ought to have white frames instead of black. Will get around to that some time in the future…

Pictures in the bedroom. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2015

Above an old poster-picture from Ikea that I love and have had in the bedroom for years (the largest picture). I like looking at it when in the bed. To its right an old aquarelle that my father made in 1940. Below a tourist souvenir from Greece. (I need to find another place for the black Tube-lamp).

Pictures in the hallway. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

This is the wall between the walk-in-closet and the bathroom, in my second hallway. A square photo frame for several photos of my family combined with old fashioned round frames with really old family photos. The pictures make one square and one single round area of the round frames.

Family photos. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

A small piece of wall outside the walk-in-closet that I also used for old family photos. This is my fathers photos + one drawn self-portrait of my father at the top. Here I line the picture by their middles as they are of different sizes.

Pictures above the TV in the livingroom. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Above the TV (which stands on the bench and is not fastened to the wall) I’ve combined an old oil-painting from 1929 by my father with five aquarelles by myself and an Ikea wall-clock and a beduin-whip-knife (knife is inside the upper part of the whip). I see no problem to combine these items. Here there is a straight line of the pictures at the top.

Picture in the first hallway. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

In the first hallway, just when you come into the flat, I have a huge Apple-poster of Picasso from the Think Different campaign. I was hesitant at first about having such a big picture in such a small hallway, but it works really well as it is grey-scale with a black, thin frame on a dark grey wall. Beside it to the left are two tall mirrors with black frames. The picture strip below it I use to put keys, mobile, mobile-cover, and such small items you need to get rid of when you come in.

And sometimes just one picture is enough. In this case an old Russian May 1st poster, laminated and put inside a black frame. I’ve always loved this picture.

Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Mar

2015

Sorting Books

wallmounted shelves, shelves, bookcase, books

Picture from Alvhem, via http://blogg.skonahem.com/addsimplicity

Recently saw this picture in a post at addsimplicity and read the blogpost. Yes, this is beautiful. Yes, it is airy and light. Yes, wall-mounted shelves are nice and good and I wish I could have them (not all walls can manage the weight of them). And yes, it might be feng-shui to colorsort books and to mix them with decorative elements in between.

BUT. The above is not a bookcase. It is wall-mounted shelves with decorative items on them and a few books in between. It is not a bookcase… A bookcase contains primarily books. Not decorative items and/or plants. That they only do if you do not have a lot of books or isn’t a person who read paper-books. The few books above can be colorsorted and you might still find the book you are looking for. But that is only because they are so few. If you own a lot of books, colorsorting them is really out. You won’t be able to find any of the books you will be looking for.

Colorsorted books. Image from the Internet.

I sort my books primarily according to surname of the author. Or, in the case of the smaller bookcases with less books in, according to subject. Plant-books together, cookery books together, atlases together etc. Primarily though by author.

They either stand up or lay down depending on sizes and space. I also use the space in front of the books for smaller decorative items. Not too many though. The bottom shelf nearest to the floor contain larger and heavier books. That keeps the bookcases steady.

Bookwall in the livingroom. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2015

I would never be able to find anything if I colorsorted my books.

I would love to have wall-mounted book-cases. You get in more books in them and they really look airy compared to regular bookcases. My walls aren’t suitable for those though. And I like to be able to move furniture around. Wall-mounted shelves makes that much more difficult.

Image from the internet.

Mar

2015

The jungle in the kitchen

Kitchenplants. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

My kitchen has two windows in a corner. One, the above facing south, the second facing west. I stopped using curtains in the kitchen a couple of years ago. I use plants instead. The windows have semi-transparent blinds (from Ikea) to regulate the light and sunshine. Some plants lCAN get too much sun. The windows also have regular blinds that I sometimes in the summer have all the way down.

Kitchenwindow. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

This time of the year, when there are no fresh herbs outside yet, I also added a pot of thyme on to the kitchen table. In easy reach when you need for cooking.

Thyme. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

I recently did some reorganizing in the kitchen windows as I bought two trellises from Ikea to have somewhere to store some of my pelargonia cuttings until they get roots, and to put some new smallish plants I also found at Ikea.

Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Kitchenwindows. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

One of them bloomed on the second day after it came to my home. The plant has lilac leaves.

Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

I love my sunny and light kitchen and the way you can have flowers in the window there. It is relaxing watching them when eating breakfast.

The aloe in the corner isa problem. It has become very heavy and big. Hard to keep it upright. It also has a small aloe-baby in the pit that I’ve planned to move to a pot of its own at some time. Just haven’t got around to it yet. Now would probably be a good time for doing it.

Kitchenwindows. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

And all the orchids on the windowsills are in bloom presently.

Mar

2015

Early spring

Crocus. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Spring is early this year and coming along nicely. Sunny and warm days. Very cold nights with frost.

LED-lamp. Photo:©nini.tjader.2015

Got a new sun-driven LED-lamp from Ikea and planted it in one of the flowerbeds. It has charged but noticed yesterday night that only one of the bulbs lit up. Have to check that.

Patio-lamps. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Hung out last years sun-driven lamp (the dirty one in the background) and got a new one from Ikea (the closest one). Both have charged during the week as it has been extremely sunny. ON the wall I still have the light-curtain which during winter has other decorations. Ikea did this smart thing that you can exchange the decorations on the light-curtain according to season. So I got myself some white and green balls with holes in and took off the stars that were there over the Xmas-season. The nights and evenings are still very dark so the extra lighting out there is needed.

The honey-suckle on the corner is coming along fine. The leaves are visible and growing each day. Best though are the flowers. So far snow-drops and crocus, but there are lots of flowers budding in the flower-beds.

Crocus. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Mar

2015

The clock-wall in the kitchen

When I removed the Billy cupboard from this location in the kitchen (threw out the very broken cupboard and sold the doors to it on Blocket) in favor of drawers in the cupboard to the right in the corner, the wall there got all “off”. All decorations too far to the left and too high up.

So, I took it all down and started new.

Noticed that the board below the clock was a bit too high up and a bit too much to the right. In doing that I also noticed that the clock didn’t work any more. Found that its clock-work had broken. New batteries had no effect.

Fixed the placement of the board, added two copper plates I had in storage (handmade by a friend of my father), and started to look for a new clock/new clockwork. In brief: couldn’t change the clock-work for a standard one as it is a SEIKO clock. Needs a SEIKO clock-work to be able to get put in and work. Bought a new clock instead. This time with black background and white numbers and no hand for seconds. Typography of the numbers not as nice as the previous one, but this was the best I could find (bought at Clas Olsson).

Wall now done. Approved?

Mar

2015

New shelves in the kitchen

kitchen, shelves, enudden, shelves, ikea

I’ve put up two small shelves in the kitchen. Bought them already before Xmas and have been planning to put them up ever since. Now they are up on the wall. I moved all my different kinds of tea (+ one decorative can with cacao) to the shelves which created better space in the Billy cupboard to the right.

The shelves are white lacquered steel and come from Ikea. They are called ENUDDEN and cost SEK39 a piece. Or USD 7.99. They can be put either as I did, with the sides pointing up, or the other way around with the sides pointing down. I’ve also seen examples when two combined are put with the top one with sides pointing down and the bottom one pointing up. They they can become a good little shelf for pocket books for instance.

Mar

2015

Pillows and pillow-cases.

I love pillows. Big and small. Most of the ones I have are black, white, grey and not colorful in colors but only in patterns. I frequently change them. Around Xmas I tend to bring out some pillows with red in their covers. The rest of the year, black and white and grey again.

The pillows above live on my bed in the bedroom. Three are made by me, two are bought (the two white rolls in the background that are from Ikea and the one at the center), and the lamb I got as a bonus from somewhere long ago.

Recently bought some tricot cloth in black and white that I fell in love with. Both of them will become pillowcases. Closure with black zippers.

I use the kitchen table for sewing. As I’m not done yet the sewing machine is still there…

Some pillowcases I buy. Like the wool-embroidered one above which is from Greece. I have two more of the same kind but with different patterns. The other pillows above are also bought.

The two pillows closest in the picture are from Ikea and H&M Home. Usually though I find that pillow-cases are priced way too high, ridiculously expensive if you ask me… They are not that difficult to make yourself. It is just a piece of cloth of the right dimensions, a zipper or buttons or sew it in envelop-style, which is the easiest.

This is Gustav’s chair. So presently he got a pillow with a cat-lady on… SEK 49 at H&M Home. That’s a reasonable price for a simple pillowcase.

I also use floorpillows. This one is from Ikea. it is placed on the pouf to prevent Gustav to set his claws into the pouf itself, which he loves to do. Floor pillows are also useful when you do some assembly work at floor level… saves knees.

These are the pillows in my sofa in the livingroom presently. Plus the smaller one below.

The smallest pillow here got a cover that closes with black buttons.

The above pillows are all from Ikea except the thin one at the top which I did myself from a small piece of cloth that remained from when I did the latest door-curtain.

I still haven’t done any pillow-covers from the tricot cloth below, but I will in the near future.

Mar

2015

The table lamp I won

As I wrote in December, I won a table lamp via a blog.
I’ve forgotten to show it when it is now in my home.
So, here it is, lit and unlit. It has been moving around a bit but I think this is the best place to put it. A nice thing with it is that it can be dimmed.
Love it.

Month: March 2015

Happy Green Easter and Pessach

Nordiska Trädgårdar Garden Fair 2015

Picture walls

Sorting Books

The jungle in the kitchen

Early spring

The clock-wall in the kitchen

New shelves in the kitchen

Pillows and pillow-cases.

The table lamp I won

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