Furniture and Decoration

Jan

2016

Ikea GJÖRA – an empty bedframe?

GJÖRA bedframe from Ikea. Photo: IKEA

IKEA recently announced a new bedframe among several new items for what is coming this spring. The bedframe/bedboard is called GJÖRA and will appear in shops sometime in Februari.

It is a bit different to normal bedframes. The bedframe is “empty”.

What is the point of a bedframe that is just a frame and not containing anything but empty air? If you put it in front of a window, like in the above picture, of course it doesn’t cover the window and the light, which is good (I am otherwise totally against putting beds in front of windows). But what is the point of the frame? To hang things on it? Your clothes? Decorative items? An extra blanket or throw?

Ikea GÖRA bedframe. Photo: IKEA

I certainly wouldn’t like to have my clothes hanging from the bedframe. Neither on the short side, nor on the tall side. The tall side, by the way, is a bit over-powering and very high.

If the frame is empty, you can as well have a bed without a frame, right? Isn’t the purpose of a bedframe to keep bed-linen in the bed, pillows on the bed and not falling out and to the floor and to protect the wall behind it (if you don’t have enormous bedrooms where the bed can be freestanding on the floor)? If the frame is “empty”, then what?

Ikea GJÖRA bedframe. Photo: IKEA

One of the press-pictures shows it with a kind of curtain on the tall side. Now we are back to olden times when curtains obscured the bed from its surroundings and its content from the room it was in. Google “beds with curtains” for examples.

Instead of hanging the curtain as in the above picture, if it had a textile covering that was put onto the frame and drawn flat from top to bottom, then I would understand this kind of bedframe. The bed itself and the wood it is made of looks nice enough. But the empty bedframes? No thanks. Neither practical, nor useful, nor nice. I can too easily imagine the mess they would create with all the stuff hanging from them. Or falling down into the bed in the middle of the night disturbing sleep.

Sorry Ikea, but this I don’t like.

Jan

2016

Lookalike shelves and tables

Shelf by byLassen. TWIN.

There are certain things that seem to pop up everywhere in more or less the same form looking very much alike. Shelves, like the one above from byLassen, is one of those forms. When I saw this, recently announced by byLassen, my first thought was that I had seen it before. But where? Also available as a table.

Olivia, sideboard by MIO.

Was it the one at MIO? I have the above sideboard. Also available as a table and some other models.

Olivia by MIO.

We can also compare it to IKEAs series VITTSJÖ, which gives the same expression.

Vittsjö by IKEA.

VITTSJÖ by IKEA.

All come in either black or white and sometimes some other colors as well.

Is it only me that find them very similar? Except the price of course which varies wildly. I like the form of them, their expression. In the end what you choose depends on the measures and the price.

Jan

2016

Very similar shelves, or…?

IKEA Valje. Photo from ikea.se

I like low shelves and always wish I had the space for them. Unfortunately I don’t.

Ikea has for some time had this shelf, VALJE, SEK 995/USD 99. I like it. 100x83x30. So, when I got an email from Bolia.com showing the below shelf, I thought, wait-a-minute, haven’t I seen that shelf before? Aren’t they very similar? The one from Bolia is 70x70x35 in size and now costs SEK1979 on sale (did cost SEK 3299). So, smaller and more expensive and no legs, yes. But in my eyes they are very similar. Both models come in various looks/colors.

Screenshot from Bolia.se.

Jan

2016

The kitchen wall is finally done

Kitchen wall, before. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

I today finally fixed my kitchen wall. At the beginning of the summer we (I and my neighbor) bought two reinforcing bars. The intended use was to be trellis. One for the rosebush, and one for my neighbors clematis. I put up the one for the rose. My neighbor regretted the buy and didn’t want it any longer. So I bought it from her. Thinking that it would be perfect to put onto the wall in the kitchen to hold various small things.

Kitchen wall, before. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2015

It has been standing there in the kitchen ever since, waiting to be put onto the wall. Today I finally put it up. This is the result.

Kitchenwall, after. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

I got some decorative clothes-pins for hanging things with onto the bars.

Clothes pins. Photo:©nini.tjader.2015

Also had to slightly re-arrange the plates on the wall and some of the other things. i’m quite pleased with it. This part of the wall is pretty damaged with holes from pins and other things that have previously hung on the wall. Those marks became much more invisible with this solution.

Next time I’ll do something to the kitchen-walls will probably be to give them new wallpaper, or paint them. That will have to wait until I can afford it.

Kitchenwall, after. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Dec

2015

New knitted pillowcases

Knitted pillowcases. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

At the end of October I bought some very thick yarn, with the intention to knit (or crochet) pillowcases from it. The result can be seen above, two pillowcases.

I have always liked knitted pillowcases and have long intended to make some.

Cotton yarn. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

It is woven yarn, recycled cotton. Very thick. Called ECO Yarn. Its use is limited, but it is good for pillowcases, baskets, small mats and other such stuff. It is fast work, but it gets heavier and heavier the more you knit. Not too heavy though.

Cotton yarn. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

I bought it at the Sewing and knitting fair in Stockholm at the end of October from Lankava.se. It is an ECO Yarn.

I used two different knitting methods for the pillow cases. One is made with garter stitch, the other with moss stitch. Both very simple. I closed the ready pillowcases by simply inserting one thread of the yarn along one side, through the meshes. Then made a knot at the corner where the opening was to be able to find it later if I would need to open up the pillowcase for washing for instance. They look the same on both sides.

If you don’t want to knit as much as both sides, make only one side and then put some suitable fabric on the backside of the pillow case.

I like the structure of the finished pillow cases. Simple to make. Only hard thing was to find out how many meshes to put on the knitting stick. Took some tries and redoing before I found the right size. The size of the knitting sticks used for these two pillowcases is 15 mm.

I still have some yarn left that I don’t know what to do with presently. Too little for yet another two-sided pillowcase, but maybe enough for a one-sided.

Knitted pillows. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Dec

2015

Magazine racks of various origins

My inherited magazine rack. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

This is my inherited magazine rack. It comes from my parents and I have seen it all my life. It is made from bamboo and still going strong. It will probably last longer than I myself live… I still think this is a beautiful magazine rack. Despite being used for decades it has no damages at all.

My inherited magazine rack. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

I usually do not keep magazines in it… They tend to curl up in there. Presently I keep the connection cords from the TV to my MacBook Pro in it.

Magazine rack at Designtorget. Photo Designtorget from the internet.

The magazine rack above can be found at Designtorget. It costs SEK 395. They call it Tipack. Very simple. Right? Not sure I would like to pay SEK 395 for it though.

Magazine rack from Designtorget. Photo from Designtorget on the internet.

Also the magazine rack above is from Designtorget. Also costs SEK 395 like the other one. It is called Journal. Very simple too. Compare these two to the one below.

Magazine rack from Ikea. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

This one comes from Ikea. No, they do not sell it any more. I have had it for several years. It was meant to store magazines in until you carried them out to the recycling-container. The small hook at its back was meant for keeping a roll of cord for binding them into a bundle to carry them out. I think I paid something like SEK 39 or so for it. Very reasonable price…

My magazine rack with magazines in it. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

This is how this rack looks with magazines in it.

Any less decorative than the designer models above from Designtorget? Not in my eyes. They are all black. Lacquered metal. This one is normally used in my storage room and for its original usage: to keep old magazines and newspapers in until I cary them out to the recycling-container. But it could in my opinion serve as a magazine rack in a visible place any time.

Magazine rack seen from above. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Nov

2015

New, oval plates

The old plates. Photo:©nini.tjader.2015

For years now I’ve been looking for oval plates. I’ve hade those grey ones from Ikea for ages, but never really liked them. That is, I’ve never really liked the look of them. I’ve always liked their size and how much you can put on them at the same time.

The old plates. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

They are heavy. The surface started looking cracked (if you look closely) quite some time ago. I normally like the color grey, but not on these plates. Problem was, there were no other oval plates to be had when I bought these ones at Ikea years ago.

New oval plates. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

But last week I found the perfect plates. At Åhléns. SEK 149 a piece. I was in town and thought I’d look if they had any oval plates. And they did. Called “Bon”, one of several models in a whole series of plates.

The new plates. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

They are white, simple and oval. Just the model I’ve been look for the last couple of years.

New, oval plates. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Perfect. Just the right size to have salad, potatoes and a steak on them at the same time.

I didn’t look closely on the other plates of the same series, but I will next time I’m in town.

More new plates. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

I recently also bought two new plates at Ikea. Also oval, but with a higher edge.

New oval plates from Ikea. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

These ones are good for wetter food or pasta with a sauce or a salad.

Oval plates from Ikea. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Used them last time Ulla was here and we had meat casserole which was rather wet. They are too narrow though for salad, potatoes and a steak.

New plates. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

It isn’t easy to find nice, oval plates. But don’t give up, they are out there. I’ve seen several over the years when I’ve been looking, but then most of them have been too big and not meant to eat from but only to server from. My new ones of course can also be used for serving the food, but they are also the right size to eat from. Depending on which food of course.

And I love white plates. Not colored, not patterned. White.

The old grey oval plates will be thrown out next time we go to the recycling station.

The new plates. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Nov

2015

Sofa styles come and go

KARLSTAD 2-seater sofa in the livingroom. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Sofa styles come and go. So also in my livingroom. Presently I have a KARLSTAD sofa from IKEA. A 2-seater (or love-seat as some call them). Presently in its grayish cover. Over summer it was dressed in white.

Before that, I had a MIO sofa called Coffee, that MIO still sell. A 3-seater. That one was way too big for the present livingroom. And I didn’t like its rounded look. I much prefer the straight and simple look that KARLSTAD has. The MIO sofa actually could be ordered with differently styled ends, not all that rounded as the one I then choose.

The previous sofa. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

I gave the MIO sofa away for free when I bought the new, smaller KARLSTAD sofa. First tried to sell it on Blocket.se… None existent market. Too many sofas there. One of my neighbors got it for free (new it costed SEK 10.000…). He later gave it away to his son who lives elsewhere. Nothing wrong with the sofa, except the size of it. A quality sofa…

Now, these more rounded sofas are coming back again.
And Ikea has discontinued the KARLSTAD model.

Karlstad discontinued. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

IKEA flagged the discontinuation of KARLSTAD some time during this summer. What I do not understand is why on earth they discontinue a sofa that has been one of their most popular sofas over time…

It is really a pity that they discontinued KARLSTAD. It is a nicelooking, simple sofa. Straight and classy. Much loved by people all over the world. Including me. And it is comfortable to sit in and easy to get up from.

Norsborg sofa from Ikea. Photo: Ikea.

IKEA replaced it with a new model called NORSBORG. (Which has a 10 year guarantee, so I guess they will sell it for the next ten years at least… regardless of changing sofa styles…).

I don’t like NORSBORG.
At all.
It is too rounded.
Too big.
Not an elegant form (as I see it).
And not particularly comfortable.
Too soft.

Norsborg sofa from Ikea. Photo: Ikea.

One detail on the new sofa NORSBORG is that pocket at the ends of the sofa.
Good idea?
Not really.
After putting away the newspaper into the pocket a couple of times… how dirty will it be? Fun idea, yes, but practical? No. A loose pocket to hang over the sofa end is much more useful. As the one I have in the first picture (also from IKEA and not discontinued). Not for newspapers or books, granted, but for all those remotes you have.

Norsborg sofa. Photo: Ikea.

The NORSBORG sofa also is not all that comfortable.
It is too soft.
Isn’t soft good?
No. It means it is difficult to get up from it.

Norsborg 2-seater. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

I think NORSBORG is ugly…
Of course it is personal what you find ugly or not. But…
It is something with the proportions. And the roundedness…

Maybe Gustav, the neighbor cat, would like the roundedness of NORSBORG, but I don’t.

I wonder though how long the IKEA sofa EKTORP will survive… One of the most comfortable sofas IKEA has. When I was sofa-hunting, and bought the MIO sofa, EKTORP didn’t have any grey covers. If they would have had that then (they do now), I would have bought the much smaller and cheaper EKTORP sofa from IKEA instead of the one from MIO. Rounded ends, but much nicer than NORSBORG. The EKTORP 3-seater would also have been too big for this livingroom though and been exchanged.

Gustav on my KARLSTAD 2-seater sofa. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

Oct

2015

Pillows and pillowcases

Pillows and pillowcases. Image borrowed from the internet.

One of the simplest tricks you can use to change the look and feel of a room is to change the pillows and pillowcases in the room. Just by changing their color themes can change the whole room.

Pillows and pillowcases. Mainly from Ikea. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

If your sofa or your chairs are in one color, no patterns, and colors are neutral, it is even easier to create a combination that works well. Keeping the pillows in approximately the same colors but different patterns makes the combinations calm and interesting at the same time.

Elephant pillow from Svenskt Tenn. Image from the internet.

Pillowcases and pillows come in various materials, patterns and styles. They also come in various price classes. The pillow above from Svensk Tenn and costs SEK 950. I think that is a ridiculous price for a simple pillow. This is printed on linen. I would never pay SEK 950 for a pillow, no matter it being a famous pattern like this one, or that it covers a down-pillow (just guessing that it does).

Nadja Wedin pillow. Image from the internet.

Some pillowcases are made by famous designers, like the above by Nadja Wedin. Costs SEK 695. I think that is ridiculously expensive as well.

Pillow from MIO. Image from the internet.

This one is from, MIO and costs SEK 359. Still too expensive in my opinion.

It is EASY to make a pillowcase all by yourself. The pillows inside can be of any kind and you can find inexpensive ones at IKEA for next to no money. IKEA also has pillow cases for reasonable prices.

All you need to make the simplest pillow case is cloth of the size of the pillow it should cover + some extra for the sewing. If you make a pillowcase in envelope-style, some more cloth than the actual pillow. You can close the pillow case either with a zipper, or buttons, or straps. If envelope style, the cloth itself closes it.

Knitted pillow case. Image from the internet.

For some time now pillows covered by knitted or crocheted covers have been seen in various interior design magazines and pictures. The above is about the simples model there can be to knit yourself. Why pay a lot of money to buy one? Unless, of course you have no knowledge of how to knit… You only need yarn of some sort (preferably thick yarn) and 2 knitting needles. How you close the cover is up to you.

Knitted pillowcase. Image from the internet.

If you Google the internet for knitted pillowcases you will find plenty of descriptions about how to make them.

Knitted pillowcase. Image from the internet.

If course you use colors according to your own wish, and patterns too, just as if you were knitting a sweater…

Or crochet the pillow case. Use your imagination. Pillow cases do not need to be expensively bought.

Crocheted pillow cases. Image from the internet.

Oct

2015

The Tube

The Tube Photo:©nini.tjader.2015

I have this 70-ties fluorescent lamp called “The Tube”, designed by Anders Pehrson for Atelje Lyktan. It is a table lamp, shiny black. I bought it in the 70-ties because I really loved its form and look. It has followed me from flat to flat over the years.

This lamp can nowadays be found at various auction sites for around SEK1000. In various colors. You still see it in various interior design articles. Google “anders pehrson tuben” for more pictures and colors. No, I am not selling… I love this lamp.

The Tube. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

It was problematic the last couple of years and didn’t really want to be lit. Sometimes I managed to turn it on, and sometimes not. Exchanging the fluorescent light didn’t help.

The Tube. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Now, when the cold season is coming and many of the plants that I’ve had outside over the warmer season had to be moved inside, I needed some extra light for the plants. The Tube, with a timer, would be perfect for it, standing on the higher cupboard over the plants in the bedroom.

Decided I needed to have it repaired so i could put a timer to it for putting it on and off. Found via recommendations a firm that could do it. They changed most of the electricity inside it and the lamp is now as new. And the electricity in it is secure again. They did a good and fast job for a reasonable price.

It will live on for many years yet.

The Tube. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Oct

2015

Finally, a new bathroom cupboard!

This, above, is my old bathroom cupboard. All emptied in preparation for the new one. The light above it broke back in this spring, and I have since not have any good lighting in the bathroom. It is not enough with only the light from the ceiling. My bathroom does not have any windows.

As the cupboard itself was quite OK I first looked for new lighting, including an electricity outlet as there are none in the bathroom. Which means that I had to have a long cord from the nearby walk-in closet every morning to be able to use my hair-drier.

To find just a new light turned out to be difficult for two reasons. The amount of space above the cupboard was very small. The ones I found did not have any electricity connections for hair-driers etc. The attachments in those I found did not correspond with the number of cords coming out of the wall for the light.

So, an entire bathroom cupboard with light and electric outlet had to be found. Found one, ordered it, and ordered also the job to have it attached to the wall and the electricity. The cupboard arrived faster than expected (delivery time was estimated to two weeks, but in reality it only took five days from ordering). Last Friday I got it all mounted and attached.

Very happy about it! The quality of the light in a bathroom is important. I can now see what I am doing when in front of the mirrored doors (mirrors on bath outside and inside, like the old one had). The fitter also actually asked, when noticing that I am not all that tall, if I wanted the new cupboard a bit lower than the old one. Of course I did! I am so used to bathroom mirrors sitting too high on the walls for my heights that I hadn’t even thought of the possibility to get it put a bit lower on the wall.

The cupboard doesn’t look all that different to the previous one. It is 10 cm smaller in width, but the the same heights. The light is LED. Both at the top and, new to me, under it, down onto the sink. The doors are self-closing. Still haven’t got used to seeing more of myself in the mirrors, but… Love it!

The cupboard is called Skärgård from Camargue and is bought at Bauhaus. I ordered the fitting and electrical connection from Bauhaus as well.

Sep

2015

Broken glass

Yesterday it happened. The glass cover of my almost new glass jar from Ikea (limited edition) broke. I wondered already when I bought it how long it would take before the cover would brake.

I use the jar to store my coffee capsules. Not really necessary with a cover. Still, would be nice to have one…

What made it brake was that I missed the jar in height when putting the cover on and instead smashed the cover, full force inte the edge of the jar. Doing that has to do with how I see things. I often misjudge the distance between things. It is not the first time I smash something by pushing it into another thing full force, thinking that the edges are somewhere else.

Was barefoot at the time and said to myself, do not move until the shards are found… Found one. Not the second one. The 2nd one I found inside the jar this morning. Might be able to glue the shards together. Meanwhile will use it without cover.

Sep

2015

Picturewall at my neighbors

I’ve spent the last weekend at my neighbors (where the cat Gustav and Alice live) helping her to re-arrange her existing furniture, a quick trip to Ikea to get new shelves, assembling the shelves and putting them in place, and creating a new picture wall above her sofa in its new location.

It is a very long livingroom where she also has her working space. It needed some division. Open plan towards the kitchen and dining area.

The dark picture on the wall mirrors me and my neighbor instead of showing the content of the picture. Has to do with how the light falls I suppose.

The solution was two new Kallax shelves from Ikea. This way she got a corner for the sofa and TV-watching, the computer corner partly hidden behind the shelves, and a new reading corner.

When at Ikea, my neighbors friend Pia also found a cover for the old darkblue officechair. That cover, created for diningroom chairs, fit the office-chair perfectly.

All that lacks in the reading corner now is a reading lamp and a carpet. The lamp to the left of the sofa in the pictures above is supposed to move to this corner. She already has a carpet that she plans to place here.

The livingroom became all new. The ceiling lamps need fixing, but that will come later.

The funny thing with the re-arranged furniture was the reaction of the cats. Alice, who slept during the entire re-arranging and appeared only when it was ready, and took to it with great curiosity and accepted it immediately. Gustav at first didn’t accept it at all. He hardly wanted to enter the livingroom… He got over it later in the evening though and accepted the new placement of the sofa.

The entire room became so much nicer with the picture wall, the re-arrangement of the furniture and the new shelves dividing the long room.

Sep

2015

Plants & Art

Got that fun topic “Plants & Art” from Urban Jungle Bloggers for September. I use to participate in the monthly topics as it is fun to see what you can do for a certain topic. This one was hard though.

Art above are a combination of five aquarelles I’ve done and some prints.

Why was it hard? Because I normally do not combine plants with art. I simply do not have the space for it or the right light for the plants where the art is. The above two pictures are from my livingroom. Having a plant in that location above would be risky. Could easily be run into and fall to the floor… (or into the sofa).

Aquarelle in the background by me.

So I faked it. Placed the plants near to the art where the art is. In locations where I would never normally put plants. The above picture and the following are shot in the bedroom. Unfortunately a day with very little light outside so the light for shooting pictures were not as good as I would have wished.

It was fun though to experiment and see how different combinations turned out. This location is way too dark though for any plant to survive there.

Pictures on the wall are one aquarelle by my father to the right, and a large print to the left that I bought at Ikea decades ago. So far the print has seen three different bedrooms. I want to be able to see it from the bed. The small thing on the wall is a souvenir from Greece, as are the greek ceramic houses and the figure on the shelf.

Some things were better looking than others. The cactus definitely looks better in its regular location in the bedroom window. The small olive tree – just moved inside from the patio – looks OK here though. But too dark for it to survive here. It goes back to the bedroom window.

It was a fun exercise though. Plants are now back in their regular locations, and so are the various details used in the exercise. I guess this is how professional interior designers work when setting up different looks for a photo shoot.

Sep

2015

The new sideboard

The new sideboard arrived and was collected by the middle of this week. Now assembled and put in its place. Assembly was a bit tricky. Took about an hour instead of the promised 15 minutes… Plants can now move in from outside on the patio.

Under the sideboard I keep the peanuts for the birds and some garden utensils that cannot be kept outside when it rains. You normally don’t see those things except in this angle.

So far no plants have moved in onto the sideboard. The corokia cotoneaster (also called zigzag-plant) is there at the end of the sideboard instead of on the white piedestal it stood on before. (The piedestal has moved back to the kitchen and has the huge aloe on it). One of the stephanotis (doftranka, Stephanotis floribunda)in the picture I gave to Ulla on Friday. Now only two remain. I got four (4) from Lasse & Camilla when they moved back to Umeå. One I gave to my neighbor some time ago, and now I am down to two for myself. That is quite enough. One of them hangs in an ampel in the window.

Any day now I will move inside those plants that are unfit for cold nights and winter. Already moved the November cactus and the smallest olive tree into the bedroom window. The figtree and the chili plants come next. The figtree has grown about 30 cms since I bought it… Its size will become a problem I think. The original window ledge is double width, but not wide enough for all the plants I need to get inside. That is why I bought the sideboard.

To be continued when the plants are inside and on the sideboard.

Furniture and Decoration

Ikea GJÖRA – an empty bedframe?

Lookalike shelves and tables

Very similar shelves, or…?

Like this:

The kitchen wall is finally done

New knitted pillowcases

Magazine racks of various origins

New, oval plates

Sofa styles come and go

Pillows and pillowcases

The Tube

Finally, a new bathroom cupboard!

Broken glass

Picturewall at my neighbors

Plants & Art

The new sideboard

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