decorations

Xmas decorations

xmas, decorations

Xmas decorations 2017. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

Xmas decorations… It is that time of the year again… approaching Xmas. I don’t actually do Xmas. At this very dark and gloomy season, some lights and colors and decorations really are needed to brighten up your immediate surroundings though. All the lights are important. I have lights along the railing of my patio (no picture presently), and the neighbour and I also have light on the inside of the fence from my place almost unto the parking (no picture of that either).

xmas, decorations, pillows

Xmas pillows. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

I brought out all the red pillows and all the xmas decorations from previous years and went ahead and started to place them.

xmastree, decorations

Tree in a paperbag. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

The small xmastree in the paperbag was also brought out. All ready with its decorations from previous years. Just had to take it out of the bag and connect it to the electricity.

amaryllis, bathroom

Amaryllis in the bathroom. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

The fake amaryllis were placed in the bathroom. Fake flowers are the only kind I can have in the bathroom as it has no natural lighting. These fake amaryllis actually look pretty natural. I have no real amaryllis this year which I normally use to have. I simply lack space for more flowers and plants.

xmastree

Xmastree with lighting. Photo:©nini.tjader.2017

The housing coop also put lighting in our little firtree out on the lawn where you get in from the buses. That ugly yellow plastic-tube holds the electric cable… Will be dug down into the earth under the grass in spring they say. It was too late in the autumn to have it done before this Xmas. That tree is actually a live tree with roots and all. So it will stand there for years to come, provided it survives.

entrance, hallway

Entrance hallway. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

The entrance hallway got an update with another door-curtain (the black and white one needed cleaning), a red pillow on the chair and a fake xmas flower on the small shelf on the wall. Enough for Xmas decorations, right? The carpet/doormat inside the door is there the year around and not specifically for Xmas.

xmas, decorations

Xmas decorations. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

The opening from the hallways into the livingroom got the star-curtain with lights plus the big red balls. Previous years these have been placed in the livingroom window. This year there were too many figtrees in the way to place them there. The opening to the livingroom got them instead.

xmas, decorations

Xmas decorations in the kitchen. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

I normally have a star with light in each kitchen window… Not this year. There are too many plants in the kitchen-windows this year. I managed to squeeze in the electric candles of the one above though.

xmas, decorations, candles

Candles on the kitchentable. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

The candles on the kitchentable have been there since summer. They will stay there for some time still. The picture above was shot before I threw out the three remaining orchids. Those are now gone as I got really tired of them.

xmas, decorations

Advent candles in the kitchen. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

The advent candles also took their place on the kitchentable. I also changed the cloth on the kitchentable to a red one.

supermoon

The supermoon. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

The first of advent coincided with the appearance of the supermoon. I went to Xmas-luncheon with the board of the housing coop (I do the coops web which qualifies me to participate). When we left the place were we ate, the moon was there, just in front of us. It was hard to take a picture of it with the iPhone and all the surrounding lights…  I looked for it also when I got home but by then the moon was hidden by the clouds. The next opportunity to see a supermoon will be by the beginning of January they say.

xmas, decorations, star

Star in the bedroom. Photo: ©nini.tjader,2017.

In the bedroom window I have one large star with light. That is all. No other Xmas decorations there.

xmas, decorations, star

Star in the bedroom. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

I love that large star that covers the entire bedroom window. It also gives a lot of light when it gets dark outside. Everyone can see it from the busstop on the other side of the road when it is lit…

xmas, decorations, lightbomb

Lightbomb. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

When preparing all the seasonal decorations I noticed that the “lightbomb” (picture above) got a problem. The filter between the metal that holds the cord that burns had crept up and out of the “lightbomb” and actually kind of “melted” … I removed it and the metalpiece that holds the burning cord no longer has a filter between it and the ceramic bulb. How safe is that I wonder? The bulb is filled with lampoil. Can it explode when burning? I’ve place it on a ceramic plate just for a bit more safety and never leave it unattended when burning (as you shouldn’t with any burning candles by the way).

What did I do in the livingroom?

What I did in the livingroom you can see below. I will still adjust a few details in the livingroom, but that is all. By January I will be fed up with the reds and go back to my normal color theme of grey, white and black… (Reload page to sort the below images differently).

Posted by nini in decoration, xmas, 0 comments

In the kitchen

plants, kitchenwindow, kitchen

Plants in one of my kitchenwindows. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2015

The above is one of my kitchen windows. My hanging plants there are getting big.

plants, kitchen, kitchenwindow

Kitchenwindow November 11th 2015. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

On November 11th the other kitchenwindow looked like this. And the amaryllis on the table were all very small them. Since the light in the window had a sudden death and could no longer be lit so I removed it.

plants, kitchen, kitchenwindows

Kitchenwindows 2015-11-11. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

The two windows are cornered to each other which give real good light in the kitchen.

oxalis, plants

Oxalis on the kitchentable. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

My oxalis has been moving around from one to the other and is now on the kitchentable. Seems that is the best place for it. For a while there I thought it was dying. Since it moved to the table, a bit into the kitchen from the windows, it came to life again.

kitchentable

On the kitchentable. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Above some of the items kept on the kitchentable.

kitchentable

On the kitchentable. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Some more items on the kitchen table… The radio is partly giving up. It has a rechargeable non-removable batteri, which enabled it to be move from here to elsewhere. It has stopped recharging the batteri and now only functions with the electricity cord put into the wall. No more radio in the bathroom.

kitchentable, oranges

Oranges on the kitchentable. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

On and off there is also a bowl of oranges, or grape-fruit, or clementines on the kitchen table. I have two of those thread bowls. They are excellent for keeping fruit in as they are airy.

pastajars, kitchen

Pasta jars. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

I keep my different kinds of pasta – yes, I eat pasta. love pasta – in various glass jars. Pasta is decorative. The jars are kept in an old Billy bookcase I have in the kitchen for cookery books and other stuff that belongs in the kitchen.

tea

Tea. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

My collection of teas are kept on these small shelves from Ikea (they no longer sell them). Well… not only tea. Bottom shelf to the left is a jar with cocoa, and the red one to the right on the same shelf contains regular coffee (which I almost never use nowadays s I use coffee capsules).

Experiment. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Experiment. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

In one of the kitchen windows I have an experiment. When we cut the bushes outside the house, I kept some of the sticks we cut off. Wanted to try if I can produce new bushes from them. I know it sometimes works. at this time of the year (winter) the sticks are red. I put them in a vase with water that I change regularly. Now, a few weeks later, one of the sticks got leaves… I see no roots on the sticks yet, but…

plants, amaryllis, kitchen

Amaryllis 25th November 2015. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

My amaryllis on the kitchentable are growing. Too fast again… The tallest one has started to show its red flower.

kitchen, ktchenwindow

Star in the kitchenwindow. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

As it is the season for stars in the window one of my kitchen windows got the big, white star that I had in the bedroom window last year. No space for it in the bedroom… The light from it when the daylight is gone is nice. I control that with a timer. We need those lights in this dark season.

star, kitchen, kitchenwindow

Star in the kitchen window. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

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Posted by nini in House plants, kitchen, Plants, Urban Jungle Bloggers, 2 comments

Trendy things I dislike

In fashion and in interior design everything is coming back it seems. From the past I mean… Some of the things that are trendy I find to be terribly ugly. At least in my eyes. Other apparently like them. Some examples of these below.
Images are borrowed from around the internet.

50ties femtiotal

Things or looks from the 50-ties… Shiny mahogany furniture with thin legs… Brownish. Or beige.  Those of us who grew up with this kind of furniture usually do not want to see it again. Who wants to have a home that looks like the one you grew up in? I definitely don’t for the most of it. I admit there are certain items that I like, but most of them… no thanks.

linne_lakan2

Crinkled linen sheets. They are everywhere in each and every interior design article in magazines and on the blogs too.  The above ones look almost OK, but the problem with them is: they are crinkled, and they get more and more crinkled over time. It doesn’t look fresh. It looks like you have left the bed and forgot to make it.

fiskbensparkett

Wooden floors are nice. But the fish-bone patterned parquet floors… no, I do not want to see them again. There are ways to make patterned wooden floors that are nicer. These were everywhere when I grew up. I really think the straight patterns are much nicer.

flaking

Flaking paint… no, no, no… please. Clean it up and repaint it nicely, but don’t leave it like this!

rusty

Rusty metal things for decoration… either naturally rusty or fake rusty, just looking rusty. Never in MY home.

woodwords

Words in wood (or similar) saying things like “Love”, “Home”, “Carpe Diem”, “Welcome”… Really dislike. Looks so cheap.

keepcalmandcarryon poster

Posters with words or sentences on.  Supposedly saying something clever. Some have, I admit, nice typography and layout, but having to look at some clever saying as soon as you get into a home or a room… Tiresome.

pink and black living room

Pink interiors? There are much worse examples than the above one. Wouldn’t be able to be in a pink room like that without wanting to run out again as soon as possible. The shelves and the floor and the vase are OK, but the rest is too…. pink.

pastelinterior

Pastel interiors? At least here the sofa is white and the carpet and part of the walls and curtains too. The room lacks a contrasting, stronger color. Too much pastels. Too baby-ish.

ananasThe gilded pineapple… Why does so many who write about interior design today find this a desirable object to have in ones home? I fail to see its beauty… The pineapple tower in Scotland is quite interesting though…

ginosarfatti

The Gino Sarfatti lamp for Flos. It is everywhere. Big, heavy thing… Expensive too. In a recent issue of the interior design magazine I subscribe to, it was shown about five times, in five different articles, in the same issue of the magazine. It appears just everywhere these days. Either like here in metal color, or in brass color. I don’t think it is beautiful. It is just too much.

There are more items like that. But I’ll stop here for now.

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Posted by nini in Design, Furniture and Decoration, Interior Design, 0 comments

Round Things, part II

Thought I’d continue on the theme from yesterday… round things. Because I enjoy round things…

africaneggs

African eggs. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

The above are decorated stone eggs from Africa, bought at a shop in Stockholm which I don’t remember the name of. Have had them for years. They are decorated with abstract pictures of animals.

africanegg

Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

The eggs live on my candle tray in the livingroom.

decorative, balls

Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

The above are two wooden balls with carved patterns and two ceramic balls (the blue and white ones).  Presently archived in a bowl in the bedroom. [Used the backside of a plastic tray as background, but I didn’t notice the printed text in the middle there until done… that image need some editing]. The blue and white ceramic balls were bought at MIO long ago.

Details of the two wooden balls below. As far as I remember those are also african. I think they are beautiful.

wooden, ball

Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

wooden, ball

Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

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Posted by nini in Design, Furniture and Decoration, Various, 0 comments

Details

cats, books

Wooden cats. Bought on Sicily. Photo: ©nini tjäder

There have been lots of talks and pictures about still life groupings in your homes lately in various blogs and papers. Often color-co-ordinated.

Thought I’d show you some of mine.

I’ve always put together groups of things I like/love in various combinations which I regularly change. As I don’t have that many places to place them in, I usually use the bookcases and their shelves, in front of the books. Which means they cannot be all that big. Yes, I like to group things.

Mine are not color-co-ordinated. And not always objects of art either. Just details that I like for one reason or other.

(Yes, my books, as you see in the pictures, is an odd mix of all kinds. Lots of phantasy books. And no, I do not color-sort them, I sort them alphabetically after author).

Will show more of those details in later posts.

bookcase_jan2014_6

My very own Slinky… Slinky, as in the film A Toy Story. Have no idea where I got this one from. I did NOT buy it… Photo: ©Nini Tjäder

Posted by nini in Furniture and Decoration, 0 comments