White Clarity

There is a plethora of choice when it comes to choosing a colour palette for your home, vibrant rich colours to muted pastel shades contrasted with neon flashes, or accent walls finished with paint or speciality wallpapers. For some, however, they love to be surrounded by the ultimate classic, white: far from a dull or lazy option white gives a timeless quality to any home. Clean, simple and pure an all-white room forms the perfect canvas. Whether contemporary or traditional, urban or countryside, romantic or modern a white room gives as wide a spectrum of choices as a colourful room. Please see a selection below…

Pin It Now!

The small things in the big picture

If given the opportunity Anne will, at the drop of a hat whisk herself away to her beloved Latin America, a contintent she has zigzagged across for the last fifteen years. As with so many travellers, Anne's visual curiosity for the exotic places and people of these lands far away from Scandinavia has brought her to embrace the artisan-esthetic: rough around the edges, seemingly simple, yet astoundingly durable. Her funkis apartment in Oslo must be seen both in light of her personality and occupation. Though strict and with a typical Scandinavian reticence, her home is filled from dawn till dusk with a heavenly light which embraces you from the first moment you enter her home. Just like Anne… view interior feature

Pin It Now!

Sitting on the dock of the bay

The young couple are both estate agents, Kristin and Erlend were living it up in Oslo when they decided to give the whole city-life the cold shoulder and embrace country living. So they sold up everything and left Oslo behind with it’s scatterd coffee bars and glorious bustle. The two of them have recently finished the wooden house of their dreams, and are now settled in with two mini me’s.. Now, they feel like they have replaced the perspective of a bird, looking down towards the Oslofjord, with a complete close up on Steinsfjorden. Indeed, Kristin actually grew up a few minutes up the dirt road on her bike, and there are other towns and cities closer by to explore. They can even just sit and have a double espresso made from their own machine in the morning, enjoying the views sitting on their newly built doc… view interior feature

Pin It Now!

Old and new

An unpretentious blend of old and new, best describes this family home north of Copenhagen. When the owners took the apartment over it needed much renovation; however, it was important for the couple to maintain the feeling for the place that they fell in love with, its fine detail and high ceilings. Rooms were painted white to improve the sense of light and space and the kitchen was torn down and built up in conjunction with the new family room that used to be a dark dining room… view interior feature

Pin It Now!

At a collector's studio

Converted into a place of dwelling or an artist’s workshop, many textile mills in Northern France reopen their doors to a new lease of life. Most become lofts as they offer an interesting framework for someone who knows how to fill in the blanks. This 1901 building was perfect for an art collector who realized he had always wanted to have a large area without constraints to highlight the works he had acquired. Passionate about contemporary art, he tried to find a place for each painting and each sculpture. "In my house, I needed more walls....this is why some paintings have remained on the ground!” Half apartment half gallery the furniture has also been chosen for its aesthetic look, from the Egg chair of Arne Jacobsen to the white sofa by Mies van der Rohe nothing is left to chance. We enter in the very personal universe of one who has created it. Each piece tells a little of its history: a little history of the artist that has created it and a little history of the one who has acquired it… view interior feature

Pin It Now!

White Cube

White and delicious. Sky High ceilings with soaring walls and windows opening up to the great world. Well executed craftsmanship, and materials selected from the top shelf. In the middle of Oslo, is an uncompromising white cube. The loft on Fagerborg includes what housing agents call a rare occasioning. There are no unsightly beams in their way, either visually or practical. And unlike in many other loft-conversions, one must not stand on tiptoes to reach the outside world through peepholes that only let in some light, but does not provide an overview of what's happening on ground level. Top floor and attic has now become one, and it's all about the big white room, a white cube, as it is called in the art world, without being in any way square… view interior feature

Pin It Now!

Penthouse in Albert Dock.

The novelist Chris Fowler bought this penthouse when he was looking for a bright and spacious space to live and work. Spending all day working at home, he wanted something which was open to the sky and nowhere could he have found a brighter, sunnier penthouse than this delightful, modern house built above a former industrial building by the Battle Basin in the King’s Cross area. The apartment has an overwhelming emphasis on the colour white – furniture, flooring and walls, apart from the few odd touches of steel grey in the kitchen, oak doors, brown cushions and the occasional bright splashes of colour in the artwork, flowers or fruit which punctuates the space. Undisputedly modern, this sleek apartment captures the essence of open plan, 21st century living… view interior feature

Pin It Now!

Bright new world

All of the interior design trends for 2014 will feature colourful palettes, whether focussing on muted colours or fluidity associated with the blues and greens of water. Pantone’s ‘eccentricities’ palette is vibrant, colourful and encourages a defiance of the established or traditional designs. This spectrum of colours allows an opportunity to experiment, with a sense of playfulness and wit or to combine juxtaposed colours. Lemon zest, green flash, nectarine orange, skydiver purple, rouge red and strawberry ice can be complemented or contrasted to reflect the homeowner’s personality. Monochrome stalwarts can always seek refuge with pirate black or marshmallow white. Please see a selection below…

Pin It Now!

Bright Ideas

Victoria Whitbread’s design company has had huge success with its range of Pantone mugs, so it’s hardly surprising that her love of colour can be seen all over her South London home – from purple floors to Union Jack tea cosies and pink elephants, it’s anything but drab… View interior feature

Pin It Now!

Nilsson House

Hans Nilsson, a Swedish engineering consultant and his Swiss social scientist wife Ruth came across a rather run down apartment occupying the upper three floors of an Edwardian townhouse in a leafy garden square in the north London suburb of Primrose Hill. It had been used as a studio for filming and photography, therefore not lived in for years - many scenes from the film Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow were shot here. It was in dire need of a total refurbishment before it could be lived in again, so Hans and Ruth brought in the dynamic interior designer Mia Karlsson – also Swedish – to apply her idiosyncratic Scandinavian panache and joyful décor to the shabby and tired apartment, thereby turning it into a sleek, colourful and thoroughly modern home… View interior feature

Pin It Now!

Vive la différence

Moveable coloured cubes, quirky 18th-century reproductions… Who’d have guessed you were in the Loire Valley? Many successful relationships are based on compromise, working around differences with a bit of give and take. But seldom are such adaptations as clearly visible as in the French forest home of Yves Legendre and Micheline Taillardat. When you first encounter the house, deep in the Loire Valley, it comes as a shock. An apparently random collection of cubes clad in pale pink, vivid yellow and grey looms out of the dark leafy woods. Strawberries nestle around the steel poles of the Meccano-type structure that anchors the cubes, sedum and grass grow on the flat roofs and fish-eye round windows glint in the sunshine. Step inside this space ship of a house, though, and despite the yellow walls, it is furnished in a classic and feminine style. A Forties Italian bed sits in the main bedroom and a pair of vintage red-leather armchairs stand up well against the vibrant background… View interior feature

Pin It Now!

A percussion of colour

At home in the apartment and housing business Pang Christianshavn. Both places bursting with life, imagination and love for interior design, for which Anna-Britt has many years experience - including, set designer at Danmarks Radio. "After 18 years with Danish Radio, where I worked on set design, decor and props, I wanted to live my dream of owning a shop," says Anna-Britt Harding. Ceilings and floors are white and bright and are finely contrasted with all the many colourful things… View interior feature

Pin It Now!

Casa Chicca, Italy

The interior design of this apartment is the result of the proprietor’s – a young woman from a noble Sicilian family - passion for antiques, furniture from different periods, and for a variety of collectable objects. Her hobby has resulted in a vintage yet fresh style, mixing mid-century designs with 19th century prints, and putting into the blend the occasional contemporary objects in order to maintain a playful, informal look. The living area of the apartment is laid out in a series of spacious, interconnected rooms, arranged in one plane, and offering a stunning visual perspective. These ambiences (two living rooms, a dining room and an office) are delineated by bright colour schemes, yet the wide doorways enable the individual spaces to remain visually connected with each other, echoing the cool marble flooring, which flows throughout, and which is only punctuated by the occasional colourful rug… View interior feature

Pin It Now!

Salvage loft in an old summer camp

Somewhere between an art gallery and cabinet of curiosities, surrealism and design point you towards Christian Nesler’s home on the Isle of Ré; a former summer camp canteen transformed. A somewhat fortuitous find, several friends purchased the buildings as a collective; Christian chose the kitchen, which was in ruins, a refectory, store room and a cold room. Converting it to an avant-garde loft was the challenge and with graphic elements like the black and white tiled floor, the red couch or the yellow lamp Christian nourishes his art of salvage materials. Assembling abstract compositions where the different materials play and colours create singular atmospheres "Each piece is unique and absolutely not reproducible". Christian Nesler made us discover his universe, his humour… View interior feature

Pin It Now!