Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Christmas and vintage textiles

Photo: Nordiska Style


Merry Christmas everyone!

I love all the beautiful vintage Christmas textiles that can be found in the second hand stores in Sweden in november/december! I have a small collection, but the one above, hand embroidered in the 50's is one of my favorite. Another favorite is this gorgeous wallhanging, also hand embroidered and dated 1949:

 Photo: Nordiska Style

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Kila Design: A new life for broken vintage nordic porcelain

Photo: Kila Design


Scandinavian designers produced the most amazing porcelain between the 50's and the 70's. Some of the designs, like Berså (Stig Lindberg), Mon Amie (Marianne Westman) or Zebra (Eugene Trost) are still sought after today, and you have to be ready to spend quite a lot a money for a complete set (well, if you can find it!). But porcelain is fragile, you drop it on the floor or throw it against the wall during a fight, and it's gone... (no, don't do that! At least not with mid-century porcelain.)

Anyway, Cecilia Claesson, the founder of Kila Design has found an original way to recycle damaged porcelain: she uses the pieces to create jewelry. And all rings, necklaces, bracelets, brooches or cufflinks have parts of pure silver. I really love the idea of wearing a piece of what used to be an eggcup somewhere in the 50's!  Nostalgic and poetic! And a lovely gift for a loved one (or yourself)!

Photo: Precis en sån    (Krokus, Arabia)


Photo: Kila Design   (Daisy, Figgjo Flint)



Photo:  Precis en sån


Photo: Precis en sån
 
Photo: Kila Design

I love many different designs, but Berså (Stig Lindberg) will always be my favorite. Many years ago, I fell in love with the famous stylized green leaf. I didn't know much about scandinavian design back then, and I started doing some research on the internet, reading books, going the the second hand stores (in Sweden)... And I discovered amazing designs and designers.  Since then, I'm hooked! 

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Today's finds at the second-hand store

Photo: Nordiska Style

I went to the second-hand store today and found this really cool earth globe shaped advertising moneybox from the 60's. It was made for the Skandinaviska Bank (a swedish bank) but was made in Finland. As I love everything related to the space age, I had to take it with me!

I also found this great book:


It's from the early 70's and it's filled with pictures of interiors, furniture, accessories from scandinavian designers. The text is in english, french and german, and it's the no.3, couldn't find the rest of the collection, unfortunately. Here are some pictures from the book, I'm so happy with it!






Photos: Nordiska Style

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Retro Magazine on a Sunday afternoon

Photo: Nordiska Style


Isn't it great when on Friday, just before a cold, snowy weekend, you find in your mail box the new issue of your favorite magazines? And when, like Hus & Hem Retro magazine, it's published only 4 times a year, it's even more exciting! If you like collecting vintage scandinavian items, no matter if it's classic pieces of furniture, teak sideboards, mid-century glass, textiles or clothes, you'll find interesting information about designers and prices, tons of amazing vintage pictures and the chance to visit beautiful homes filled with scandinavian treasures!

It's in swedish, which is not my first language, but I can read it. I think that even if I couldn't read it, I would still buy it as the pictures are a fantastic source of inspiration!

Happy Sunday everyone!


Photo: Nordiska Style