things that last

Minolta SRT 101, Kodak Portra 400nc

A year ago, almost to the date, I posted this. Yesterday I came across an article in Norwegian Elle Interiør (one of my favorite decorating magazines) from that home. It belongs to Bengt Lagerberg, drummer in the Swedish band The Cardigans, and Emma Persson, an interior stylist and writer. In the article Emma says something that really speaks to me:

I'm not really interested in design classics, especially not when they work as status symbols. If I like a piece of furniture, it may just as well be from IKEA; it doesn't really matter. As I get older, I'm more into things that last - both emotionally and because of quality.

more thought on home decorating

super normal

I just reread the D2 article about the Super Normal concept (mentioned here). It really speaks to me.

Why do so many designs fail to pass the everyday test? Why is Normal disappearing, and when it's gone how do we replace it? Is beauty just a question of looks or could there be more to it than meets the eye? What makes good objects, and how come some objects get better with time?

Quote from the back cover of the book Super Normal: Sensations of the Ordinary

If you understand Norwegian, you should read that D2 article. You should also read this essay by Jasper Morrison and this dialog between Morrison and Naoto Fukasawa (both are in English). FYI: Both Morrison and Fukasawa are furniture designers.

Design, which is supposed to be responsible for the man-made environment we all inhabit, seems to be polluting it instead. Its historic and idealistic goal to serve industry and the happy consuming masses at the same time, of conceiving things easier to make and better to live with, has been side-tracked.

Quote from Jasper Morrison's essay mentioned above.

PS: We had an orange wall.

say cheese

Skiing me, ca 1985. Photo by dad.

A while ago I got this beautiful blogger award from Marianne. Thanks a lot, Marianne! I appreciate it.

With the award there comes a challenge
1 Link to the one you got it from
2 Tell 7 things about yourself
3 Give the award to 7 other bloggers

Since I have done this challenge a few times before, I thought this time I would focus on home decorating.

1 White is my number one choice for candles. Only a few times I've bought red candles for Christmas.
2 I believe in small space living. I learnt a lot about what I (and Sølve) actually need in my everyday life after living 3 years in 30 square meter. I hope we will be able to keep this in mind when we one day in the future become a bigger family.
3 I need wood in my home; for example floors, tables, dining chairs, kitchen benchtop. I also need lots of white + splashes of color.
4 I like homes that are personal, unpretentious, playful and well planned.
5 After redecorating a few apartments, I almost hate DIY...
6 I'm more focused on how a room/house works than filling it with the right design furniture. I don't mind a room/house full of IKEA stuff as long as it's well planned and functional.
7 I used to read every interior design magazine I got get my hands on. But then I got feed up; I felt I had seen it all before. Now I mostly just read a couple of favorites; Norwegian Elle Interiør and Nytt Rom.

I give the beautiful blogger award to these beautiful bloggers:
1 Ingvild Telle
2 Christine's sketchbook
3 Mammadamen
4 UNA.dos.tres
5 no penny for them
6 forty-sixth at grace
7 Susannah Conway