Gather 'round...

Some dining room loveliness for you today...

Nate Berkus deisgn

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 Le Petit Bijou - Vicki Archer

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 Meyer Davis Lake House

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 Photo by Johan Sellen

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A few weeks ago, I mentioned that my partner and I were on the hunt for a new dining table and chairs. With our family expanding, we decided that now would be a good time to make more room at our table. We aimed to find a set which would comfortably seat at least eight people.

Our old dining set had a small round table, and sat four people. It was cozy, and it worked for us for the time we had it--other than at Christmas and Easter gatherings, when we had eight people to accommodate. On those occasions, we brought our outdoor dining set inside, and pushed the tables together. We made do.

While hunting for our new dining set, we looked at just about every furniture store in the area, only to wind up at Ikea. Honestly, we had hoped to avoid getting the set there, but they had the largest table, which was still within our budget. We decided upon the brown-black Stornas table, which has two extension leaves, and can seat eight to ten people, eight white Ingolf chairs, and matching white chair pads, for comfort's sake. We had been considering getting upholstered chairs, until we imagined tiny sticky fingers smearing across the fabric. Having a baby is definitely changing our perspective on things!

All in all, we are quite happy with our choice. The table is massive! The chairs are very solidly built. Since the table is a bit darker than we would like, we are considering painting it more of a chocolate colour, sometime. Also, down the road, we would like to upholster the seats on the chairs, which seems like an easy enough thing to do. The chair design would allow that to happen. We'll see how much time and energy we will have for such projects, once our little one is here. Bonus: yesterday, the new Ikea catalogue arrived in our mailbox, and we saw that our table has gone up in price by $40. How is that for good timing?

We are so happy to have plenty of room at our table, for family and friends to gather 'round. That's what really matters.

Sorry for the not-so-great photo, taken on my phone. Just thought you might like to see the finished result...

pale grey lounging

I love both the simple, uncluttered look, and the more layered look in these pale grey lounges. They both seem to be spaces that would be soothing respites from the world. (Well, that is my very biased grey-loving opinion.)

{image sources: 1 & 2}

Scandi-Style Timber Home in Melbourne

A soft, pale colour palette and a seamless Scandi-style design scheme have brightened and revitalized this 1970s timber home in Melbourne, Australia. Owners Simone and Rhys Haag like to call their labour of love "The Log Cabin". The couple transformed the property into this beautiful home in a mere three months' time! Considering Simone works for a well-known interior designer, and Rhys is a construction manager, the pair 
definitely had the skills for the job, and the results are amazing.

I love the light, relaxed feel of the spaces, and the minimal yet cozy mix of the couple's personal collections in this home. Vintage and contemporary items, alongside softly-coloured wooden pieces, add heaps of warmth and charm to the rooms. Connecting indoors and out, large windows allow gorgeous views of the surrounding Dandenong ranges. My favourite touch is the white hammock just outside the lounge. It looks like such a perfect spot to relax, doesn't it? What a serene place to call home.

{all images and source information found here; check out Simone's blog here}

A Swedish Home at Christmas

A cozy house by the sea in Sweden... full of light and loveliness at the holidays.

{all images found here}

Swedish Serenity

This all-white flat in Sweden, home to a family of five, looks so incredibly relaxing. I love the subtle green kitchen cabinets, the lovely wooden desk, and those beautiful double doors leading into a bedroom. The most charming element of this home would have to be the keyboard in the lounge. I can just picture a family sing-along going on there.

{Sources: all images found here; photos by Petra Bindel for Elle Interior Sweden}

Scandi Serenity

How do the Scandinavians do it? They just seem to have a way with pale soothing spaces, like this beautiful home, of Danish designer Hanne Berzant, who designs By Nord, a nature-inspired collection of homewares and lifestyle products.

In this home, I love the look of the pale wooden floors and crisp white walls balanced by a handful of darker pieces and creamy off-white elements. My favourite Ikea light, which looks like an enormous dandelion, is seen in the study. A mix of natural textures throughout the home, alongside sleek stainless steel in the kitchen, and a thick fluffy rug in the lounge bring a range of tactile sensations, to please the hands as well as the eyes.

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A home-hunting update: G and I are currently considering buying an existing home--soonish!--rather than waiting to build a house in a couple of years, as we had previously been discussing. We are thinking that we'd rather not be renting, when we could jump into the housing market and have a place to call our own. We'd like to get a "fix-er-upper", to renovate, and then build our Dream House in a few years. After that, we could sell or rent out the first house. 

This weekend, we will be taking Glen's daughters along for a visit to a display home village, for us to look for more home ideas. I'm guessing that the girls will enjoy seeing the display houses, since they spend lots of time playing their Sims game, making their own little dream houses (Glen calls the game "the modern version of a dollhouse"). I'll let you know more, as our house-hunting progresses.

P.S. Have I mentioned my fear of housing commitment yet? No? Well.... Let's just say that I am much better at daydreaming about my dream house than actually making it happen--but I'm trying to push beyond my comfort zone now, and I'm getting pretty excited about the idea of us having our own home sooner than later. You see, I've always rented, but Glen has owned a home before, so at least he knows what he's doing. I'm the one playing catch-up.


Wish us luck!

(All images found here - Photos: Heidi Lerkenfeldt; Styling: Pernille Vest and Bolette Kiaer/ Linnea Press for the Feb 2012 edition of Living Etc magazine)