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)