LOUNGING

I have worked so much and done so many things this summer I once again have some 5000 pics and 500 blogposts I will not manage to ever actually write. But meanwhile here are three, or; make it four awesome things right now-  wine, a vintage maxi dress, our living room, and just having finished a job and not having to do anything for the moment.

Enjoy the summer sun or hang in there with the heat wave, whichever way you feel about it.

GROWING THE JUNGLE POT BY POT AND LEAF BY LEAF

Now as the sun has returned to our hemisphere it's time to show the plants some love, re-pot and take care of them after the winter darkness. This year I -finally- got a couple of plant lamps to help my green inhabitants survive the dark months better. I somewhere read a comparison of the amount of light, and it is ridiculously low here in winter (from some 100 000 lux on a summer's day to just 500 during the darkest period), which is of course pretty obvious if you live here, but to see the actual numbers on paper is pretty describing as well.

So now it's time for bigger pots for some, new soil and other care taking.

I have always liked to decorate with plants, especially to make a room nicer when it is still waiting for a touch up or renovation, as is the case with our living room downstairs. We finally got the most important parts renovated, like upstairs ( or: most of it, still some left...), and then the two-year-box-labyrinth-hell that was our former city flat cleaned up just in time for Christmas meaning we actually have a downstairs again, so any paint jobs will now have to wait. In the meantime I keep on growing our little jungle!

 We have a row of big plants working as a screen separating one part of the room from the other.

The cats take their roles as this jungle's mini panthers, chasing shadow pray.

More plants to come still!

THE LIVING ROOM

We finally have a living room!

Yes, there has always been a living room downstairs, but that room still has boxes and extra furniture from our former city flat everywhere, that have been waiting for the renovation to progress so they can be taken into use and the downstairs one glorious day be emptied up of extras. A day which is very much closer now than a few months ago. (Insert big choir underneath my window singing Hallelujah! the Bach way here.)  We had basically been hanging out in the kitchen for the past two years while first fixing up the boys' rooms, and this summer we finally got the upstairs hallways turned into a hang-out space. 

The hallways was always ugly, unpractical, and tended to collect junk. There are no proper before's of that exact reason. A long time ago when I first came here it made you feel like a tiny hotdog in a bun as one wall was ketchup red and the other mustard yellow. Eventually we coloured the walls white as a quick fix. The ceiling was this strange plastic-cardboard-probably-very-great-in-the-eighties-material. Here are some of last summer's progress:

New ceiling and new walls. I wanted an apricot-y shade on the walls; this is Riviera by Tikkurila. The hardwood floor was in good condition but not nice per se, so it stayed but changed it's looks with paint.

Eddi hand-painted the checks on the floors. The same as the downstairs hallway, from where the stairs lead right up to here.

A lot of things are from our old Tapiola-living room -

(The cats have totally destroyed those red chairs btw. Anyone know of a good upholsterer?)

But some found their way from other rooms, or are in one way or another new - my old movie theatre chairs that had been waiting on the front porch for, umm, five years or so finally made their way up to be put into use! Scraped a lot of old hard bubblegum off underneath those (yuck!)... We also have a tv for the first time in years

The lithography is from my late grandmother's home. She got it as a gift from a lady she had helped during ww2. I always liked the colours in it.

Haha these vases were waiting for the living room to happen, collecting dust in our bedroom forever. Eddi got me the blue-and-white one from a job trip to South Africa and I thought it was a bit ugly until I got the two small other mid-century vases from my grandmother's home when we had to empty it, and I thought of pairing them together.

The Helsinki-poster by my graphic design idol Eric Bruun hangs here now as a nod to what I still consider "my" town, next to a map-poster of where we now live (the village of Vassböle), that  my sister gave us some Christmases ago.

Nothing is ever really ready though. Doors are missing, books need to be taken out of boxes and arranged and the bedroom corridor still needs a new ceiling and walls and and and...

(And now we have no front door because the front porch is being renewed. But that is another story. Right now however I intend to hang out with Netflix on a bigger and comfier screen than the usual laptop-in-lap. Netflix, theatre chairs and red wine it is!)

CASUALLY HANING OUT ON THE FAINTING COUCH

Some time back we had a photoshoot at home with Asko Jonathan Rantanen. (It's convenient when you have a house that can double as a suitable set for a photoshoot. Although for the nearest future it cannot, as there are moving boxes everywhere)

Here are a couple of photos from the first series -

I've worked with different things with Asko and his partner Nadja for years and it's always fun to come up with new themes and settings to shoot!

FAUX

I have a big vase in the farmhouse living room that I got once with the idea to put "something huge" into, but that then I have then noticed has been rather hard to fill.  I've kept blossoming branches or the occasional huge flower in it, but in some cases I am very much for consistency - like here, I want it to have something more permanent to go along with. (Partly because, emptying/filling and washing a huge vase is kind of tricky. Tricky as in annoying.)

I wanted some flowers that would clearly not be or look real, but not in a almost-but-not-quite-polyester kind of way, rather something more stylized. At some point somewhere I saw really nice and simple but still well detailed flowers made of wood, which I have later tried to find but without any luck. Or then I just really pictured them in my head until I thought I had actually seen them somewhere (that can happen you know), as not even the internet seems to provide..

A few days ago when on a totally different errand I spotted these huge flowers and they got to move into the big green vase for now.

I think they're fun.
The flowers are from Kodin1.

POTS AND PLANTS

As you may recall me saying before; I am a huge plant consumer and I start feeling all green-thumb at the change of seasons and usually spend a small fortune on plants and flowers for both the house and garden and balcony. (And now in spring time on seeds to. But I seldom get as far as to actually plant them to be honest...).

Some plants I've managed to keep alive and even grow for years*, but the ones I try to treat like they should be treaten over winter (like my geraniums) always die. So I've just stop doing that, and the ones that are by the window all-year round instead of being put in winter-mode make it.

This week I had a couple of days kind-of-off, so I took the time to change the soil for my indoor flowers, took come cuttings, bought a lot of new plants.

I haven't really liked it at home in quite a while as I have been so busy and everything has been so messy but new plants and flowers really do magic!

I always thought this part of the dining room was too pale and lacked something (while waiting for new wallpaper or some paint on the furniture or what we decide to do when the time is right); I have been seeking a large colourful painting for the wall to give it what's missing but for now, plants shall do the trick - they can really save a lot of things.

Ah, orchids, I love them, but have never managed to get any to bloom again after loosing their blossoms, even thought I've cut the stem like adviced. This time I'm going to try and be more consistent with fertilising etc. I think I'm going to name Monday my plant day so I'd remember to do all those other things that plants need to thrive other than just water them.

I clearly have it in me to become not only crazy cat lady but also crazy plant lady one day.

(*btw, someone was worried that the large plants in the living room would not make it as they were not by the window but I can let you know that they are doing just fine ;)

CHRISTMAS AND ALL THAT

I know it has not really begun yet * although it is just around the corner, and we had the first little hint of snow now, so I did a little cheating and hung up the first Christmas lights at home already! November is so dark anyway, but I did wait with the stars and advent lights so far though. Plus, I have different led-and fairy lights at home all year round so in some ways I sort of have a Christmas all the time (much to the joy of my husband).
*) other than in all the stores, everywhere,  right after Halloween as usual and apparently, as I heard, at Ikea already in October...


Then, because I had some extra banans hanging around (they sometimes tend to do that, become extras that just stay there and turn way too dark all of a sudden) I baked a chocolate-banana cake. Vegan.  It was good. Had it wit the first glögg (mulled wine/glühwein. Altough -yes really- this was the wine free version. More like spiced warm juice  really) of the year to go along. And as I was in the pre-Christmas mood I put some gingerbread spices in the cake too. Muy bueno. We can have a closer look on the how-to some other time.

I have said it before, I really am a Christmas person. The Holidays could last for at least a month and a half for all that I care. Well it usually does, as we seldom manage to get the Christmas tree out before the end of January. Ehrm. But mostly I am a "Christmas person" on the inside - for the past decade I have always been so busy I never manage to do that whole cal-getting-in-the-mood-and-relax-thing, where I have lights and candles and tingling everywhere and bake and make goodies for weeks and make and sew presents to all of my friends and family (one year I actually did, but that was a long time ago). It's more the thought of it I suppose, the same with the thought of autumn where I always wear knits and scarves and go out on walk in colourful crispy cold woods and come back home and drink cocoa. That which I have done perhaps once the last five years. Perhaps.  As with most other things and times and seasons in life, it comes surprisingly fast and is over before you know it. This year will be no different as I have lots of shows to do and classes to teach ahead of me still, and producing no less than two events within two weeks. But then I will try my best to take it easy and bake and prepare and all that and plan, make and shop gifts; I do love to hand out presents!

Speaking of which. This one here is mainly for my readers in Finland; a little hint if you plan to do some, or even some more of your Christmas shopping online, one that I had almost forgotten about myself but that comes in handy this time of year - do so via Ostohyvitys! Sign up and shop. This of course applies to all your purchases all year round as well, as you get various discounts (money refunded to your bank account) at most major online stores, both Finnish and international ones such as Apple Online store & iTunes, asos, cdon, Finnish Design Shop and The Body Shop to name a few, as well as at various smaller speciality stores, when you shop via the site. That, and discounts on many services and on magazine-subscriptions and at several travel companies etc. The system is very smart and it is easy to use - log in and then navigate to the store you want to make a purchase from and receive the discount in euros to your bonus account (and later to your bank account ). Well, as I do very little shopping nowadays I have forgotten to use the service the times I have actually bought something, so this serves as a good reminder for myself as well!

And ahoy! As a reader of my blog you will now get a 10euro gift card to use at any of the S-group stores (S-ryhmä) when you sign up and make your first purchase at any of the stores and services via the site (within 90 days).
Sign up here for more info and in order to receive the gift card: Ostohyvitys / S-ryhmän lahjakortti

Disclaimer: nothing in this post is in any way sponsored or paid for by Ostohyvitys but I am part of their affiliate network and can thus offer you the chance of to receive the gift card.

TIDIED UP AT LAST (PLUS THAT HIDEOUS MONKEY I ONCE GOT)

Our flat in the city has looked like a dump for the past year. It's been messed up by unpacked gig-bags of mine, filled with my paperwork and crumbled over with Dag's toys. As we've mainly been concentrating on fixing up and renovating the farm house, and all free time is spent there,  our apartment has been rather sad and forgotten.

But now I  finally got around cleaning it up -to the extent my sister doubtfully asked Eddi why was it so neat there, what's going on? when she came over- and it feels great. I haven't gotten everything I want organised yet, but I'm getting there. And as my nausea from the lost pregnancy is now over I apparently got an energy boos; I even washed all walls and every door in the house. And we might even get around finishing Dag's room now that I'm on fire!


I got some new plants and moved around the placements of the old ones. I always thought that plants are a great, quick and affordable way to freshen up and make a mini-renewal of the interior.

The Helsinki poster we have framed on the wall is one of my favourites by one of my favourites, Erik Bruun.

 If you know your Helsinki you'll love the simplicity of how landmarks and parts of town are portrayed.

Here's my anti-Bojesen monkey btw (and this is a total btw-mention).
It's horrible and not really supposed to be there, but I once hanged it ironically and then it has stayed. You know,  the classic wood design monkey-toy-thing by Bojesen that costs a lot and has no actual function, that people have on, or hanging from shelves (preferably a string one like this). Well, my sister and I have a thing of sending sad stories or links and such to one another. Sometimes it leads to things, like when I once saw a super sad listing for an old teddybear no one wanted and she ended up buying because she just had to. Another time a friend of mine linked me a weird ebay listing for a "hideous monkey" on my wall joking it was Plytis' evil cousin. My sister then sneakily got me the hideous monkey for my birthday the same year. Yes I did scream out in horror a little when I opened the package, before laughing like crazy.


Hideous, ain't it? I have no idea why it looks like this or why anyone would make it so, and sell it, but well, I know why someone bought it.

I can't leave you with the image of the scary monkey so here is a cuter picture of Dag, happily unaware of said monkey, playing in his play kitchen.

AND ONE DAY IT WILL BE A -RATHER TINY - JUNGLE IN HERE

If I like it a green and lush and a little wild in my garden I also prefer so indoors. You know I like to keep lots of plants indoors and have now started gathering bigger greens to slowly fill up the living room.

Not only because I like it how big plants can blend in the interior or even be used to divide a room and how they maintain good air, but also as it was common back in the days with huge plants and so goes with the style of the room and it's old furniture.


The latest plant I recently rescued from my parents' garage where it had been set away to die as it had turn a bit floppy and had no place of it's own. I replanted it and am keeping my fingers crossed that it will recover and grow huge and green and healthy soon.

BARE BULBS

We have an old ceiling light in the countryside dining room that I always thought was a bit blah. (As you now, just because something is vintage doesn't automatically make it awesome). But it had been in the house for long, so it's not something you change just like that. When we renovated we took the lamp shades away and I noticed the lamp looked much better, in a fun kid of way, with only the light bulbs there.


The shades themselves were not that ugly but some of them a slightly broken plus they made the lamp rather uninteresting and, well, sort of stupid.

For some time I couldn't find any decent looking energy saving bulbs  (as the original ones are not around anymore). Most new ones have a different, white base and smaller bulb instead and for the whole thing to work they have to look like the traditional ones. But, I found some, it worked out . (And later noticed that the internet would have been full of such. Well for course it is, it's the interwebs after all..).


I thought this was a contemporary twist on an old object but then I saw a glimpse of a ceiling light just like this, with bare bulbs, on Boardwalk Empire too. I guess they've done their homework so some have apparently kept their lamps this way back in the days too...

THE LAST PAGE COMICS

Father and son reading the daily paper.

The couch is a Carl Malmsten on I got from a web auction site last year,  where I also got the old lamp. The plaid on the sofa a Eddi bought home from Bolivia.

THE FARM HOUSE LIVINGROOM, AS IT IS NOW

As you may recall we spent a great deal of the early summer painting and fixing the int living- and dining room at the farm house. As we did not have a chance to renew the floor we cleaned it up and painted over it. (One of) the problem(s) was always that there were so many different shades of wood in the rooms that did not go well together, but now all frames and boards are in white which calms the rest down.

Here's how it looked back in, hmmm, lets see: 2010, 2011 (did some re-arranging) and up to last year when I bought some new furninture from an antique market:

The whole winter and a great part of the spring it looked like this while we were renovating...


And here's how it looks now!
We're not quite there yet,  but you can do such a big difference with just paint:

As with all the other rooms, one day I will paint the windows their original white too. It's such a big job (and has to be done in summer time) that I just try and close my eyes to the difference now. Will get some curtains to help until then.

Another way of spicing up a room that you can't renew properly is to put in lots of plants. Green it up!

I think it was Eddi's grandfather who made this small violin.


A lighter floor makes such a big difference! Much of the furniture belongs to the house, so we've re-arranged them a bit and tried to make the best of them. All furniture and lighting in the living room are vintage. As noone needs thee big cup boards or cabinets (!) in one room we put some away to be put int he study, once we get that cleaned up.

 (I might have mentioned it before, that we can still put some things away and so on, but the bigger house that Eddi's brother and family lives in has some rooms that are basically not allowed to change;  that has looked the same always. It's quite nice, with old items and such, but it's also not that easy when making a home.)


My Chinese lamp I got from an auction last year now stands on the old Singer sewing machine table that we put in the dining room. Serves as a serving table too.

There's a new set of flowers in my tube collection.

The rather heavy furniture that was in the dining room also feels a little bit lighter now with the lighter frames of the room and the lighter base to stand on, and also with the new fabric I put on the chairs.

And Dag says hello!