When at home it's snowing...

Can be a countryside an inspiration for interior design? When I saw this view in Norwegian mountains I imagined different decoration solutions. You can see some of them below...

There are kitchen containers dressed with Norwegian sweaters... As a background - an Indian wooden lamp.

Treasures of Norwegian houses

Snow is falling today. It is a good opportunity for reminisce about visits in Norwegian houses and for presenting a discovered treasures. First of all Norwegian houses are incredibly - so simple in form, usual, not pompous, sometimes reminding... huts! In the same time those houses are full of charm, a marvellous simplicity scented with a feeling of safety and a life fulfilment! In an each window we can see a lamp. I like this custom very much. At once I did think of lyrics: "The Mystic's dream" by Loreena Mckennitt: "Your lamp will call me home..."

In spite of one aesthetic moderation in interiors Norwegian not avoid small decorations. And they are right. It is hanged in windows. What we can find there? Clay cats painted in white, small horses, hearts, twigs and flowerpots with orchids. It is so nice to have a look into such houses and take a cup of hot chocolate chatting with a housekeeper. I invite you to watching Norwegian decorations...

And here I have found a true treasure! A horse as a handle of an old wooden mangle from 17th century! At once I reminded a book "Kristin, Lavrans daughter" by Sigrid Undset...

There is a detail of old 17th century mangle - Norwegian traditional motives sculptured in wood. 

And this is a mangle as wall decoration. What do you think of it?

In one a house in Amot I saw a small wooden chair covered by fur as decoration of hall.

And on the door of Kroderen house did welcome me... a doorknocker...

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An old underlay for iron as decoration of kitchen wall in Norwegian house.

Good morning, Norway!

Now came a time for the journey to a source of Scandinavian style. This is a time of a confrontation of my knowledge and imagination of „ice-cold design”. My journey to Norway was sudden, unexpected. I was looking into Norwegian interiors with a huge curiosity. But first I did pay attention to a architectural details and a decoration of a outside walls. On the photo below we can note reindeer's horns painted in white and hanging above a front door of a building. It's presenting beautifully on the background of red – a traditional colour of Norwegian houses. We can have horns from Sami – a people from North Norway. It reminds me a dark side of nature but a wildness, independence and raw of life too. And in my opinion, no more glorious design than a combination of those elements with contrasting decorations symbolizing a idyllic style of life! Of course, in proper proportions :)

Winter is coming! Hurray!

I like Winter indeed. Winter is for me like an expectation of a long magic story. We can decorate our home to make everything remind us of Winter. It is not only creating of an amazing atmosphere, an impression of space and fresh mood but it is introducing Winter nature into our interiors. What can be a Winter decoration? Cones, fur, bare twigs, fur caps, Finland folk gloves or... reindeer horns... I'm waiting for reindeer's horns which will "come" to my place from Norway! It is a glorious decoration to hang on a wall. Of course it should be painted white :) Let's imagine white reindeer's horns on a white smooth wall in an ordinary flat! Today I am presenting an idea where even boots can be used as decoration. Not usual ones but boots with fur in North folk style! It should suggest to us a land where people travel by sledge only.

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Whiteness combined with gray

A good point of whiteness is an endless possibility of creating a colorful staging on a background of whiteness. Sometimes colorful elements are delicate decorations in an interior only. In this case the main role is definitely played by whiteness. Sometimes a different colour sets a tone so much that whiteness becomes a background only for a clear Indian or South European style. 
Today I propose experimenting with a combination of white and gray. An atmosphere of faraway Scandinavia is kept... And what element in grey enriches an interior? It is a scraf with a pattern called granny squares! Thanks to it the hall seems to be much higher than it is in reality. And this an example of perfect whiteness spiced up with a „warm”, woolly element. Smooth light walls are in contrast with the clear weave and the plaits of baskets.

At the beginning there was whiteness...

What interiors are most fascinating? I think those ones which reflect a soul, a temporary mood. An interior furnished and decorated in a proper way can bring us to any corner of the world, to any distant age. Thanks to well chosen furniture, objects of daily use and decorations we can create unique lands. In this way a small flat can be transformed into a castle with hundred chambers or into a hunting cottage in Far North... I will tell you about one house. All of this has its beginning in stormy changes in my life. As a sign of a new fresh path of life I decided to dress my home in a perfect white.

White is amazing. It creates a mood of endless winter. And here I will say without hesitating - a winter doesn't have to be boring and sinister at all. Quite the opposite! A winter is a fairytale with a tone of peaceful nostalgia. A winter brings to mind cosy rooms with a pleasantly flickering fire of a fireplace, a cup of tea, a good book...

I wasn't paying attention to comments of others that white is monotonous and not interesting, that a hall reminds an aseptic hospital. I saw the final effect of project with my imagination. It didn't associate with hospital whiteness but with a secret cottage in Finland woods. A very important idea of this project was "white on white" - on a white background we have furniture and decorations in white colour. It brings an effect of an unreal magic interior. On the one hand this interior seems cold, but on the other hand it is cosy and friendly.

My favourite style

Because of whiteness, which I love most, I like interiors in Scandinavian style and in eclectic style combining Scandinavian and Provence soul. In my eyes it is an ideal combination. In it I feel like a fish in the sea. In such an interior I feel freedom from each corner of the house, a forecast of future happiness and a feeling that nothing is lost in a life. It is like an endless Christmas time!

We can put a pinch of Orient style into this Scandinvian-Provence mix but about it later... I think whiteness creates a miracle out of every interior, even out of usual flat. For that, it is necessary to combine proper items in pairs. To put decorating cushions with animal portraits is an easiest way to create Scandinavian style. We can add white fur on a chest of drawers instead of a serviette.