Life at a Danish allotment cabin in summer

Hello Friday! How lovely to see you! I'm so looking forward to the weekend, how about you? What's fascinating about this lovely Danish weekend 'allotment' cabin is that photographer Stuart McIntyre and stylist Katrine Martensen-Larsen have not only captured the lovely, relaxed home with all it's mix & match furniture and accessories, but also the idyllic life at the home itself. In this Danish family weekends are all about relaxing, playing games, bathing alfresco, and making plum jam from scratch in the outdoor kitchen.  What a great way to wile away a weekend wouldn't you say?

Photographer: Stuart McIntyre. Stylist: Katrine Martensen-Larsen / KML Design - with kind permission

What a lovely, relaxed home!

You can see a little more of it here if you'd like.

I've featured several other Swedish allotment homes on here before (including this one and this one - beautiful!) but never a Danish one so I'm very excited about today's post - sending big love to Katrine for so graciously letting me share the pictures.

If you're inspired to make your own plum jam this weekend, I'm loving this uber simple two ingredient plum jam recipe. Ooooo how I'd love some on my toast today!

Or if it's the cabin you're after I'm loving this dutch cabin in the woods, and a boat house on the baltic - both available to rent!

Have a fabulous weekend - see you Monday!

A beautiful back-to-basic Finnish cabin

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Minna of Time of The Aquarius. Her style is stunningly simple, and everything she touches turns to gold. Minna and her family have been renovating their beautiful Finnish summer cottage (seen here, here and here) for some time and today I can reveal a glimpse of parts of the new monochrome living space. It's everything a Scandinavian retreat should be and more. Oh how I'd love to visit one day! How about you?

Time of The Aquarius - shared with kind permission.

I do love a back-to-basic minimalist feel. So airy and light. How about you?

Although around 80% of the items in the home are vintage finds, there are a few pieces we can readily find - the kitchen is from IKEA. The worktop is from Bauhaus and painted black using Osmo Color. The dining chairs are Bertoia. There are several lovely items by the lovely Finnish brand Verso Design too. But what I really want to know - (and I'm pretty sure you do too?) is where that light in the kitchen is from. I'm working on it I promise - and will be back shortly! Do let me know if there is anything else you're wondering about.

You can see more pics of this lovely cottage and keep up to date with their renovation project on Instagram. Or take a peek at Minna's year round home here.

More stunning Finnish homes here (scroll passed the first as it will most likely be this one) and if you're in the mood - you might want to check out the log cabin and rural retreats archives too - soooo idyllic!

Have a lovely day!

A dreamy Finnish lake-side cabin with a twist

When it comes to creating a cabin, it seems your imagination is the only limit. This incredible Finnish summer cottage has been built using four ship containers, yes really! Looking at the 60 metres square space you'd never guess, would you?! And when the owners aren't sitting out on the terrace enjoying the forest and interrupted views over lake Hartola,  they're relaxing in the beautiful, personal interior, decorated using simple monochromes and a touch of vintage industrial.  I could wile away a summer here, how about you?!

 

 

 

Photos by Krista Keltanen (shared with kind permission)

Oh to whisk myself away here! I do love the simple life, don't you?

It's difficult to pin down exactly what I like the most about this house - I love everything! But if I have to say one thing it would be the mix of textures - hard industrial metals against white washed brick walls and soft linens and lace.

Is there anything that stands out to you?

You can see more photos of this house beautifully captured by Krista Keltanen on her lovely blog here or a full article here (in Finnish). More dreamy Finnish cabin inspiration here, here and here.

Have a lovely day!

A pared-back forest cabin in Holland

I do love a pared-back rural retreat. Every Friday I dream about packing my weekend bag and zooming off to the countryside. There's something wonderful about the back-to-basics, fuss-free life-style, don't you think? This lovely cabin is located in a forest in The Netherlands. The owners (with the help of stylist Kim Timmerman) have brought in hints of the great outdoors - including a bird garland, animal motif cushions and bedding, and a branch used as a clothes rail and kept everything else very simple. Oh, how I could unwind here, how about you?!

Stylist: Kim Timmerman   Photography: Rene Gonkel

Lovely! 

And there's good news too. It's available for rent here (oh yes! I've packed my bags I'm ready to go....).

I'm bsolutely loving all these Scandinavian inspired country cottages / cosy cabins too

My sister has just arrived from London *so great to see her*! We're heading off in a minute for lunch and a day of shopping in Copenhagen - I've been looking forward to this day for so long! 

Have a fabulous weekend! 

PS  If you're planning on doing any shopping, don't forget the 10% discount on all items from Blackthumb with the code MyScandi10 until 31st March. 

PPS Great weekend give-away coming up so stop by tomorrow if you have the time!

The rustic Norwegian cabin hide-away

It's the weekend! Yay! Any great plans? We'll be at home this weekend but what I'd really like to be doing is escaping to this rustic cabin high up on the cliffs of Western Norway.  Imagine taking a walk in the blustery north wind followed by a hot drink next to the roaring fire? That's a part of every day life for Norwegian couple Elin and Rune. As lovers of the great outdoors, the duo are firm believers in the saying 'there's no bad weather, only bad clothing' and wanted to live somewhere they could enjoy Storfjorden and the surrounding mountain range. The cabin developed stage by stage, and although basic, it has everything they need  to observe the changing weather and delight in the uninterrupted views of the nature that surrounds them.

 Photo: Carina Olander with kind permission 

Photo: Carina Olander with kind permission

Photo: Carina Olander with kind permission

Photo: Carina Olander with kind permission

Photo: Carina Olander with kind permission

Could you spend your weekend here?!

There's something so romantic about this retreat, don't you think?

I've spoken before about my dreams of walking one of the 'hytte to hytte' trails in Western Norway. I even asked my Mum for hiking boots for Christmas. Yes, really! But seriously, couldn't you walk 20 km just to spend a night in a 'hytte' like this?!

For more rustic log cabin inspiration (it's got to be done right?!) I love this Norwegian cabin by the sea, a Norwegian hide-away, and a pared-back Finnish retreat. Why do I do this to myself?!!

Have a truly fab weekend!

PS images found via House of C with thanks. 

An idyllic Finnish cottage with an outdoor summer kitchen

As January comes to a close and the short, snowy days continue,  I find myself dreaming of the summer sun more and more. And when it arrives - I'm going to be outdoors along with the rest of Scandinavia. That's why I thought I'd share the latest developments of one of my favourite summer cottages - an oh so idyllic family retreat on an island in the Finnish archipelego. The ongoing renovation project is driven by owner Minna Jones of Time of The Aquarius and her partner and has been well documented here on My Scandinavian Home (here and here plus her year round home here). To me, the residence epitomises the essence of the Scandinavian summer - life at a cabin with a beautiful, yet basic interior and maximised to ensure time outside enjoying the long awaited summer days. Last season the owners added an outdoor kitchen to the mix. And the good news? It's easily replicated.  Here are a few new snaps of Minna's home and her fab new outdoor kitchen.

Minna Jones, Time of the Aquarius

To get a similar outdoor kitchen: try painting an IKEA trestle table,  the water can with tap and lights are from Granit, buy a camping stove here. Finnish birch basket. Rattan furniture is set to be big this spring / summer - I'm a big fan of the uber comfy BYHOLMA chair.

Other items I know and love: Bertoia chairs, Butterfly chair and String shelves. IKEA PS 2012 chest of drawers and FÖRHÖJA kitchen trolley.

To get a full picture of the summer cottage and for more images of the plan, interior, grounds, surrounding nature and family life at the cottage you can wile away a few hours on Minna's dreamy blog.

I also absolutely love this Finnish log cabin with a sauna.

Summer in Finland anyone?!

And because it's still January (just): I loved how Scandinavisk summarises the 'Sense of Scandinavia' in Thursday's piece. And this beautiful video by Volvo featuring Amanda Begman's song 'Vintersaga' (winter tale) perfectly sums up the coldest season in Sweden- I was particularly excited to see it even features the beach by my house here in the South! Thank you AMM blog for the tip!

Have a lovely day!

PS Thank you so much to Ana of Blog Milk Shop for all your amazing technical help with my blog lately! Ana is not only my tech saviour but she also creates the most stunning blog templates available to buy here.