Daaaarling
I feel glamorous today! I got my August issue of Swedish Glamour, featuring my Bentey stool. Here are pictures taken in Photobooth (sorry bad quality):
I don’t speak Swedish very well but they are talking about different trends (the stool belonging to the cross stitch trend). And look! That’s Dita Von Tess, featured in the same article. I do feel very special today.
I apologize for the lack of blogging. I’ve been working, designing, taking care of the fur baby, welcoming guests and finishing the moving process. As soon as things calm down, I’ll post something fun.
Hope everyone is well.
R
Our new home
We have finally settled in a cute, little apartment downtown Reykjavík with a beautiful view. We moved in a week ago and it’s all ready getting cozy. It was so much fun finding all our old stuff in the boxes we stored during our stay in Michigan, there were a lot of things we had forgotten about. Here are some pictures:
I bought this mirror in a thrift shop in London about 7 years ago. I’m a sucker for mid-century furniture.
The pretty chandelier in the hallway. We are lucky that the owner of the apartment is an architect and has very good taste.
The dog. Panda is very happy in the new apartment. The only thing she hates is the stairs to go outside. We have to carry her down.
The living room. Panda likes to lounge in the orange Ikea chair.
I bought this old couch today at a thrift market. It cost about $130. It can be converted into a bed. The only thing is that is smells like smoke! Any ideas? I love love love the round pillow, it’s one of my favorite things. Bought at a Thai store in Reykjavík.
The bathroom. Small and cozy.
The bedroom.
My Friends with you gang that I’m very proud of. Nerdy? not at all!
A teak dresser I bought at an antique store some years back, got it for cheap. The stool is by my favorite designer Sori Yanagi and bought at Habitat. I got it for %50 off because it was a display piece. Bargain hunt to the fullest lol.
The kitchen. The three glass bowls were a gift from our friends. I like how they light up in the window.
The beast of a stove! I love this stove! If I was an appliance, I would date this stove.
Our first official visitors, mommy and daddy.
The lovely evening sunset that I’ve missed so much.
Last but not least, my husband Ragnar who is at work and therefor could not be in the pictures.
Lovely video
Vacation time
I’m going away for a week with my family to a summer house. There wont be any internet so there will be some lack of posts (not that there have been that many recently). Have a nice weekend everyone and enjoy the summer!
A lamb to sit on
Fuzzy is a classic Icelandic stool by Sigurður Helgason. It was originally made in ‘72. The base is wood with an upholstered seat that is covered with Icelandic sheep wool. I love this stool, it’s so cute and rounded, like a little lamb. I’m definitely saving up for the all white one to go with my 70’s teak dresser.
Homeward bound
We been back in Iceland for a little over a week now. There are things that I’m loving and things I am loving less. I’m noticing more the things that made me feel uneasy before: the rawness of Iceland, the weather, the people, the ideas. I have to admit that I miss the openness and politeness of Michigan but at the same time I’m loving the nature, the architecture and the midnight sun.
In professional news, I got chosen along with 11 other Icelandic designers to represent Iceland at 100% design Tokyo in October. We had our first meeting this morning. I knew most of the people there, they were either former school mates or teachers from undergrad. These people know what they want, they are cut throat and are ready to stand up and represent their ideas and creations. It’s something I’d forgotten about in the little peaceful commune that is Cranbrook, for the past couple of years. I guess it’s back to product design reality lol.
Ragnar has been offered a bunch of jobs and I think he is ready to chose and we have found a wonderful apartment in the heart of Reykjavík (the city) and will be moving there in the beginning of August. It’s small but very sweet with a beautiful view. A typical Reykjavík apartment. We’ll be staying at my dear parents place until then.
Well I’m off to bed although I’d much rather take a walk around my hometown right now. It’s so nice and still outside and the sun has just sat and it’s 1:25 am!
I’ll post some more soon since things are getting more relaxed.
Have a nice weekend!
I think I’m ready to go home
In a little over a week we’ll be back in Iceland. Our last week in the States will be a busy one so I don’t think I’ll have time for much blogging.
I’m looking forward to some nice trips to the country with my family and friends, I am craving some Iceland nature.
Nakashima
George Nakashima was an amazing designer with a great eye for subtle detail. I absolutely adore his work and I would love nothing more than to fill my apartment with it.
On Friday I’ll get to meet his daughter Mira Nakashima, who has taken over his business and continues to produce his furniture. She will be signing books at the Craft In America opening at the Cranbrook Art Museum. I’ll be working at the bookstore. I am so excited, the show looks absolutely amazing!
Above you can see George’s Mira chair and below that is a picture of Mr. and Mrs. Nakashima with Mira at a young age. Cute picture.
Keane doggies
How cool would it be to have your dog painted by Margaret Keane?
All you need is about $20.000 and a dog of course.
Moving on…..
It’s now 17 days until we leave America. Right now I’m ready to go home, today it went up to 94 degrees and we’ve basically been sitting around all day trying to keep cool.
Anyways, let me tell you what I’ve been doing to make time go by…..
We just got the awesome news that my aunt and her husband (that live in London and just had a little baby girl) will be extending their trip to Iceland in June so they can see us on the 25th when we get back. That means I get to meet my new little cousin Sædís Rhea! I’m so excited to see them all, it’s been over a year. Here’s a picture of Sædís Rhea and my other cousin (her big brother) Rhys Ragnar. Look how cute they are!
So I decided to knit Panda a sweater when we get back home and make Sædís Rhea a little gift. I found this crocheted baby afghan that I really wanted to try to make. I’ve never really crocheted before so I’m starting slow and made a lot of samples before I started the real thing.
Here are the results so far. It’s going slow but it looks ok and it’s a lot of fun.
That’s basically all I’ve been doing for the past two days and watching movies and going to sleep at two in the morning. I’m craving some kind of schedule. Maybe I’ll go to the gym tomorrow…hmmmmm