Swedish affair with Affari..

Hello lovely people! One of my favourite Swedish decor brands is 'Affari AB'.

Located in the South of Sweden this small, privately owned company was founded in 1998 by a group of four people who at the time sold only candles and candle related products. However their vision and passion for finding unique and stylish decor items from around the world made them grow, and today they sell a wide range of stunning hand selected pieces for indoor as well as outdoor use.

I am mad about their products and have several pieces in my home. My latest purchase is a large (and very heavy) ice tub in cast aluminium. I can see it used all year around in an array of scenarios (e.g. drinks, fruit, twigs, candles etc) but for now I intend to fill it with Hyacinths (like in the picture below) for my Christmas buffet table. It will be surrounded by candles, Pine or Juniper tree branches, and of course a parade of Swedish seasonal delicacies. I think this will look nice.. What do you think darlings?

I have also placed an order for a wonderful (and big!) three tiered tray, also in solid cast aluminium (below). 
It too will make its debut in December when I intend to fill it with nuts, home made truffles and perhaps a load of ginger biscuits. I can't wait for it to arrive!

There are so many things I want from this company and I know I'll be adding some of their rustic pots (in their perfectly distressed (mossy) drained terracotta / white clay execution..). 

And oh perhaps a trio of hammered silver plated pots too... I have seen them with baby Myrtle trees and also with chunky charcoal coloured candles, and both look great!

I also adore their royal chandeliers. There are several in their collection but I like the simplicity of the one below... 

And what about some selected galvanized sheet metal urns & tubs (yum), and/or a duet of concrete candle sticks (the big ones!)..

I can so see this one filled with ruby red apples.. or filled with Spring twigs..

And don't get me started on their carved panels (below).. I never knew MDF could look so sexy people..! I can see this one being used as a wall decoration, window panel, and/or as a table top (with glass on top). 

**Sigh.. so many things to drool over here don't you think!?!. I especially love the way the catalogue has been styled this year - timelessly Swedish with a nice edge. Let's dream together through some final pictures from their most recent catalogue..

Cute bins to fill with stylishly wrapped Christmas presents don't you think..!?!

Isn't this candle buffet just heaven.. Especially with the simple window treatment. 

These reindeer are super cute and come in two sizes. I can see a couple in the kids' room for Christmas..!

And true to their roots, Affari still makes the most wonderful candles and candle products.. Loving their lantern (the tall ones with those fabulous big rings at the top..!).

With that I leave you with warm hugs and wishes of a fun Halloween weekend!

xx Charlotta

All images are via the Affari website and their '2011 Autumn/Winter Catalogue'. Jump across - you won't regret it!

P.S.
I am personally not a big fan of 'Shabby Chic' style. It's nice but just not 'me'.
If you feel the same, do make sure you practice restraint when decorating with your Affari pieces. They need a backdrop of 'preppiness' and uncluttered/clean settings to work (in my humble mind). Less is definitely more if you want to avoid Shabby Chic..

If on the other hand you DO embrace 'Shabby Chic' style (below), there are plenty of 'French romantic' pieces in the Affari collection. Just layer them with lots of white and vintage, et voila!

Spanish home tour..

Hello darlings! I am sorry for being such a lousy blog friend these days. I feel as if I haven't really had a chance to regularly catch up with you since I moved to Sweden back in July. I want you all to know that I read your posts regularly, only I am not able to comment as often as I used to. I will make an effort to change this as I know that the exchange of thoughts and lovely comments is what blogging is really about. And I miss doing it!

My husband (Marshall, or 'Treats' as I prefer to call him..!) is here in Sweden for a couple of weeks and life is fabulous. It's simply heaven to be a 'family' again and the kids are floating on cloud 49! :)
So today's post won't be extensive - just this house tour from a lovely & warm home in Girona (Emporda region), Spain. As you know I have a real weakness for this kind of simple rusticity and I would love to own a small but lovingly restored place like this somewhere in the South of Europe.. Enjoy!

Credits: Coffee via Cox and Cox (UK) and housetour via Fresh Home.

Warm hugs from Sweden.

xx Charlotta

Oh detail, lovely detail..

Hello hello lovely people!

Today when lounging over at the fab Anne Sage's 'City Sage' I came across this picture that stopped me in my tracks. 

Marie Claire Maison via the City Sage

The wonderful monochromatic inspiration of her post aside (yum also for the black cabinet in pic 3!), I fell hard for the way that the little gold ornaments on the left are hung. I really like the irregularity of the base vs the neatness of the top, and how it feeds off the colour and movement in the staircase.  
I can see this way of hanging art working very well in my dining room. Perhaps even in combination with a simple shelf..?! Hmmm.. time to procrastinate... :)

Hugs from the North.

xx Charlotta

T is for Tea Towels..

Hello my dears! How are you all and how has your week been? All is just dandy here. Actually it is better than that and I feel as if I am on a total high at the moment. Happy through and through to be in my beloved Sweden in fact. I feel as if my soul is filling up on the energy of my birth country, and it is heaven to be back permanently after so many years abroad. :)

Today I want to share a wonderful online resource - 'All Tea Towels'. 

The store is run out of the UK and carries hundreds of tea towel designs in a variety of high quality finishes - 100% pure linen, pure cotton, and/or blended varieties too. For someone like I who loves tea towels it's like a well stocked 'lolly store', and to my delight I was given the opportunity to choose two designs for free in return for an honest review.

via All Tea Towels

Good quality tea towels aren't all that easy to come by (really!) and I like mine highly absorbent and durable whilst nice to look at. Kitchen aesthetics people - so important, don't you think!?

Having had the hardest time choosing from the extensive range (!!) over at 'All Tea Towels' I chose two from the 'Flowers & Nature' section (there are an impressing 26 sections in total!!).

 

Both designs are 100% Pure linen and I just love them! 

I followed the instructions and machine washed them several times in hot water to remove the starch and they came out beautiful. 
Though I love both my towels, I fell extra hard for the bright red 'Chrysanthemum' design and just placed an order for another five (making a total set of six) so that I can use them as napkins for when we celebrate 'Australian Christmas' in December. They are actually so big that they could easily be cut in half and still work as napkins, but I quite like the quirky look of over-sized table linen so I will use them in their original state.

via Inspire to Inspire

via French Larkspur

via Copper and Wood

I also bought a set of six super cute linen towels for a dear blog friend overseas. Actually, the kind owner of 'All Tea Towels' threw in an extra tea towel (making them a total of 7!) . So generous. Thank you again Al! x

I can't show you the design or my clever friend will know they are for her.. Again I pictured them being used as table linen but who knows, they may end up being used as picnic napkins, aprons, breakfast-tray liners, sewn together as cute pillows covers or something else..!? This girl is very creative and I can't wait to see what she comes up with once she receives them..  In the mean time, here are some other cute tea towel ideas..

Tea towels as cutlery storage

Tea towels as 'two-way-place mat'

Tea towels as gift wrapping

Tea towels as curtains

Tea towel as tray liner

Tea towels as napkins

Tea towels as bistro aprons

 Tea towels as pillows

 Tea towels as layered runners and also made into seat cushions

Tea towels as tote bags

Tea towel as art on the wall (of course you can frame them or stretch them over a canvas too!)

Ok my lovelies, that's it for today. Hope you enjoyed this tea towel inspiration post and review, and that you hop over to 'All Tea Towels' and place your orders. They really are a brilliant online shop and remember that the festive season isn't all that far off and that tea towels are a cute hostess gift too..!

Warm hugs and happy weekend wishes from Sweden

xx Charlotta xx

P.S. Don't forget to check out the 'All Tea Towels' sale section. 

They have this really lovely 'Magnolia Flower' design that I think could look adorable as table linen on a Spring time table. I'm loving the colours and the fact that it's 100% pure linen!

Today I am dreaming of..

photo by Alexander Crispin

This would be the perfect place to work or blog don't you think!? To sit in the soothing presence of the lapping ocean and that infinite view... Heaven!

Warm hugs from a crisp Autumnal Sweden

xx Charlotta

Keep on smiling..!

Hello darlings! Did you know that the first Friday of October every year is 'World Smile Day'!? It's motto is  'Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile'. Can you imagine the ripple effect if we all do this..!?!

Of course this one-day global initiative should not stop anyone from smiling and being kind every day and always, but I think it is wonderful that the world celebrates boundless friendliness and kindness in this manner!

Smiling is such a powerful gesture and has the most amazing effect on the person who smiles and the world around him/her. A genuine smile is contagious, and you will find that the old saying 'Smile and the world will smile with you' is true!

Let's all keep on improving this world.. 

..one true and warm smile at a time..! 

xx Charlotta xx

Smile inspiring links.. wonderful reads..

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SMILE