#Scandinavian Style Apartment

[escandidesign]

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[beigebisque]

[thenordroom]

Scandinavian apartment | styling by Rydman & photos by Östling

THENORDROOM.COM - INSTAGRAM - PINTEREST - FACEBOOK

[caustinen]

omg i love how ur hollywood au is coming along, i need moreeeee

hii i’m so happy you like it!! here are some domestic headcannons requested by another user, it got hits of spiciness at times so hope that’s okay <3

hollywood au domestic headcanons 🦋

Bucky brings out a softer side from Gale who has been hardened by life and put up some walls when it came to intimacy/trusting others and their love, and he’s so thankful to have found someone who makes him see the world as a gentler place. Bucky is passionate with everything he does, but with Gale, he found new ways to put all that energy to in a positive, inspiring things that helps him along in other aspects of his life as well.

John loves buying Gale flowers and his / later their apartment is always filled with beautiful boquets that make it alive (I’d think Buck would have stylistic but quite simple/Scandinavian style home). Gale keeps telling him he doesn’t have to buy him anything but as long as he gets that soft smile to his face as John presents him with yet another bunch they will be coming in.

Another big thing for John is physical touch, he always has an arm around his boyfriends shoulders or waist. Gale on the other hand is a great listener and gives wonderful advice, countering John’s temperament. And while he’s more careful about physicality in public, he’s surprisingly clingy when they’re home by the two of them which John absolutely adores, he might never ask for closeness with his words but he’ll find ways to seek physcal touch in other ways. Both of them value quality time over everything.

They have to strategize their dates well which sometimes threatens to suck the romance out of it, but when they manage to work around it that makes it even more romantic. Night walks by Seine when they’re travelling in Europe, small local venue concerts where no one cares about them… The rarity of those moments give them extra spice.

That being said, they do love a quiet night in just as much. There’s comfort in having the world have them as completely separate individuals during the days, the nights are theirs to share.

They both love to read and often read great parts aloud for each other. John could listen to Gale read for hours, finding it easy to stay put unlike usually, even if Gale is barely aware he’s even there when he gets really into it.

Gale doesn’t particularly like going to parties and he sometimes worries John will get tired of him because he’s not as outgoing but John is actually really content, he can party with anyone but he can only have these moments of peace with Gale ❤️ It also helps to throw all eyes off them because like noted in the og post Bucky being photographed with others keeps media off track.

Gale’s office is a good place to meet — John being seen there is ”likely place for him to be” since he has business there, and Gale’s office has seen both date lunches as well as John being bent over his table (…he on the other hand prefers to have Gale against the big windows since they’re so high up no one can see.) The fact that they weren’t caught by anyone else but Curt (Gale’s client and Bucky’s best friend who already knew) is a miracle.

John actually told multiple stories about their adventures together/about Gale in general in interviews before they went public but they made a joke out of it because John always tells about him with ”my friend Buck and I…”. After the relationship goes public fans love going back and trying to find all the clues from over the years.

They travel a lot too between Bucky’s filming schedules, they’re both really into history and love to see different sights all over the world (at times it’s the easiest to hide in plain sight in busy tourist destinations). Sometimes John drags them to beach resorts too tho if Gale seems extra stressed out — he always protest and wants to rather do city vacations but he always ends up loving it anyway.

(Their honeymoon is in a summer house of their friend on a private island and they sure make the most of it despite being public at the time — the privacy feels even more inviting because of it)

They are sometimes forced to stay apart long periods of time if John is filming somewhere and Gale can’t leave LA because of work but they always call and text goodnight, and because of their busy professional lives the time they do spend together is always precious and they never guilt the other about having to be away, they have a similar understanding of the importance of their careers.

They also go to the gym together which isn’t always the greatest because they are 1) competitive af and 2) chronically horny for each other, and the display of physical strength/beauty can be dangerous. Espescially if they’ve been busy layely; espescially if John happens to be bulking up for an action film and Gale is torn between wanting out-bulk him or let him carry him away from there.

Gale couldn’t care less about watching sports (he does go to some games every once in a while for Bucky but he’s always bored out of his mind) but he loves playing them, and they sometimes manage to arrange some friendly soccer or baseball or tennis etc with other friends too.

I kind of referenced this in one of the instagram things but it would be fun to imagine Gale getting pretty creative when seeing Bucky in different costumes/roles, like maybe he wouldn’t mind John bringing the uniform home one day. Bucky sees himself in the costumes for months but Gale might only come to set once or twice and be Thinking Thoughts later when they get home about it too.

I also hc that this Bucky would be very into fashion and style and loves shopping while Gale couldn’t care less, he’s wearing suits to work and something simple on his free time but John keeps dragging him along and making him suffer for hours in malls and boutiques as he tries go get him to try something on. After their relationship goes public Gale wants to present himself well and thus starts to wear more bold looks (he doesn’t have to worry about getting attention anymore either, so it’s actually kind of fun). John thinks it’s so over because the little he was able to concentrate on these things before is GONE (thinking about that Bikeriders premier cropped jacket and wide pants, Bucky would be nosebleeding and staring while some poor media people try to interview him)

Imagining them cooking each other midnight dinners when the other has to work late and slow dancing, bare feet in pyjamas in the kitchen in each others embrace were the first two images that came to mind so we’ll end with them 🖤

hope you keep liking this stuff!!

linking the other additions in case you missed something: john’s insta / gale’s insta / media+friends instas / first meetings / first i love yous 💘

[leibal]

MNN Apartment is a minimalist apartment located in Warsaw, Poland, designed by MAP. The apartment is a blend of Scandinavian simplicity, Japanese elegance, and the timeless appeal of mid-century modern design, avoiding the trappings of trendiness for a more genuine reflection of the homeowner’s preferences. This choice of style is a direct nod to the owner’s appreciation for Scandinavian design and a budding interest in Japanese aesthetics, inspired by recent travels.

[tellmeallaboutit]

Writer's game

I got tagged by @reallyhatethiswebsite thank you <3

I'm tagging @coreene @beesht @littleplasticrat @magthara @dodorimo no pressure

When did you start writing?

Eight or nine. Just a couple of pages, I think, it was a fantasy / sci-fi piece. My mother adored it and got me to the local writing club. They said they are concerned about my mental health.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

Ha. No, actually. I like horror, I like transgressive fiction, dark fiction, dark fantasy, experimental fiction, sci-fi / cyberpunk, and that's exactly the genres I write in.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

I fancy myself (I am not) a mixture of Irvine Welsh and Clive Barker. Those are the two I could re-read forever. Other notable mentions include Bret Easton Ellis, Anthony Burgess, Laird Barron, Cormac McCarthy... yeah, all men, I know. I think about that a lot. I don't have many reassuring thoughts on this point.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

Ah, just my study. I work there, I write there, I eat there, I live there. It's scandinavian style, white walls, no decorations.

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

I am discipline kind of gal. Sit down and write in total silence. Grind through. Embrace the pain. Pain purifies.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

Sex, violence, power, money, parental abuse, humanity's inability to escape itself, how reality and fantasy intertwine and are they really that far apart, politics, left vs right, class warfare, toxic masculinity, breeding / inheritance / children, sadomasochism (NOT modern BDSM culture, that's something very different), sexual assault, sexual abuse, toxic relationships, gender wars, drugs, addictions, suicide.

They don't surprise me anymore, lol.

What is your reason for writing?

Not enough dark fiction in the world. Never enough. More.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

My favourite one is when the reader shares their own experience, gives me a bit of insight of their own psyche and why they reacted to my words in a certain way. I am very interested in people. I am eager to hear all the life stories.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

As someone adequate and friendly and approachable. Idk actually how I come across... feel free to tell me.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Naturalism, keeping tension and plot-building.

How do you feel about your own writing?

Some pieces I re-read many years after, some pieces I consider flops, I have strengths, I have weaknesses, I have moments when I am super insecure and moments when I am super proud. So ambivalent, I guess.

[soudasouda]

Scandinavian style loft apartment in Prague by Denis Krasikov Follow Souda on Tumblr

[handweavers]

i think the name is cringe but i really like the so called "japandi" style of interior design (mesh of modern japanese and scandinavian interior design principles) so for my current miniature project i'm looking at designer furniture online & on 3d warehouse in this style that i like and recreating/3d modelling them in sketchup so i can cut them apart into flat pieces that are capable of being cut out of cardstock at 1/24 scale for recreating them as miniatures and i haven't done any of this shit before so i'm slowly teaching myself all the skills to be able to do this successfully and just picking the furniture i want to recreate in half scale is so fun i feel like i'm shopping

[ellecdc]

WIFEY HOW’RE YOU ITS BEEN SO LONG

also I totally accidentally unfollowed you earlier today. I went to come check your account out (I did it at work) and when my manager came out I literally freaked and hit it LMFAO

how’s life been lately, any updates :)

alsoooooooo maybeeee wanna ask about your favorite aesthetic??? :)

hiiiiiiiii sweets I'm okayyyyyy

I saw you refollow me last evening and I was like "hey! where'd she go and for how long!"

life's been busy but I've been feeling better in general - writing is sucking ass lately though which makes me feel kind of useless but I'm working on it

how are you??

as for aesthetics.....idk that I'm actually one aesthetic? I like them all? for home stuff I'm like a mix of Scandinavian and maximalist? they seem like opposites but I love light and airy with a lot of colour and patterns

[I have a lot of those faux sheepskin's around my house and apartment haha, and I have very colourful art/I am the trinket queen according to my friends lol]

for style/lifestyle hmmmm honestly I wear a lot of athleisure wear just because of my work and lifestyle lol, and when I'm not wearing that I'm wearing paint splattered clothes from the past three years of home Renos, but I think if I was living my ideal life, I'd probably be like... a mixture between .soft wester/granola western and whimsical aesthetic? I know for sure growing up - I apparently had a better sense of self and had a way better style and I was definitely whimsical in the way I dressed lol - and I think my friends would agree if you search "whimsical aesthetic" on Pinterest that it would fit me well.

[roseinyoursaltwater]

REVISED SCALESWIND HEADCANNONS

SCALESWIND

◦ Scallets (Scale-etts)

TERRAIN: While surrounded by rocky mountains and tall trees, within the walls of Scaleswind are prime meadows and farming land. Scaleswind is shut off from the ocean, only having access to a river which brings them to the ocean. There are a variety of trees, evergreens, oaks, apple trees. Scaleswind has some of the best soil in all of Ru'uan.

FOOD: apples, cabbage, Pears, pumpkin, wheat, hay, barley, kale, radish, corn, squash, potato, rice, beef, goat, sheep, chicken, duck, geese, fish.

LIVESTOCK: cows, horses, goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, cats and dogs.

ANIMALS: Deer, elk, bear, beavers, foxes, beavers, groundhogs, birds, fish, squirrels.

CULTURE: Scaleswind is very battle ready and they value being able to protect themselves. Men and women are taught from a young age how to defend themselves. Scaleswind, second to O'Khasis, has produced the most guards/knights and some of the best fighters in the region. Scaleswind has some of the best job opportunities as well as land and homes for their villagers. Scaleswind uses many apartment style buildings to house more people. They also have a variety of supplies which makes them a huge trade spot. They are very similar to O'Khasis success wise, like the little sister of O'Khasis. Scaleswind is average with it's religiousness - this is due to them being very successful on their own and not feeling the need for divine intervention. Popular careers include: Guard, Knight, Noble, Farmer, Builder, Merchant, Blacksmith, Seamstress, Barhand, Sailor, Logger, Baker, Teacher, Prostitute.

NATIONALITIES: Greek/Spartan, Roman, Scandinavian/Viking,/Norse.

FIGHTING: Swords, jousting, sparring, hand to hand, archery.

WEAPONS: Longsword, shortsword, Estoc, Arming Sword, dagger, knives, bow and arrow, crossbow, spears, Morning stars, axes,

RESPECT LEVEL: 9/10 (Amazing fighters, basically O'Khasis, but being landlocked from the ocean doesn't help them.

REWRITE LINKED BELOW

[devstn]

Tagged by @blacktacmopsi

My OC's favorite things

Name: Alex "Nord" Williams

Universe: Call of Duty: Ghosts

Favorite Book: Bill Hodges Trilogy by Stephen King

Favorite Song:

High Horse by Wage War

Favorite piece of clothing they own: Hoodie

Favorite "little treat": Freshly baked croissant and a cup of cappuccino (without sugar)

Favorite person in their lives: Caleb, Keegan Russ

Dream Home: He has a four-room apartment in Stockholm and a small but cozy house. And they are, well, VERY expensive.  Scandinavian style, of course.

Dream Life: A free life, without war and all that shit.

No pressure tags @the-deer-temple @mango-parfait

[slocumjoe]

How the Companions would decorate their homes

...and how I would lose my goddamn mind wrestling with Tumblr's formatting nightmare hellworld.

sorry to anon who requested this, I deleted your ask while fighting for my life :[

Cait; The punkest of punk design; whatever the hell makes her happy. Would take interest in things she previously never cared much for, like music, or tinkering, or model making. So, you'll have posters and vinyls of her favorite bands and artists everywhere, tools and materials strewn about flat surfaces. Lots of reds and plaid/flannel. Likes big couches you can sprawl out on and thickly-knit, chunky blankets. Think of pop art with darker colors, chaotic patterns. Loves warm, bright lighting, dim areas remind her of the Combat Zone. Her spaces are messy, but freeing and charismatic. Her style is best described as rocker college dorm room. Reminiscent of Chloe Price's room, but more mature and with less teen melodrama. Would have lots of candles. Has a statement shelf with feature lighting for unique alcohol bottles.

Codsworth; Post-modern. Modern is medium-toned, neutral colored, and somewhat minimalist. Post-modern likes colors, soft shapes, having art as part of the house itself. Bright wood paneling, one-line artwork wallpaper, multiple colors in one room. It's very birds of paradise in color pallet. Brown suede couches are a classic. Lots of plants. It's inspired by 1950s, but with bouncier aesthetics, where 1950s can feel stiff. Codsworth wouldn't want anything too out there, though. Dani Dazey is kinda close to what he'd enjoy, but tone down the amount of color, go less crazy with the decals. But otherwise, bright colors, patterns, textures—that's the vibe. Just a less plastic 1950s, and it doesn't have the Great Depression's fingerprints all over it. I would have said something Colonial, or classic British, but I didn't want to think exclusively about his accent. Codsworth is chipper, he's friendly, he invites people over. Something fun, welcoming, and optimistic is up his alley.

Danse; However he got the house/apartment, it would stay that way. Danse does not provide for himself like that. It wouldn't be until he made friends that his residence would have personality. Nick gets him an orange-patterned bedspread that's a lot more neon than it looked in the store. Cait gets him a retro CD player and wall-mounted CD case displays. Preston and Deacon team up to repaint everything minty green and install walnut wood paneling. The furniture is gone the next day, replaced with lodge-style log-and-leather. Everyone pitches in something different, something from their own tastes. As a result, Danse's space would be a constant visual reminder that he's loved, and gaudy as fuck. Nothing matches. The colors are everywhere. Textures? A nightmare. You could kill Ty Pennington with this house. There's a giant mural of cats having mimosas and he isn't sure how or when it got there. Loves it, but...who...why...

Curie; I really struggled with Curie. I first went with French Provincial, then French Farmhouse, French Country, Rustic Glam, Scandinavian, Flemish, bauhaus, pastel bauhaus...I felt like I was trying to convince myself of everything. Nothing fit her. Eventually I settled on girly vintage. The thing with vintage is that technically, 'vintage' has like 70 years of vastly different styles. So...you get a little bit of Victorian-esque, a little bit of art deco, Hollywood Regency...imagine a really nice Barbie dollhouse. That's the vibe, just make everything blues, greens, and purples instead of pink. Curie has a bit of an older grandma vibe. Floral quilts, Wedgwood china dishware and cabinets, antique paintings. I imagine she'd repaint or reupholster her furniture, if not get it new. Definitely has white or blue painted furniture, rather than open wood. Ornate vanity, seashell wallscone lighting, embroidered curtains, kidney desks, corner cupboards...Curie's style is elegant, a little outdated, cherubic, and somewhat saccharine. Would have naturalistic wallpaper with flora and fauna.

Deacon; Like Danse's, but intentional. He's extremely fond of furniture made to look like other things. Mushroom ottomans. Fried egg light switches. Wall-mounted shelving/hangers that are open, grabbing hands. Toucan table lamps. Surrealist thrifter in style. Goes to yard sales, estate sales, those sales put by storage unit owners when a tenant doesn't pay. Grabs the weirdest shit he finds. A McDonalds sign from Thailand. A taxidermied rabbit. A Bigfoot track mold. His walls are never the same color or wallpaper. The kitchen is mint green, the living room is pink and orange, his bedroom is black and blue. Maximalist. There's a story behind every item in his space and good luck figuring out which are true. The least chaotic room is the bedroom, decorated simply with space/star aesthetics. Most chaotic? The empty hallway filled with wall-phones. Only one of them is real. The others go off only when the real one does. He won't tell you this before housesitting.

Gage; You'd think it'd be a Male Living Space. No. Gage is a mean, old, materialistic [sexuality redacted] man. He has tastes. He has standards. Will act like it's a Male Living Space keep up appearances, but his place is probably one of the more expensive. It's fine, money isn't an issue for him. Favors greens, yellows, browns, lots of swampy colors. Steals streetsigns and hangs them up. Weaved and leather furniture, linens, animal pelts, mounts. Worn teak wood, cream walls, travertine floors. If this sounds luxurious, consider that Gage lives here. Unclean. Has no bed frame, only a mass of sheets and pillows. The most pristine places in his house are the coffee maker's counter, and the spaces for his pet lizard, who roams freely like a small dog. The lizard is the only thing keeping him from smoking indoors. So many fucking books everywhere, all dog-eared to death. Has stolen something from every party he's ever been to. Keeps them on display. Has a worrying amount of wedding cake toppers.

Hancock; Psychedelic culture-nerd hippie meets a grizzled ex-starlet who moonlights as a show girl. Think Whimsigoth, without the victorian influence and a lot more drippy shapes. All light sources are lava lamps. Conversation pit that you could meet God in. Many colors, most of them moody and 'sleepy'. Stereo system through the entire space. Paints on his walls whenever he's feeling creative/high, they're constantly changing. Has to scrape off the paint every so often. Collects movie memorabilia, particularly horror movies. Has masks, outfits, props. His kitchen/dining room is unintentionally Japanese-eqsue in style, in that the table is low, and you sit on beanbags. Really not into dealing with chairs in the morning. Hancock's ideal furniture is made of moldable jelly, him being a cat in spirit. His office is a complete divorce from the other rooms. It's entirely 1700s luxury Colonial in style. Dark mahogany woodwork, deep reds and blues, a (electric) chandelier. Big library.

MacCready; Eclectic. This style is defined by maximilism, mismatched everything, lots of tchotchkes. The core tenent of it is that it takes whatever looks good from other styles. It's magpie core. It's how the gremlin thief in your DnD campaign would style a home. So, lots of different kinds of fabrics, many shelves for trinkets, posters of all kinds on the wall. You ever make a wall with just the posters, signs, etc in your settlements? That's what he does. In canon, MacCready likes midnight blue and leopard print, but I can see olive greens as well. Very messy and busy. Raw wood furniture seems like it would be a good fit for him. Would have a big entertainment center, very nerdy space. I think Rodrick Heffley's and Eddie Munson's bedrooms are a good way of getting an idea. Kind of basementy, kind of glamrock. He's 22, what do you want from him? Very much "baby's first place." Duncan's room would be more child-friendly, lighter colors and softer furniture. His drawings always get hung up wherever there's space.

Nick; Also struggled with this one...I didn't want to just make him Victorian/Gothic, that felt too obvious. But...it's obvious because it's correct. It just is. His name is Valentine. He has a neon pink sign with hearts on it. This man is modern Victorian meets dingy alleyway in a Hollywood noir film. So, we're looking at victorian settees and woodwork (which is when the walls are carved all fancy, by the by), lots of dark colors, leathers, a fireplace to stare into broodily with a glass of whiskey. We'll also need a bit of industrial to blend the Modern Victorian and Urban Night vibes, so some dark brick/stone, perhaps? Or industrial light fixtures. In terms of materials, the aforementioned leather, but also velvet and dasask fabrics, marble, and rosewood, possibly treated to bring out the red, or be made darker. This space is mostly dark and black, with pops of pink, purple, and blues. Would definitely need an LED indirect lighting for mood setting. It's not as dark like X6-88's home, though, it's more intimate and warm. Heavier emphasis on coziness and inviting auras. Nick's home is an older queer man's home, so obviously it's a little extra, a little theatrical. Has a sweet cocktail bar setup, will make you a martini while you unveil your tragic backstory.

Piper; Also eclectic, but brighter and with some intellectualism. So, more vintage, but bolder and more assertive than Curie's vintage. The best thing I can do it point you towards Arianna Danielson's blog, and ask that you imagine most of those pinks to be darker, or just red. Similarly, Dani Klaric and Tay Beep Boop's viral design. That vibe of confidence, a little bit of feminine rebelliousness, and generally just spunky. A crucial item would be book paper lighting shades. It clashes but Piper would be into it. I imagine she'd want the place to be fun for Nat, satisfy that little girl urge for Maximum Colors. Piper would have a messy as hell writing room, papers everywhere, red-string corkboards, coffee cups. Collection of vintage newspapers, lots of plushy rugs and pillows, probably has weird little knickknacks hidden about. The type to have rubber ducks in her fridge and refuse to elaborate. Don't question the writing process.

Preston; Walnut, shiplap, rattan, navy blue. Reeves Connally put me on this combination and now I'm spreading the propaganda. People have feelings on rattan but it deserves more respect, just like Preston. His style is best described as hygge with a beachy edge. Hygge is all about neutrals, extremely soft and squishy fabrics and furniture, warm ambient lighting, and worn wood. Fairy lights everywhere. Cozycore, really. Blue and shiplap walls, walnut flooring, rattan furniture. Blues + white + sandy + rich brown. Best combo. Fucking fight me. Chunky wool blankets, velvet for more decorative cloths, like drapery or the fabric of the seat cushions. For decor, you're looking at handdrawn maps, paper light fixtures/shades, plants kept in colored glass vases, nature photography, a reading nook filled with historical fiction and textbooks. I can also see hanging greenery. Preston's space is refreshing, energizing, but not bombastic. I imagine he has a kitchen island with stools, but no dining table.

X6-88; Dark modernist, hands down. Crucial item is the Zaha Hadid moon sofa, in black. Steel, concrete, and sparingly, brass/brassy wood. Blacks, greys, and with the brass, an inoffensive pop of color. It's a minimalist style that, when darkened, takes inspiration from Gothic and industrial styles, but doesn't lean into them. Also has some futurism elements. X6-88's home is clean, elegant, sharp. It's designed to not be overstimulating, like the Institute's stark white plastic and fluorescent lighting is. LED indirect lighting + metal-caged hanging lights, velvet and taffeta fabrics, glass tables. There is no better kitchen for him then the Modern Kitchen 2020 from Burak LACFI on Behance. For the bathroom, Anna Kolos' work, also on Behance. His bedspread, the Ithaca Sateen set from Sleep by Sānti. I spent three years designing this man's home for a 40k word fanfic and I will hear no opposition.

[datamodel-of-disaster]

Here's a bit of an odd (but hopefully not unwelcome) question: you've mentioned a couple of times your interest in interior decorating, but how do you *find* items for your house to fit a specific aesthetic? Where do you even look/how do you search for stuff? Or do you just look through shops and flea markets and hope to get lucky?

Ok, I love this question. (You may regret asking if you see the length of this reply 😅)

SO.

The simple answer is, I thrift a lot (on- and offline), I buy at estate sales and auctions, I rarely pass an interior design store without taking a look inside (even stores that are decidedly not my style at first sight), I read industry magazines, I save up for pieces by indie creators, and in some cases I make my own stuff (I can weld and upholster). So yeah, to an extent it's "luck".

The complicated answer is that it's about understanding my own aesthetic and optimising my search experience.

I know a lot of people who sort of know what they like, but also don't really know what they like. They'll be able to look at pictures of interiors and say "I like that" and "I hate that" but not really know how to articulate why. They might even have a label for the aesthetic they prefer, like "minimalist" or "clean and modern" or "cozy Scandinavian" or something like that, but still not really be able to articulate what that materially entails. (Yes, I know, I'm singling out a certain type of people here -I'll stop eyeing them once they stop doing this shit.)

Why is one room "good" to you and another not, even if they're both technically the same style? What makes a space work? What is the "invisible background" in the spaces you love -tall ceilings, exposed beams, greenery outside, natural light, latticed windows, crown moulding? A lot of times people think they like the interior but they really just like the house it's in, much like how you might think an outfit is stylish only because the person wearing it is hot.

Similarly… do you actually love the look of an interior or do you just love the lifestyle implied in it? Do you actually like empty surfaces or are you just tired of cleaning up your housemates' clutter? Do you love big open kitchen/dining room combos or do you just wish you had a social circle that did dinner parties? Do you really want a giant white couch or do you just dream of living in California? Similarly to ads that may be advertising a car but are selling you on the dream of freedom to travel, interiors are tied up with non-material desires and aspirations. And while that's not *bad* per se, it's very difficult to actively work towards an aesthetic if you can't tell apart that aesthetic from the underlying desires. After all, you want an interior that works for the space you actually have and the life you actually live.

The reason this is important is because the moment you understand what you are really after, you are no longer bound by names of designers, shops and styles. It stops mattering. You can find things you enjoy anywhere, from thrift shops to IKEA to antiques auctions to specialty warehouses to Etsy, without it needing to be tagged with the label of an aesthetic you're trying to fit in. A lot of the "but how will I even find anything"/"everything I love is too expensive" stress disappears like this.

Understanding how your preferred style and aesthetic actually works under the hood also gives you insight into what sort of things you *need* to make it work, what stuff adds depth and volume but can't carry the theme by itself, and what sort of things are "false friends" -stuff that seems like it "should" fit your aesthetic but actually hampers it in the space you're in. (As in: a big white sectional is not gonna give you California Cool in a cramped terrace house in Birmingham, rather the opposite.)

The second-best advice in interior designing is "buy what you love" -the genuinely best advice is "understand what you love". Because once you do, you'll find things you like everywhere.

There's also optimizing your search. This is one of the few things where website algorithms are actually your biggest friend. One of my favourite things is the "more like this" function on a lot of platforms. If you tidily keep and organize favourites on Etsy, the algorithm will typically present you with stuff that's genuinely similar to items you already like. Just using Instagram to follow artists and creators you like will curate your feed and expose you to other stuff that fits the look. Pinterest allows you to both passively and actively find similar looking items, which can expose you to items and designers you never knew existed.

Favouriting items on my most-used second hand platform (2dehands, a local Belgian thrifting platform) will actively put items that visually resemble those favourites on my front page. It's awesome, and you can "weaponize" it in your search.

For example, earlier this year I really wanted an Asian style lacquer cupboard. They can be quite expensive, and usually get picked up fast second hand. So for a week or two, I actively searched for and favourited *every* lacquer cupboard I found on 2dehands, including ones I didn't like, that had the wrong dimensions, or that were far too expensive for me. Fairly quickly, my front page was essentially all lacquer cupboards, including ones that weren't even advertised as such and that I would never have found through the textual search function. And lo and behold, I found the perfect one, and it was an absolute steal too.

Another way to optimise your search is to cast a wide net. I never pass a home décor store or antiques warehouse without taking a peak. I have bought items when I was on work trips, when I was visiting family, when I was on holiday. "Thrift stores near me" is my favourite search on google maps. And yes, sometimes that meant carrying a mahogany prayer chair on my back while walking 30 minutes to the train station in high heels and office clothes xD

A final tip is to sometimes just trust your gut and go for it. A couple of my favourite buys are ridiculous shit, like a chair shaped like high heel and a bronze statue of a robot giving cunnilingus to a woman. And the biggest interior design regrets I have are all items I didn't buy. (to this day I regularly think about the giant 5-panel hand-painted Chinese screen doors I passed up on and the Lucite dining chairs I couldn’t arrange transport for.) There is such a thing as "too cohesive" in interiors. Your home is not a catalog photo; sometimes, particularly if the item is unusual or unique, you gotta trust your affection for it without necessarily knowing how it fits in the picture. (In a way, your brain is also an algorithm subject to customisation through exposure. Learn to trust it! ^^)

It's important to note with all of this though… this is my hobby. I love spending time on it. I imagine if you're trying to curate an interior this way when you're new to it (especially if you're trying to get to a certain look all at once without any mistakes or misbuys) it's hella overwhelming and time-consuming. It's not for everyone. But even if you have no interest in turning your home decor into a hobby, the base principles still apply. If you understand what you're really after, it's much easier to identify things that would work in your space, anywhere you go, no matter how often you actually go looking.

(My own house is very much NOT perfect -a perpetual “blessed mess and work in progress”, in all honesty. But well. I AM out here giving advice, so feel free to check out some non-staged, very much non-magazine worthy pics of my home, below the cut.)

[thenordroom]

Scandinavian apartment | styling by Sofie Hoyer & photos by Janne Olander

THENORDROOM.COM - INSTAGRAM - PINTEREST - FACEBOOK

[research-lighting]

Scandinavian style loft apartment in Prague by Denis Krasikov Follow Research.Lighting on Tumblr Source: https://soudasouda.tumblr.com/post/747841852658548736/scandinavian-style-loft-apartment-in-prague-by

[reviewinghiccup]

RIDERS OF BERK | HTTYD SERIES | BREAKING DOWN HICCUP

Blog Post Series: Breaking Down Hiccup

Title: When Lightning Strikes

Ep/Season: Episode 13, Season 1 (Riders of Berk)

Premise:

A strange and fierce lightning storm besets the village, and angry suspicions rouse claims that Toothless is to blame.

WHAT TO ENJOY:

HICCUPS HYPER-FIXATIONS He's so fixated on the new perches that he nearly drinks dragon poop infested water. Love how Stoick stops him, knowing that his son is so obsessed over the new developments, he ain't thinking.

Hiccup is an ideas man. In todays age, he could be anything. Software designer, architect, engineer, pilot? I mean, the list of career opportunities is endless.

We know that in the final instalment of the franchise, they set out to find New Berk. I feel like that was indicative of the kind of forward trajectory having a chief like Hiccup would cause. Playing to his strengths is what allowed Berk to modernise and who knows, maybe his style of village / town planning is the kind we see in the old Scandinavian Countryside.

It's possible, all the ideas he intended to build on Berk for the dragons he ended up doing at Dragon's Edge like the landing areas and stables. And it's such a clever way to learn and improve designs in their "mock" village during the RTTE season before implementing the same in Berk as we see in the opening of HTTYD 2.

STOICK'S CHIEFLY ADVISE

Maybe I'm looking too much into it, but I think a lot about what Stoick tells Hiccup are probably lessons on chief-ing he picks up as he goes along. Learning mostly through observation and spending time w his dad.

We know that Hiccup's decision in HTTYD: The Hidden World, i.e., to leave Berk to find new pasture, is because Berk is no longer a safe place for its people. The threat from enemies is endless.

This eminent danger is heightened if you watch the TV programmes. Because apart from Drago Bludvist and Grimmel the Grisley, we have Alvin the Treacherous, Dagger the Deranged, Ryker & Viggo Grimborn, Krogan and Johann. The other more treacherous than the last.

At the end of The Hidden World, Hiccup knows that he must let go of Toothless and all the other dragons for everyones safety.

Hiccup becomes a good chief by virtue of all these little moments w his dad. I can even recall a moment in Episode 7, Season 1 (Riders of Berk) : How to Pick your Dragon where Stoick releases this inner monologue. Maybe that's what caused Hiccup to put the village first in the end.

No doubt Hiccup becomes one of the best chiefs because he has learned from the best. Pick and chosen which lessons to keep and which to improve.

FALSE ACCUSATIONS

When a society lacks understanding, it is guided by fear. The village, after incessant accusations by Mildew, goes on a witch hunt for Toothless. They believe that keeping a Night Fury has angered Thor.

They are in a sense, a deeply religious society. And because they don't understand the science of nature i.e., that metal attracts lightning, they believe any explanation pitted against a certain cause.

HTTYD series conflicts go beyond bad guy v good guy. Sometimes, it is your own people you need to deal with.

AMAZING SENSE OF HUMOUR

I've said it before, I'll say it again. ROB has some of the best comedic lines of the franchise.

A MOMENT OF APPRECIATION FOR THESE TWO NUTT-CASES

AND SNOTLOUT & TUFFNUT'S PAYBACK

I know we've discussed Snotlout previously. I know we all agree he's not all that bad. Just a damaged viking really, with a lousy father. His relationship w Hiccup is very up and down. But, I love how he took revenge along w Tuffnutt, who in a sense are pretty mellow in terms of defending Hiccup, until the series progresses.

AND!!! STOICK'S PROTECTIVENESS OVER TOOTHLESS.

A real point of growth here for Stoick to stand between the village and Toothless.

He's a pretty great dad. Don't you think so?