Swedes can now enjoy luxury hacks for IKEA

A new kind of home design company opened its doors this week in Sweden allowing people to revamp their existing IKEA furniture to look like a higher priced designer furniture. Introducing Superfront, a company who now offers “luxury hacks” for IKEA furniture frames. Their product line offers fronts, handles and legs for all of Ikea’s existing cabinet bases. Scandinavian designer furniture costs easily 5x or even 10 times the price of IKEA furniture, and now with Superfront people are able to get the custom look with Superfront’s several options for the price that may double the IKEA furniture price but still is way under the high street designer prices. All of the Superfront products are made in Sweden.

The concept is quite brilliant allowing you to revamp your old IKEA furniture or get a custom look for less. Superfront has 9 fronts, 8 handles, 8 legs and 12 different colors to choose from making it maybe difficult to choose from but easy to get a custom look. The prices are inexpensive, for example the blue “hack” above with sides, legs and handles is around 500 dollars, and for less than half of that you can upgrade a furniture with new legs and handles to get a custom look.

I love the idea of Sweden-made high quality products for cheaper but the concept of luxury IKEA hack is still a little shaky to me. I love the idea for IKEA kitchens or wall closet systems that otherwise might be very expensive to replace, however I have owned enough many PAX-closet systems to know that they might not be worth a makeover, and investing in a better quality might still be the most cost effective hack in the long run.

There is no denying though – the gorgeous look and relatively inexpensive price will make Superfront difficult to resist for IKEA and Scandinavian design fans.

If you are in New York during New York Fashion Week (February 11.-28.) you should definitely stop by at Ivana Helsinki -store in Nolita, 251 Elizabeth Street. You’ll find there an amazing Ivana Helsinki collection and a pop-store from a Finnish company called Paloni.

Some of the labels in a NY pop-up-store are:
Ainokainen / Netta Kervinen / Helsinki
Balabin Art & Design / Nikolai & Melitina Balabin / Lappeenranta
Dead Birds & Lionheart  / Maria Jokela & Anni Niemi / Tampere
Emmi Malmström / Emmi Malmström / Helsinki
Fiona Timantti / Fiona Timantti / Helsinki
First Crush / Mari Himmanen / Helsinki
MUKA VA / Anna Mattelmäki & Emilia Kiialainen / Tampere
Olav / Jussi Salminen / Helsinki
OutsaPop Trashion / Outi Pyy / Helsinki
Second Chance / Maija Nuppula / Fiskars

You can call it design, indie fashion, art or handicraft. We call it passion.

says Minna Särelä, the founder of Paloni. I highly recommend the visit at the pop-up-store!

Photos: Nina Varis

New from Finland: Kauniste

I’m so excited to share design news from Scandinavia that are not from Sweden, but from Finland. Kauniste is a new multi-designer brand from Finland, and their shop in Helsinki was one of the hottest new gift shopping spots in the city for the Holidays I hear.

Kauniste was created by uniting young Scandinavian graphic designers and craftsmen to combine fresh design and traditional screen printing skills and with emphasis on using eco friendly materials, for example use water based, solvent free inks, and linen mix fabric as the linen makes the fabric durable, and it absorbs well moisture and dries fast. Linen leaves practically no surplus waste in production, and it’s qualities only improve with time. The ecological approach is seen in everything Kauniste does – if there is access fabric from production, they will just create a new product with the access fabrics. This idea has been used by Finnish Marimekko for centuries, one of their stable products, the small coin purses were born from scrap material and the idea of using it all.

You can shop at the Kauniste products in their webshop. My favorites are the pillow cases and the trays.

Christmas Markets in Sweden

The best about Swedish Christmas markets: you don’t have to go far to find one. Most communities here in Sweden have their own Christmas market, and they are held in castles, schools, churches and even in barns in the countryside. In fact, my favorite ones are the ones held in the countryside inside the red barns and full of handmade goodies and ideas for crafts and DIY gifts. The Christmas markets start early in November, and we have been in a different Christmas market each weekend. Some are held only for a few days, and what we learned pretty fast, the same merchants travel around the country selling their products in various Christmas markets. So if you forgot to buy the specialty mustard for your Holiday ham, or want more of the fresh bread, the chances are you will find the same or something very similar again the next weekend from a different Christmas market.

Our first Christmas market this winter was Hantverksgården in Linköping, where all of these photos are from. We didn’t have snow yet, but as I am typing this we have a around a foot of fresh snow outside. Christmas time in Sweden is pretty magical, and it’s a great time of the year to come for a visit.

Hantverksgården in Ledberg, Linköping Sweden

Enjoy a virtual tour of the Hantverksgården, and share in the comments what’s your local favorite thing to do during the Holidays in your corner of the world. Often we find gems right around the corner, if we just want to look.

I love how the market welcomes you and the outside is almost prettier than the inside!

Note: We use interactive images – click on the product info and links in the photo.

Design gifts on a budget

What is great design? Great design is beautiful, functional, and high quality. Typically with the high quality design comes a high price tag, and it makes it often difficult to find affordable Holiday gifts for design lovers. Don’t be alarmed just yet, like in good design – sometimes less is better. Here are 7 functional modern design gifts for any design lover for less, and all under 50 bucks. Many of the gifts are unisex, or suitable also for those hard-to-buy teens or college students, or make a great gift for a co-worker in the office.

1. Kaunis Kauris deer mug by Marimekko ($22)
Kaunis Kauris mug by Marimekko is a beautiful mug, a perfect gift for a design-lover co-worker to keep on her desk. The mug was designed by Sami Ruotsalainen, and it’s part of Marimekko’s Oiva dinnerware collection. Finnish design brand Marimekko know has an online store in the US as well, making it super easy for you to shop for this and other design gifts this year.

2. iPad Cover by 10-Gruppen ($44)
iPad Cover by Swedish 10-Gruppen is a necessity of modern times. The same bold prints can be found on iPad and laptop covers, and also on phone covers/pouches. Great gift for dad, grad, teen or stylish mom.

3. Sagaform Upside-Down Vase/Candlestick Holder ($39.95)
The Sagaform Upside-Down Vase/Candlestick Holder also from Sweden is a design object with two functions: it’s a candle holder that turns into a flower vase by turning it upside down. Get it for your girlfriend for Christmas and you’ll know she’ll always have a vase to put those flowers you’ll keep (or start!) buying her. Perfect also for office, small apartments or even college dorm, great inexpensive design gift for co-worker, college student or a special friend.

4. Nuance Bottle Opener ($19.99)
The Nuance Bottle Opener looks like a water drop, and is elegantly designed and a beautiful object on its own – but at its best opening a refreshing cold drink. Design from Denmark.

5. Poster print ($29)
If you can’t get the design object.. get a picture of it, right? Posters and art prints are a great option for inexpensive gift items for design lovers, and I am particularly fond of the prints by Yumalum on Etsy, check out the vast collection, all under 30 bucks.

6. Design House Stockholm Bamboo Accessories ($19.95 and up)

The entire Design House Stockholm’s bamboo collection makes excellent gifts for anyone who likes great design and cooking or entertaining. The cutting boards serve both as cutting boards and serving trays.

7. Iittala Lempi glasses ($32 for two)
One of my favorite purchases this year has been the Lempi glasses designed by Matti Klenell for Iittala. They make a perfect gift for almost anyone. They stack and go well even in smaller kitchens, yet they are high quality, high design, and go from everyday table to dinner parties.
Two of the clear Iittala Lempi Glasses is $32 making it an inexpensive gift and you can start collecting design for someone you care about.

Read all of the Holiday Gift Guide posts and stay tuned for more from all of our writers.

Marimekko and Finnair partnership

Finnish design company Marimekko and Finnish airline company Finnair formed a three-year-long design partnership, starting spring 2013. Starting next spring all Finnair aircraft will feature a Marimekko for Finnair collection of textiles and tableware, featuring Marimekko’s classic patterns bringing Finnish design flair for Finnair’s customers on board. Finnair has partnered in the past with many Finnish icons, even Santa Claus, Moomin characters and Angry Birds, but this by far is one of the most exciting partnerships they have done so far, and I love how the Finnish experience can start for tourists flying to Finland already when they sit on their seat on their flight. During the three-year collaboration, an exclusive selection of Marimekko design products are also available for Finnair customers in in-flight sales and the Finnair Plus Shop. The design collaboration between Marimekko and Finnair is an important part of the growth strategy for both companies in the Asia-Pacific region, which is a key market area for both. I personally hope it will also bring more attention for tourism in Finland.

Finnair has had enormous growth on their Europe-Asia market, but I don’t know if the growth correlates to the tourism growth n Finland, although I was pleasantly surprised that the cruise ship I took from Helsinki to Stockholm last summer was filled with Asian travelers. I am hoping this partnership will inspire Finnair to incorporate even more overall Finnish experience for their flights. I personally love flying between the USA-Europe with Icelandair for the Icelandic experience on flights and it even has inspired me to actually not just have a layover in Iceland, but visit Iceland. I hope this partnership with Marimekko giving a glimpse of Finnish design will also entice travelers to visit beautiful Finland and what all the country has to offer for design-lovers and beyond.

Finnair has a strong design heritage, and this cooperation brings our design thinking to a new level. Our goal is to become a design airline, and bring our customers unique experiences for all five senses. Cooperation with Marimekko is an important step towards this target. Finnair aircraft will become roving ambassadors of timeless Finnish design and creativity, giving our customers a special experience when they fly with us.

says Mika Vehviläinen, CEO of Finnair.

Great design isn’t just about how things look, and the design collaboration between Marimekko and Finnair goes beyond changing the apron prints for stewardesses and it is a great example of great Finnish design. The Marimekko for Finnair collection is specially designed to add a light and fresh visual and tactile dimension to the onboard experience, while lightening the airline’s carbon footprint as well. The products are specifically designed for small spaces and the materials are light for ecological as well economic reasons.

Two of Finnair’s long-haul aircraft will also wear livery based on Marimekko designs. An Airbus A340 featuring Maija Isola’s iconic Unikko floral print from 1964 is already operating between Helsinki and Finnair’s Asian destinations, and it will be followed by another aircraft in Marimekko livery in spring 2013.

We hope that Marimekko’s sympathetic Unikko poppy flowers flying up in the sky as well as our other iconic prints as a part of the in-flight experience bring joy to people around the world. I believe that the Marimekko and Finnair design collaboration will bring to hectic and often grey air travel joy, peace of mind and beautiful memories.

says Mika Ihamuotila, Marimekko’s President and CEO.

Watch the video of more details and inspiration behind this collaboration.

Photos/video: Finnair & Marimekko

Finnish design company Artek turned 77 years old earlier this month, and one of the iconic Artek products, which achitect Alvar Aalto designed even before forming Artek, the “Stool 60″ turns 80 years next year. To celebrate this mark in time, designer Nao Tamura created this special version of the Stool 60 to be auctioned at the Design Trust’s 2012 Art+Design Benefit Auction on November 7th at Ralph Pucci International in New York City.

The stackable stool 60 was created in 1933 by Alvar Aalto represents the quintessence of functionalist furniture design. The simple idea behind this now-classic stool is based on three bent legs and a round seat. Nao Tamura gave this classic stool a new old look – old meaning that the seat portion looks like a cut tree with the year rings showing representing the 80 years since the designing of the stool.

Contained within a single tree is its unabridged chronicle Year by year, never skipping a beat, it records its history slowly. Some lines speak of seasons of plenty, while others cry of famine. The size of the rings are never the same. Each engraving bears witness to battles waged in the name of survival. To observe such is to humble ourselves to nature’s love of life.

This celebration was created by layering upon the chair’s beautiful geometric shape, a complex and organic graphic of life. My hope is that the Artek “Stool 60″ will evoke the bounty of nature as seen by the passage of 80 years of time.

Nao Tamura

Artek – Finnish Design Supremacy

Artek was founded in 1935 by four young idealists, Alvar and Aino Aalto, Maire Gullichsen and Nils-Gustav Hahl. The business idea of the company was “to sell furniture and to promote a modern culture of habitation by exhibitions and other educational means.” The founders of Artek advocated a new kind of environment for everyday life. They believed in a grand synthesis of the arts and wanted to make a difference in town planning as well as architecture and design.

The core of the Artek product range consists of Alvar Aalto’s furniture and lighting pieces. Today Artek is looking to extend the range and for example acquired the rights to Ilmari Tapiovaara’s furniture collection. Artek also continues to work in close collaboration with prominent international architects, designers and artists, such as Eero Aarnio, Shigeru Ban, Naoto Fukasawa, Harri Koskinen, Juha Leiviskä, Enzo Mari and Tobias Rehberger.

Here are the top 10 modern design products for home that I like and recommend.
Did you read What is great design and why it matters, where I also took a few pictures of some of my favorite design products and objects in my home? Here is a better look into products mentioned and a few more to present you top 10 great design products I recommend. These products stand the test of time, they are timeless and modern at the same time, and something you can proudly leave for your kids too. The Barcelona chair is really the only product here that is outrageously expensive, and you can find the Barcelena chair, the Eames chair and the Le Klint pendant as reproduction copies for much less. Of course the quality isn’t the same then.

Top 10 Modern Design Products for Home

1. Eames Molded Plastic Dining Chair with Wood Dowel Base by Charles and Ray Eames ($399) was originally designed in metal, and entered as a prototype in MoMA’s 1948 International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design. The chair evolved with the times and today the Eames chairs are made of recyclable polypropylene. The chair is beautiful but you truly understand why it’s great design once you sit on it. This chair is my personal choice also as a desk chair for every day work.

2. Le Klint Pendant 172 ($519.75) was designed by Danish Poul Christiansen in 1969 and it stands the test of time as a timeless design that works in any space.

3. Alvar Aalto vase is probably one of the most iconic Finnish design objects designed by the most famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, and it comes in several colors and sizes, but what reminds the same is the iconic rounded shape. A design classic that can be used in almost any room of your home, great gift item and timeless beautiful design.

4. Juicy Salif Citrus squeezer by Philippe Starck for Alessi ($100) is one of the most iconic products by Italian Alessi, and it was deisgned by Philppe Starck who originally drew it on a napkin on his vacation in Italy in the 1980′s. Like freshly squeezed orange juice on the mornings? Just put your glass under this one and squeeze your oranges directly into your glass. When not in use this makes an impressive design object in your kitchen or dining room.

5. Barcelona Chair by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ($5,068) was originally designed to serve as seating for the king and queen of Spain already in 1929 and it has become of the design classics. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed the Barcelona Chair and Stool to furnish his German Pavilion at the International Exhibition in Barcelona. The Barcelona chair is a great example of modern design that is easy to decorate around with, whether your taste is minimalistic and modern or traditional.

6. Block Lamp by Harri Koskinen designed for Design House Stockholm ($129) is one of the newest products in this line up. Harri Koskinen designed the Block Lamp in 1996 and it’s been a design classic ever since winning several design awards. The lamp that looks like a light bulb inside a chunk of ice is a design object and a functional lamp that doesn’t just light up your room, but also your smile.

7. Unikko print designed by Maija Isola for Marimekko in 1964 is one of the most copied prints of our times. The cheerful poppy print comes in several colors, but the original red and white still reminds the most popular. The print is utilized in hundreds of different products over the years. One of my favorites is the coin purses, which are made from the left over fabric when other products are produced. Another true icon of sustainable design.

8. Lempi glasses by Matti Klenell for Iittala (starting $32 for set of two) is a new product for 2012, and bound to be a design classic used for years to come. It took years of designing to create a beautiful glass that is multifunctional in a way that it can be used in everyday use for milk and water, but also for wine in special occasions, and on the top of that you can stack for easy storage even in smaller kitchens. This is my use-everyday-for-everything glass.

9. Stelton Vacuum Jug by Erik Magnussen ($69.95) is a coffee thermos, yes, but it still stands out in its sleek form, and functional design as one of the modern design must haves. You don’t have to open the top to get coffee out, no dripping on your table cloth when you pour the coffee, just like a coffee thermos should work.

10. Tripp Trapp Highchair by Stokke ($214.17) is the only chair you will have to buy your kid. On the top – it’s one of the most inexpensive things you’ll ever buy your baby considering how many times it will be used. My 12-year old daughter still uses hers daily – now it has just moved from dining room to accompany her school desk. The Tripp Trapp highchair was designed to last from a baby to grandparent and grow as the baby grows, and it’s a family heirloom for sure.

What did I miss? What is your modern design favorite?

IKEA 2013 Catalog Photos

IKEA 2013 catalog is here! Check out some pictures from the catalog to showcase some of the best for 2013.

I have to admit, I haven’t been to IKEA for a while. After we moved I was there about every third day and I got my dose of IKEA for a few months, and then been there just to get more plates for summer parties. Today I have to get another guest mattress for more visitors coming, so probably by the time you are reading this, I’m already at IKEA!

Oh, by the way, not all Scandinavian people like IKEA. I get it – they make cheap furniture that doesn’t last for 100 years, and their designs are often inspired by (expensive) Scandinavian designers’ work, and then people choosing the cheaper copy instead of the real deal. I visited a friend’s house and she said to me “I’m proud to say that we don’t have anything from IKEA in our home,” and I almost corrected her by saying “yes, you do, the lanterns I brought you the last time.” We? When we lived in upstate New York, we drove all the way to Ottawa, Canada to the closet IKEA. Heck, when I live outside Scandinavia, I even buy food from IKEA. Besides, IKEA furniture looks perfectly fine with my designer furniture, and expensive Marimekko textiles. Mix it up!

Our bedroom still needs the most work, and I can’t wait to see all of IKEA’s new textiles especially.

I LOVE the mirror panels on this dresser! Makes me wish we hadn’t already bought dressers to our closet, these would make the room look even bigger.

Turquoise furniture, yes please! It’s one of my favorite colors in interior design, and we could use some color to our all white home, will be checking these out.

This built-in-looking bookshelf make my heart sink a little.. One of the bad parts of being a nomad is that you can’t own much stuff, because you can’t move it all. I used to have so many books, but now barely have any, and it makes me sad. I miss my old living room from over 10 years ago when I still had a living room wall with bookshelves full of books. I would love to have a wall like this. Even the white bookshelf below looks nice..

Textiles & creativity

I am really trying not to buy anymore furniture, because I want to keep it simple while we live here, but also I have no idea what happens in 2,5 years when we move out of Sweden – we might go back to New York, or move somewhere else in Europe, who knows. Either way, I can’t take it all with me.

One of the best ways to decorate on a budget, with the latest trends, or without committing to expensive furniture is to change the look with textiles, and that’s what I will be focusing in. The IKEA 2013 catalog has so many not just great fabric prints, but also ideas what to do with the fabrics. The IKEA-hackers have always been a big part of IKEA-culture, and I love how the company embraces it. The 2013 catalog even has DIY-ideas.

IKEA 2013 Catalog App

Oh, one more thing… when you do get your IKEA 2013 catalog – make sure to also get the catalog app to get more out of your catalog. More content, interactive virtual content.. check out this video, it looks very cool.

When we first started planning our move to Sweden, this is kind of how I dreamed of living… In a small open apartment in an old building in the city, decorated in all white, with a few pops of color. What I can’t believe now is that we live in a house 2,5 times larger than this gorgeous apartment, and we are slowly making it our own, and I am able to try to create our home this type of sleek all-white Scandinavian heaven. I’m hoping our home will be ready for some more photos sometime soon, can’t wait to share and hear what you think.

This home is from a Swedish realtor site and is for sale. See all pictures at Alvhem Mäkleri. I love the architecture and the old mixed with modern.

The kitchen is probably my favorite. Maybe because in our house we can not replicate it, and I wish we had a simple white kitchen like this – even though it is a small one. I’m sure if I had this small kitchen I’d be dreaming of a large kitchen what I have right now.. Either way, thankful what we have, and can’t wait to get our home somewhat decorated soon.