Great neutral living rooms

No commentary needed.

Designed by Joe Serrins Studio

A stunning Stockholm apartment featured on Emmas Designblogg

Designed by LakeFlato Architects

Designed by LakeFlato Architects

Designed by 212box

Photographed by Steve Giralt

Best conference room ever

I'm going to be spending 3 hours of my precious day in our main conference room at work today. Oh how I wish it were this one instead. Somehow I don't suspect that this conference room finds it's home in North America.


It's not like we have a bad room...it's actually quite nice. Unfortunately, it just doesn't live up to it's glory because of all the "stuff" around. "Stuff" = plastic white coffee carafes, black coffee machine, 80's paper towel roll, too many multicolored trays. I have a nagging urge to put it all away and let the room show through. Little obsessive anyone?

Discovering Eva Solo

The first evening after arriving in Stockholm, my client's suggeted a stop into Nordiska Kompanient, the largest department store in the city. Besides carrying virtually all the retailers from surrounding shops in one spot, it is just a gorgeous building. Wow.

And the stop surely didn't disappoint. One of the lines that I discovered is called Eva Solo, which is a Dutch design company. There were so many fun items that it was difficult to just choose one. Any votes on which of the following will end up traveling back to Cayman with me?

Functional yet funky stainless and plastic bread boxes

Soap magnet that allows soap to dry quickly

Stylish dishcloth that can stay out or get tossed in the washer

The perfect fusion

Oh boy. This is the perfect combination of Mr. Big's first love, with my appreciation for design.

Flickr image via Emmas Designblogg

Pure torture

I am headed to Stockholm next week for work...and was unable to arrange my flights to allow for an extra day to play (shop). How did I allow this to happen? And I'm traveling with a staff member so it's not like I can play hooky one afternoon. I should set a good example and all that "grown up" nonsense.

In searching for information on the city, I came across a beautiful blog, Emma's DesignBlogg. Images of me scrambling to explain why I absolutely must enter the shop that has this rug in the window has me worried. Very, very worried.


Wish me luck. Lots of it.

What she's really thinking

We're all thinking...This lovely lady has a gorgeous kitchen. Look at that amazing island and countertop. And it's all designed so simple. Ahhh...to be in her shoes.

She's no doubt thinking...I wish that I had listened to my designer when he said that it was difficult to get into these upper cabinets. He told me that I wouldn't want to use them, but I insisted. Now I have to haul out the ladder every time I want to get up there, which is a drag. Livable, but a drag. Oh and I keep banging my head on my hood range.

Now this is wall decor

Thanks to Kim of Desire to Inspire for posting this unbelievable wall by designer Stephen Falcke. Wow.

Product review: Miele dishwasher

Is there anyone out there that enjoys unloading their dishwasher? No? That's what I figured. A year after living with our new Miele dishwasher, it's no longer fair to hold out the secret. Miele makes it much more bearable.

The first 2-3 times I loaded up our new dishwasher, I was cursing the fact that we had to individually place each piece of cutlery into the separate cutlery tray (as opposed to my usual toss into a basket). A read through the instruction manual recommended that you place similar pieces together. Aaahhh!


Since that fortunate day (fortunate that I read the manual at all), I no longer dread unloading the dishwasher. Plates and cups fly into the cupboard and my cutlery takes two swift seconds. Presto...on to better things!

If you are in the market for a new dishwasher, this is a really good option (plus the fact that it's unbelievably quiet...we can't even tell when it's on). Don't worry, I still don't enjoy unloading the dishwasher. But then again, I don't dread it...which is a step in the right direction.