| to sleep like a baby |

This post is a small but very needed rant of a sleep deprived new (5 months) mother...

Some weeks back (I don't know when, time is a blur) I returned to blogging after having had my baby boy. I told you he was sleeping 7 straight hours a night and that allowed me proper rest and some surplus of energy to work on my blog. Well....Jinxed! Just a few days after that he went into a sleep regression and started waking up every 45 minutes...

And so my husband and I are back to feeling like zombies...dragging ourselves through the days... happy with the little one, obviously (he is actually a little angel in all other aspects), but so damned exhausted! We have some better nights, and some really horrific ones. Like when there's so much tossing and turning that we stay awake anxiously just waiting for that moment when he loses his pacifier and starts screaming.

So seriously, who was the genius that thought that "to sleep like a baby"should be synonym of sleeping well?!?! The expression should be "to sleep without a baby"!

photo by April and May

photo via EEF lillemor

photo via ByNord

photo by Kjerstislykke

Kitchen Crush | White on White

This kitchen is in a house in Milan but it could be Scandinavian. The family knocked down some walls to get a kitchen "allrum" (family room), a concept which is very popular up here in Scandinavia. Also very Scandinavian is the use of white, lots and lots of white, that grant a relaxed and bright atmosphere to the whole space. And notice the great mix of clean modern lines, furniture that looks a bit more traditional and an industrial touch with the Tolix chairs.

Yup, I definitely have a kitchen crush on this one!

photography: Morten Holtum
via: Bo Bedre Norway

Mood On The Wall | Wire Frameworks

I've been seeing on Pinterest many examples of these 'upcycled' wire frameworks that serve to create beautiful moodboards or/and to hang all sorts of stuff one may need in a work space, kitchen, bedroom...wherever. I chose a few of my favourites to share with you today and give you an idea of what can be achieved with a bit of creativity. 

 photography: Bianca Wippe from  (my) unfinished home

styling and photography: Pella Hedeby
for: Hitta Hem

styling and photography: Pella Hedeby from Still Inspiration

photography: Johanna Eklöf from Formelle Design

photography: Mette from Homesick

They are cheap and easy to make...if you can get the wire frame to start with. It's only a matter of cleaning it, painting it, hanging it on a wall and let your imagination dictate the rest. But for those of you who may not be able to get your hands on one of these things for free, or if you just aren't a DIY kind of person, you may be happy to know that you can get the BARSÖ trellis on IKEA that can be used for the same purpose (and with no fuss) and look just as nice as you can see by the photo below styled by Pella Hedeby for IKEA livethemma.

BARSÖ trellis from IKEA

styling: Pella Hedeby
photography: Kristofer Johnsson 

for: livethemma IKEA

Why I've Been Away + Baby Wall

Exactly 3 months ago, I went through the most horrible and traumatizing experience with the best and most wonderful result - I became a mother for the first time (and probably last, at least while I remember the process). My brain has been mushy, most of the days are just a blurry memory, I've been in a huge amount of pain, sleep deprived and my house is chaotic (at any given time we have about 10 cloth diapers spread strategically place around the house).

I couldn't trust myself to have a coherent thought let alone write a coherent post.

But a few days ago things started to get better. My son, has been sleeping seven straight hours a night, which contributed immensely to mine and my husband's sanity. And I recovered from most of the crap - apologies for the language - that afflicted me after the birth (if I believed in such things I would swear I'd been cursed).

 So I wanted to make this post, to let all my readers now that I intend to come back and hopefully restart sharing regularly some inspiring images, beautiful interiors and delicious recipes. At least as much as my little Viking allows me to.

And since I'm here, I leave you some photos of the gallery wall I'm building for him. He sleeps facing the wall so I try to put up some images to catch his attention, including the lyrics of his favourite lullaby - the baby likes words, and it helps me and my husband because we're too old to memorize it!

photography by | life as a moodboard |

| Spring Feelings | Scandinavian Interiors

A very small but very sweet and feminine apartment, from Fantastic Frank.

The brightness of the white, the soft pastel tones and lots of plants spread around give it that extra touch of Spring Mood.

all images via Fantastic Frank

Gorgeous Apartment in Grey | Scandinavian style

Before going fully into Spring Mode, I want to share this beautifully styled apartment for sale on Stadshem. A typical scandinavian interior in tones of grey (and still quite bright) to put end another grey Winter. 

I love the little concrete table in the living room. 

And the kitchen is just perfect - fresh and yet cosy with the wooden utensils on display - I wouldn't change a thing!

all images via Stadshem

Grey Atmosphere

A book, tea, beautiful interiors, amazing view...

Vipp Shelter

via Vipp

Boy's Room Inspiration | graphic + black and white

If you read my last post, you know I'm expecting my first child - a boy - and that I've been looking for inspiration for his future nursery/room.

One of the styles I'm more fond of is the graphic + black and white room.

I found this example from SISSY+MARLEY (you can see more of their portfolio on Pinterest here) and I'll tell you what I like more and less about it. 

project by SISSY+MARLEY

all images via: Project Nursery

I like the black and white. There!... I can't help it. I'm not a big fan of a lot of colour. I absolutely hate those rooms that are all pink or all blue and everything matches. They give me nightmares and I simply can't have it. I love neutral colours as a canvas, and then yes, then I can introduce some colourful details: with the books, the toys, some clothes...

I don't really like the starts on the wall... to me it's too much. A white wall there, maybe with a frame or a poster, would have been much more to my style. 

I'm also not crazy about some of the pop design elements that we've been seeing spread and repeated till exhaustion in many interior design blogs: like the batman poster or the big Lego head. But once again this is due to my personal taste. I much rather prefer the vintage vibe from the leather trunk dresser.

Now the best part for me, and something that tends to be a theme in black and white children's rooms, is the chalkboard wallpaper. There's just so many things we can do with it, so many inventive and fun ways to use it that I'm 100% sure that that will be part of my little Matheus' room.

Calendar on the wall

As promised, I'm sharing today a few pictures of my 2015 Printable Calendar on my gallery wall.

You may recognize the Minimal Vases from a previous post on this blog. They were a Christmas present from my mother in law, and I love them!

photos by | life as a moodboard |

And in case you missed it here is the printable for the first three months.

(click here for the rest of the Calendar)

calendar by | life as a moodboard |

Hello...Ho! Ho!

A photo from my Instagram with some of my DIY Christmas decorations.

- The Hello...Ho! Ho! print you can find below on this same post. 

- For the hanging stars all you need is black cardboard, a white thick thread and a star shaped cookie cuter. 

- The jar is actually a chocolate milk bottle covered with chalkboard paint (you can see the DIY here). 

- And I placed some string lights inside a metal plant pot for an unexpected effect. 

The decorations are all done, now I just need to do (a lot) of baking!

 

photography and print by | life as a moodboard |

Turn on the lights! | Styling for Autumn

It's true that during the Summer we get these wonderfully long days, here in Denmark, with lots of light from early morning until very late in the evening. But in the Autumn and Winter we get (suffer!) the exact opposite...

Now that the days are noticeably shorter I wanted to share with you this apartment from Fantastic Frank, beautifully styled to translate an Autumn Mood. The lights turned on on every room are necessary even during the day because it's very dark anyway, unless the sun decides to grace us with it's presence and that doesn't happen often. 

The various lamps give the rooms a warm colour and cosy - hyggeligt - atmosphere, that is absolutely fundamental to survive the Winter blues (it's that and chocolates). I only wished they had also used some candles because that would give it an even more Scandinavian feeling.

styling: Thomas Lingsell

photography: Emily Laye

via: Fantastic Frank

Black and White Stairs

Today I want to show you these wonderfully graphic black and white stairs. They were introduced in an old apartment in Stockholm during it's renovation by Andreas Martin-Löf Arkitekter. 

The result is a beautiful and extraordinary new architectural element that stands out while still belonging to this space.

architecture: Andreas Martin-Löf Arkitekter

styling: Sofie Ganeva

photography: Emily Laye

via: Fantastic Frank