Nordic Wool

On By SpektakulärIn Latest deliveriesLeave a comment

I have a new favourite in the shop, Nordic Wool, thermo cups. MENU has launched a new design with their award winning thermo cups that maintain both heat and cold, and ensure that you never burn your fingers. This time the pattern is inspired by traditional Norwegian knitted sweaters. And yes, they look like home to me, like one of those jumpers I wore when I was younger and is now back in trend.

They come in sets of two, with two different designs, so in all there are four designs. A perfect gift for someone who loves a great design, knitting, or just a bit homesick.

But this is of course not the only products that arrived last week from MENU. The gorgeous spice grinders in carbon and ash are back in stock, as well as the Dropp bowl in pink. Verner Panton’s great thermo mugs in pink and dark blue sits now nicely with espresso cups in black and purple. And in the same Verner Panton pattern are those lovely egg cups with silicone hats.

Enjoy the rest of your evening and see you soon

Charlotte x

Pappelina Plastic Rugs…

On By SpektakulärIn New ordersLeave a comment

Great News!!!

Next Pappelina order will be place Monday the 10th of October. I can not express how much I love these and how great I think they are. I have one in my kitchen and I have spilt a lot on it and not a stain, they are easy to clean, put them in the washing machine or as my grandmother does, just rinse them in the bathtub. She bought hers in the 60’s and they are still going strong. Since we have a little one I have plenty of babywipes around, super easy to just wipe up when I make a mess.

Pappelina stands for simple and functional designs of high quality. The idea of weaving in plastic started in 1948 but then reinvented in 1999 by Pappelina. Pappelina is a company that works with interior design, with all stages from idea to the development of the new product. Their hallmark is quality and function, they believe that simplicity lasts in the long run. During the years the Pappelina brand have grown strong within Sweden and is also reaching markets all over the world. In their selection you will find both graphic and simple patterns, as well as organic and soft shapes in well chosen colours for a modern home.

Where would you use them? Well anywhere you like. I have one in my kitchen and  have my eye on a white Svea for Stina’s room because I think the softer weave is so nice to step on. But I am also tempted by a colourful Viggo with stars. Emma has a small Vera One in her bathroom (I know she is very happy with hers). They are very soft under your foot and don’t really move around once you put them down. I would happily recommend a Pappelina rug for your bathroom, kitchen, dining room, hallway, nursery or even outside.

It has started!

On By SpektakulärIn Latest deliveries, New window displayLeave a comment

Delivery after delivery last week and more this week. So exciting!!! I do love being in the shop when we get a delivery, it has been new books and we also introduced a Elsa Beskow 2012 Calendar. New cards by Darling Clementine and for you who love the Folk and Flora range there are now notebooks as well. Back in stock is the Oak trivet, Daisy, Tulip and Clover teasets, SOS candle lanterns, the Blossom teapot, cheese knives, new travel mug designs and more of the Retro breakfast set all by Sagaform. Last Friday a pallet from Cult Design, sooooo much to choose from now. Every colour cover you can think off for the Change range, new in as well, soap/lotion and dish pumps in jade, citron, black and white. Cult Design is all about mix and matching after your own taste and space, and it is such a great gift.

Saturday was a busy morning while Emma and I got everything out in the shop. It is a joy to see our shop being filled up with new designs and great new products as well as all our favourites…

Monday was a very busy day for me, we had two deliveries at the same time, the shop has a new look with lots of new cushions by Linum and more designs from Sagaform. Today KG Design will arrive with flower coasters, since we have plenty being ordered by customers you better hurry before they are all gone again.

I am looking forward to go into the shop every morning now and am exciting to see what will arrive this week, lots of lovely things for my home I hope:) Have a good week and see you soon. Charlotte x

New season, new designs…

On By SpektakulärIn New orders, NewsLeave a comment

There is a bit of excitement going on here at Spektakulär, we are preparing for Autumn and also for Winter (I hate to say it but Christmas is not far away), new products are being ordered and next week is the first arrival. I love deliveries, they make me so happy and I just love seeing new designs and love mixing and matching products around in the shop.

First up is Linum, a cushion delivery only this time, but with lots of gorgeous new colours and designs.

Here are two lovely images from Linum with their new cushions that we will receive next week, am so looking forward to be in the shop awaiting the delivery next week!!!

I’ll post some more pictures once we’ve unpacked the shipment and are sure what has really been delivered.  Have a lovely week and stay warm.

Charlotte x

Autumn news…

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It is the beginning of September and when I walked to the shop yesterday I did noticed that the leaf are starting to change colour, oh what a shame that the Summer just never seemed to arrive this year. Well I hope it will be a fantastic Autumn instead. I do enjoy the Autumn, the colours are amazing, the air will be fresh and the feeling after a long walk is inspiring. I dig out all the thick quilts and it is time to lit up a few candles at night which I love.

It is time for a bit of a change in the shop so during September you will notice a lot of new products and designs in the shop. I can not believe that in two weeks we have been open a year.  A year go I was heavily pregnant, getting ready to set up my dream, a small Scandinavian shop with designs I love and I believe will make a home feel more loved. Also very excited but a bit terrified of having a baby, and at the same time as well. Well it worked out quite alright, but it sure has been a busy year with a lot of ups and downs, and to be honest I am still learning.

If you have been into the shop you will have most likely been greeted by Emma, our Australian girl who has been here full-time. She is now taking a new direction in life and is going back to school, so from now on she will be here at Saturdays, Lisa the Swedish lady is in as normal on Wednesdays and our newest member of staff is Beata, also Swedish. New as well is that on Mondays and Tuesdays you will meet me in the shop, so do pop in and see us, we love to help if you are looking for a gift or just would like to treat yourself with some lovely Scandinavian designs.

Have a great week and I am looking forward seeing you soon.

Charlotte x

Mad about clouds…

On By SpektakulärIn New window display, Shop imagesLeave a comment

If you gonna have a cloud in your home, let it be a Färg & Form Cloud!

“Pattern Clouds were created during 1966 – 1967 under strong inspiration from the Japanese pattern. It was a revelation to me that the pattern could be characterized as simplistic and clean, while describing the world around us.” Gunilla Axén, creator of the pattern Cloud.

Färg & Form’s lovely products have been with us now since we started, particularly the cheerful Cloud series. We love them here, they really make me smile and as you know I do like colours and they do look lovely in the shop.

We have paper cans in three sizes for storage, choose between pink, blue, green or red (I have one large red one for Stina’s toys, perfect, and even when she bangs it still looks great). As well as hanging cloud storage in laminated cotton (easy to wash) for bits and bobs in the bathroom or above the changing table. For all the hairband or jewellery for the girls rooms or all those small cars that clutter the boy room floor ( I do have a nice and nephew and I know how they collect everything and how the toys clutter up their rooms). Or for pens and all those things that are everywhere in the office or when you find the perfect place for them you let me know.

The Cloud blankets in 100% cotton are a perfect gift for a newborn baby and it seems to be a baby boom in the area as they are a very popular gift, or for your own baby, it is not really summer out there is it!!! When Stina was born in October last year, my mother bought an orange cloud blanket for her which was perfect in her pram or cot or just on top of her in our arms while relaxing. And I seem to recall last winter was quite a snowy and cold one, lets hope it wont repeat this winter.

Have a fantastic weekend, looking forward to see you.

Charlotte x

Festival Season

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Yes another year and another great Festival upon us. Since I am not a big fan of crowds I sneak out early in the morning for the stalls and workshops, or I look on-line for what I really want to see and for me it is the Book Festival,  I love books, love reading and during these years Richard has been forced to read Swedish crime.  In Sweden, summer holidays mean book reading in the hammock and it should be a crime novel,  and yes even if Stieg Larsson’s books about Lisbeth were terrific, there are plenty other of amazing writers out there, and they are growing bigger here which makes me happy to see.

You can almost always find an Scandinavian writer at the book festival and this year there are a couple of good ones, such as Jo Nesbo and Leif G W Persson. Jo Nesbo, well that man has been promoted like mad, and as the “new Larsson”, so I don’t really have to do that, but I do enjoy his books. But if you want something a bit different and heavier Leif G W Persson is your man. I remember watching the Swedish equivalent of “Crimewatch” years ago and he turned up as a profiler and he had this way of him that made me think “is he drunk??”, but no, it is just his way of behaving. He is one strong minded man and while on holiday in Sweden I noticed he did a program on TV where he is trying to solve some cold cases which have created a bit of a debate back home. But his books are good and I am glad to see that they are finally being translated into English.

The Book Festival is the perfect excuse to finally introduce a small range of Scandinavian childrens’ books to the shop, books that remind me of childhood and later. Since we are a bunch of sibilings and I’m the second oldest I had to read a lot of night time stories! So you will find Pettsson and his talking cat Findus, books by the fantastic Astrid Lindgren, the beautiful illustrated books by Elsa Beskow as well as the funny little Mrs Pepperpot.

Our lovely Emma has left us for the Book Festival so don’t forget to say hi if you see her there, but I promise she is not gone for good, will be back at weekends the rest of year while she is studying.

If you are looking for a small gift to someone you know that loves books we have great bookmarks by Pluto Produkter.

I am sure I can find a lot of Swedish or even some Scandinavian things at this years festival and I wish you an enjoyable festival with lots of fun, and I hope the sun will come out soon. Next year I will take Stina to theater and craft workshops.

Charlotte x

A rainy day…

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Rain rain rain…

I think I need to cheer you (and myself of course) up with some images from the shop.

Hope you have a lovely evening and stay warm and cosy with a cup of tea and under a woolly blanket.

Charlotte x

Inspiration

On By SpektakulärIn InspirationLeave a comment

My mind is full of inspiration after a long holiday in Sweden. While being at home I took the opportunity to catch up with friends and family and also check out lots and lots of lovely small shop just like Spektakulär to find inspiration. A shop just like this is Balders Hage. A lovely little shop in my home town of Alingsås, it is full of quirky things and at Christmas this is the place I find all my gifts, a lovely glass bowl or tray for grandma, a soap for granddad, a moneybank for my brother, table runner for my mum, and so on… This shop was one of many inspirations when I decided to open up my own, or actually the owners, the Björkman family is one amazing inspiration. The shop in Alingsås started as a family business and now been sold on, but they kept a shop in Gothenburg which is run by the daughter and a webshop run by one of their sons. Every time I am in Gothenburg I pop in to find ideas for my home or the shop or just a small gift for a friend. Balders Hage in Gothenburg is full of ideas and designs I would love in my own home.

The shop has a lovely welcoming feel with beautiful displays, both in the shop and outside. If you go to Gothenburg it is a shop well worth a visit.

Stina and I are now back in Edinburgh and this time I really looked forward to come back here since this is our home now, even if I miss Sweden extremely much now and then, Edinburgh is a fantastic place with beautiful architectural buildings, close to water and countryside, we do have everything we need and want here. I believe I have the best of both worlds. But of course I dream of a small country home back in Sweden where we can spend our summers. Maybe in the future!!!

August will be a busy month since lots of new orders will arrive with new designs as well as your favourites. We are looking forward to see you in the shop.
Charlotte x

New Pappelina order will be place 29th July

On By SpektakulärIn New orders, Upcoming eventsLeave a comment

Yes it is time for a new order from Pappelina. The rugs are getting more and more attention and just like me, our customers are falling in love with them. Once you get one you are hooked ;)

Plastic rugs are something that I grew up with, (not realising then how great they were) as well as rugs made of old rags (which is another great idea I am looking into for the shop). Pappelina use a traditional weaving technique from the 40’s, with modern plastics, and new designs. They started in 1999 and from there it has kicked off and they re-introduced the so clever plastic rug in our homes.

Last time I visited my grandmother in Gothenburg I realised she had them in her kitchen, bathroom and in the hallway and she bought them in the 60’s and still looking fabulous! When I visited my other grandmother in Uddevalla she had one on the balcony and in the summer-house and even here at my mum’s, there is one on the balcony. They are absolutely spectacular, so easy to wash, just put them in the washing machine or put them in the shower or bathtub and hose them down, using a soft sponge on any particularly dirty bits . Or, as one of our customers told us, use babywipes! I sure have plenty of those lying around…

We have one in our kitchen, the lovely Lilo in azure blue, and a soft Svea is moving in with Stina as soon as she leaves our bedroom.

Please do checkout their website and come in and see us or give us a ring and we are happy to help with dimensions, designs and let you know the price. Next order will be placed Friday the 29th of July, so plenty of time to measure.  We try to place orders together so shipping costs are low and we can keep prices competitive.

Have a lovely browse

Charlotte x