Dream Home: Scandinavian Chic

Today’s “Dream Home” comes to us courtesy of the gorgeous Dagny from Scandinavian Chic. Dagny writes one of my favorite European blogs and infuses everything she does with her beautiful style. Enjoy!

I'm so happy to be guest blogging at one of my favorite US blogs again, La Dolce Vita. Like I said the last time I was here, Paloma is one of the first design bloggers that took her blog to another level, and I still admire her for what she's achieved.

When Paloma asked me to share my dream home, I accepted the challenge, but little did I know that I was about to spend hours upon hours figuring it all out. See, I usually design based on emotions, and very often on impulse. I get an idea, and then act. Most of the time it works, and some times it absolutely doesn't. In my professional life, the process is the oposite, but just as fun none the less ;)

I know that the architecture of the house I chose is pretty special, and definitely unique, and this definitely influenced the rest of my choices. Most of the rooms have been picked from a different time period and a different style, but try to picture them in the surroundings and architecture you'd expect to find inside this house.

Now, I know this home looks a little bit spooky, but I would have changed that part about it. :) It would have been a happy home, with happy colors. In the most respectful way. And the garden would have been filled with flowers in an informal, but elegant manner. My two young girls would have been running around, and the patio would be filled with colorful furniture that compliments the architecture. What I love about historic architecture, is the attention to details. New homes today, at least in Norway, have no personality and NO details. None. They're like minimalist boxes. And I most certainly don't believe in minimalism. If this was my house, I would probably change up the color palette, and bring it back to it's original shape, which was probably colorful and intricate (houses like these often had at least five colors in the palette).

The doors would get new hardware, and I'm totally smitten with these European style door handles by Swedish B&B. Unique, and modern, but with a clear attention to detail.

The entry would have this gold / metal thingy hanging on the wall paired with the Tom Dixon lookalike pendants below:

The hallway has a gallery wall that leads towards this kitchen: (only larger, hehehee)

We're actually in the midst of a kitchen remodel, and this photo is my inspiration. It really has some pretty amazing design elements. It's even an IKEA kitchen! We didn't pick IKEA, but we're going for the same high gloss finish with brass hardware. The marble and subway tiles paired with the walnut herringbone flooring completes the look. Swoon!!

Our living room HAS to have books. And mismatched chairs. Love this look, but would throw some more colors in the loop. Like paint the back of the bookshelves and definitely the chairs (but in the same color), and the living room would most certainly not have white walls (HATE white walls. Seriously)

Our living room would be a mix of the two rooms above. I want fun and humor paired with elegance and rich, deep colors.

The master bedroom would have the same feel as this pic. De Gournay wallpaper is on the top of my list, but to achieve a more modern expression, I would have added some streamlined elements to play up the contrast. This color scheme would have been perfect.

{Image by James Carriere for House Beautiful} 

Love, love, LOVE this bathroom. Always have. So happy and cheerful, it only misses one thing. Storage. Would have looked like a complete mess if it were mine, but MY dream bath has plenty of storage to the left and to the right ;)

The walk in closet is a little departure from the bedroom, but I would keep the glam factor with gold sequin drapes (I know, can potentially look very tacky, but would play down the rest of the decor to make it work)

The girls bedroom would look something like this. Chic, colorful and with a genius color scheme. Melissa Ruffty totally aced this room, and the matching is very refined.

Our house guests (family and BFF's) would be staying in guest rooms that have this look and feel to them. I'm thinking we would have two or three rooms reserved for guests (we tend to have guests quite often, I would have LOVED to have room to fit them all in :))

The guest bath would probably have been my secret hideaway too... Swoon!!! (want.that.floor!!)

One of my pet peeves in a home is a shabby laundry room. My current laundry room is probably the most glamorous rooms in our house, just how I like it ;) What I like about this room, is how the designer has worked with mixing patterns, and also the black&white striped rug, which is a nod towards the Hollywood Regency movement. I would probably have nixed the chrome and went for gold and a little bit more of a polished look, but this is the perfect inspiration pic :) Gorgeous!

In by job as a Creative Director, I need a home office. I always have an ever changing moodboard when working with next seasons collections, new lines and our inspiration magazine.

This patio is actually MY patio. It's my current home. This house is a Norwegian timber house from the 90s, and the architecture couldn't be further from my dream house (at the top). I still love the color scheme here, and how cozy and welcoming it is. I would probably have wanted to recreate the colors and probably the fabrics, but with different, and more elegant furniture. Image courtesy of Fargerike.

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Thanks again for having me, Paloma!!

xx