Featured in Swedish Magazine

So, I'm happy to say that my business was featured in the latest issue of the Swedish interior decorating magazine - Allt i Hemmet. Feels great that my idea of sharing and injecting color into Scandinavian homes are shared and encouraged by other professionals within the business.
Buy the issue and take a look for yourself!

Now I love unique stuff...

...for childrens room and I discovered these great elephants made by Fern & Feather and bought at http://www.reverie-daydream.com/. Hand made and just a work of art!

However, and this is a big however....they are simply too expensive for my wallet. Now there might be some of you that are much better off than me, so I still had to share these lovelies with you!

Why are so few Scandinavians...

...catching on to ikat fabrics and the Suzani trend? Now I keep seeing all these inspirational pics in international magazines and on blogs showcasing homes decorated with the most stunning ikat fabrics and Suzanis but for some strange reason Sweden (at least) is not catching on to this trend. Are we simply afraid of too much color (which would not surprise me)?

Now if you don't like the batik effect then I guess you won't go for an ikat pillow for you sofa (I must admit there are versions of ikat weaving that I'm less fond of and I'm not a great fan of batiks). But I have come to love this craftmanship and most of the colors a absolutlety stunning as they are so vibrant but all naturally dyed. Check out these pics (all borrowed from Absolutley Beautiful Things) and be inspired!

And be sure to take a look at the ikat pillows available in the shop as well as my two stunning Suzanis www.pillove.se

Chair on left upholstered with a Suzani.

Chair upholstered in a vibrant ikat fabric.

A Suzani dressing up a crisp white loveseat making it all the more interesting to look at and sit in!

Business is slow....

So lately business has been REALLY slow and I keep asking myself if it's worth the hassle with all the bills (...unfortunately they keep coming eventhough business isn't exactly booming...). So when I get an email from a lovely person like Frida Svahn (check out her website and blog addresses below!) telling me how lovely she finds my shop and products, the day suddenly seem just a tad brighter ;-) Take a look at her website, maybe she could offer you some help in turning your home a tad more fab!

Frida Svahn stylist and interior decorator http://www.fridasvahn.se/

Huggies from moi!

C.

What's your favorite thing for spring?

So I was sitting here in the library (our office/stockroom/playroom) where I have an excellent view of all the fab products that PilLove carries. It's a really inspiring place to be but at the same time it's daunting as you have a complete overview of all the things that you have yet to sell!

I had my accountant here the other day (closing the books for this year) and I was happy because I had a positive result this year....I had roughly around 1000 sek in profit this year and then I hadn't been able to withdraw any salary for myself for the last one and half year that the business have been running. So if you wanna get rich don't start this kind of business ;-)

I do love it though and I have learnt so many things in the last couple of years that I wouldn't trade the experience for any money in the world (...well maybe 10 million Swedish crowns could change my mind ;-). I have taken the position from day one that this is something that I will do as long as it is fun, and if I can bare the thought that it's not gonna make me stinking rich (I will have to make do with a pillow cover or two ) then that's fine.

Coming back to our library/office/stockroom....I was looking at all the pretty, colorful and just lovely items that we have adorning our walls, I decided that if I were to close down my business today I have an ocean of lovely items to decorate and make our home even prettier. That's when it hit me....what are my favorites at the moment and so here they are....here's my wishlist for Spring/Summer 2011:

Let me know what your favorites are and also if you'd love to see me stock a brand or product that you have a hard time finding on the Scandinavian market.

Lots of love,

C.

So here below you will find a pic or the item that's on my list:

1. The most wonderful flower pillows, handsewn in designer fabric.

2. A beautiful Suzani at the end of our bed (first picture shows one of the two Suzanis that I have fore sale in the shop)

3. Pillow with a statement. Organic felt pillow covers with cool statements.

4. Now these owls will never get old, they are ful of personality and just says "fun". Handmade by a woman in Malasia.

5. Lovely pillows from Bonjour mon Coussin my favorite - Flower - second from top.

6. An explosion of colors are the covers in PilLove's own collection. Usually done in kimonofabric or batik fabric. Here's a selection of the range.

Me on being a stranger....

I really feel bad about not being more active on the blog, and I know I keep saying that I will get better and I will....and I will tell you why....keep reading!

The thing is I'm desperately trying to juggle a full time job with being a mum and running the business on the side and the 16 hours ( I need to have my 8 hour of sleep! ) that I have available just aren't enough! Now I know it's important to update a blog, why else have one!? I just hope you can excuse me for being a stranger on the blog.

One thing I've learnt is that it's not easy to reach customers when your products are only available online. This goes especially for textile products like mine, where the customer tend to want to feel the fabric, look at the colors and maybe even borrow a cover or two to see how they would look like in their counch or together with a particular bedspread.

Ok, so for the good news that I wanted to share! I will be more available in the near future (starting this summer). You see I have a little one baking in the oven, and he or she is expected to arrive in the end of June or beginning of July. My hope is that I will have more free time on my hands (good luck to me with two small kids, right!) ...one can dream! ;-)

For this time I'll leave you with some inspirational pics that I found yesterday when browsing the world wide web.

Take care & lots of love!

Charlotte

Now I never get tired of the utter beauty and craftsmanship of Suzanis and the story that they tell (if you buy the real deal). Pic no. 1 show an alternative way of using a Suzani. Maybe if you have a Suzani that has lots of damage to it like tears and/or holes or spots, you might dare to put the scissors to it and cut out the pieces that are still intact and make a beautiful ottman like this. Second pic is stolen with pride from Nest Decorating and the last one showcases one of the two Suzanis that I have for sale. This one is a silk Suzani from Uzbekistan c:a 1976...STUNNING!

Beautiful cottages in Kent, pic borrowed from Steffan MacMillan on flickr. Now that's daring....imagine painting your house in any of those colors! I'd love to live on that street! I imagine you wake up with a smile every day or at least when you go outside to pick up your newspaper ;-)

All images above are taken from my decorating guru no. 1 Anna Spiro at Black & Spiro. It's from one of her many fab decorating assignments. I could just take it all and incorporate it into my house and be happy for the rest of my days. I JUST LOVE IT! She always use bold and daring colors...just the way I like it!

I just had to include this pic that I took with my iPhone this summer when visiting a garden exhibition held in a the gardens of Sofiero castle, just outside Helsingborg, Sweden (the castle used to be the Swedish king's parents summer estate ;-) Now that's a flower arrangement!

A very Happy New Year to you all!

Paris...oh Paris...

So one particular cover from Bmc has caught the eye of many -Paris no 4 - which I'm sorry to say is not available in the store at the moment as they are all sold out. Now Paris no 4 has been featured in Sköna Hem (Sweden's biggest magazine within interior design/decoration in terms of most reader's), the travel issue of Expressen (a supplemt to the national newspaper that gives all kinds of travel info...so why not include a map of Paris ;-) and now it's going to be featured in Dagens Nyheter a national newspaper that has a rather large audience. So in other words SUPER FUN and great sales for me, yeah! (=I'm still poor and barely able to pay my bills)

Now I have to confess, I don't really get the big fuss about this particular pillow cover. I mean it's nice, super nice in fact, but I will always prefer the more colorfull ones by BoC. Now I guess if you have a particular relationship with the beautiful city - say you lived in a particul part of Paris and that is shown on the map or a particular street - I get it. I would love to see maps of other cities as well, like Rome, New York, Tokyo and London but in more color :-)

Ahh well, anyhoot....I really just wanted you all to know that I've placed a new order for the Paris covers and that they will hopefully be in the shop within a few weeks (expect at least 3 weeks delivery). You are more than welcome to reserve a cover, making sure you get your hands on one. Just send me an email and I will fix with all the details.

Have a great weekend!

C.

Bamboo craze

So I know I've said it before but I'm absolutlely in love with bamboo and would love to have more chairs and tables in all sorts of crazy colors. The thing is, it's almost impossible to find ones of great designs...like the ones included in the pics below. I guess the choice of bold colors is what catches my eye....and I'm sure the daring colors can be credited to the climate, which is quite different in Australia than it is here in Scandinavia....but still....I wish we weren't as afraid of using colors...

This pic is from Decor Pad

...and this as well...
...but the rest are all from Absolutely Beutiful things

So I was actually out...

..."shopping" the internet for inspiration for my two new project - an art/photo wall and a new headboard for our bed. I came across so many inspirational pics I thought I'd be generous and share them with you :-)

Love the mix of just about everything...a memorabilia wall with all your favorite things, makes it personal and homey. Image from the blog Absolutely Beautiful things.

From my all time favorite blog in the whole wide world - Absolutely Beautiful things. And YES! absolutely everything she posts on her blog is fabulous and I'd buy a ticket to Brisbane to visit her shop Black & Spiro and I'd probably never leave unless I can bring everything in the shop with me! This bedroom was done by Anna herself (blogger and owner) and I LOVE it! It's right up my alley with all the wonderful colors and the many decorative pillows on the bed (of course....you can NEVER have enough pillows!) and to top it off she has a wonderful Suzani at the end of the bed...ahhh...Love it or die! Check out the two vintage Suzani's that I have in the shop (under "Selected by pilLove"). Enough said about this picture, lets move on....

A hotel suite anyone? Now I really like this room but it would never work for me as has too much of a hotel vibe and let's be honest who in their right mind has a bed where the sheets don't have one single wrinkles on them and where every little thing is in its place? Who doesn't have any clothes lying around or anything else that migh show that there are actual people living in the house/apartment, and not Barbi and Kent. But like I said, I like the room, it's just not realistic! So it's not an option...moving along....

Now this is neither a wall or a headbord but it was just so cool I had to include it! This sofa is super nice with it's clean lines, and it's a perfect mix of the black and white striped cushions and the decorative pillows with graphic prints...it's fab...really....buuut I don't do graphic prints it's just not me...

Super cute! Love the vintage patchwork quilt (wish I had one!) and the headboard with Love is just adorable!
To sweet for our bedroom though...

Love a noteboard/mood board that is jam packed like this. It's great (cheap) art for your walls and really expresses you as a person.

Another great room from Anna at Black & Spiro! Great mix of decorative pillows, love the paintings!

Super cool alternative headboard, would be über nice in a teenage boy room, well I'd love it in our bedroom as well buut not this time. By the way, where would I ever find all the letters? It would take forever and days spent roaming flee markets, and for the record, we don't even have cool ones where you would find anything remotely as cool as these letters! So nope won't happen...

Another great pic stolen from Black & Spiro, love everything in this picture. The green color on the walls (why paint white when you can stare into this green wall everynight?!) The poster...me want!...the chair, expecially the cushions, the über chic lamp in turquoise, the orange trash bin (love the wild combo of colors!! L-O-V-E IT! and to to finish the perfect setting - two beautiful bouquets, ahhh I'm in heaven!

So as you can see there has been no decision made on the headboard and as for the art/photo/memorabilia wall...I'm slowely getting there. I'm doing some photo editing in PS at the moment and I have to buy some new frames and well the headboard will have to wait a couple of days....or weeks ;-)

Love,

C.

Oh dearest I have...

... fallen in love AGAIN! How is this possible??

Now the greatest thing about my job is getting my hands on products that I like, love or crave and of course being able to offer them to you - my lovely customers - at a fairly reasonable price. The worst part is that it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to choose, as there are SO MANY fab products out there and even though they might not be the most expensive products for me to buy, my wallet is fairly thin, which is forcing me to be very picky when deciding on what to buy(hmmm....which in a way is also a good thing....ahh....well...anywaaay...). Now the products below are excellent examples. I would love to buy this suppliers' whole collection as I just LOVE IT! But unfortunately I can't, as I simply can't afford it. And also, I don't want to risk sitting on a large stock of items that you - my customers - for some strange reason have decided that you don't want (I admit...sometimes I just don't get you...I'm sorry....but I mean how can you not want to buy all my stuff???) Take a look at these pillows and quilts aren't they just wonderful?

Now am I crazy, or is this the coolest bed spread ever?? Me want a lot!

... and yes I agree these kind of frilly unnecessary things - like Lavender bags - aren't...well...necessary but they are still lovely ;-)

Me L-O-V-E a L-O-T!

Just lovely...makes me smile...

Again...what's not to like???

Sweet butterflies for your darling...