Blog

It’s so great to meet you. Where are you from and what do you do?

My name is Tiger and I live in Stockholm, Sweden. I’m a distance student at the University of Borås Web Content Manager and Designer programme. I’m also a blogger. I tend to blog a lot all the time. I’ve got three blogs – From Scandinavia with love (about Scandinavian design and style), HELLO TIGER! (about design and decor and my everyday life), DIY OR DIE at Swedish ELLE Decor (about things you can make yourself).I also try to always have some small projects going on all the time. Recently I made an inspiration room for the fair Home 2010. It’s the biggest public interior decoration and design fair in Sweden and my theme was DIY.

How would you describe your personal style?

I like what often is refered to as the Scandinavian style, but it could just as well be Japanese design in many ways. I like white, all kinds of wood, clean lines and just a few colors. I grew up in a big and kind of messy house with two sisters, four brothers, cats and dogs, rabbits and horses. It was a typical Swedish Falu red wooden house with white corners in the country side. Nothing was ever really clean and things just broke all the time. So when I got my own home I became very neat. It may sound strange, but cleaning and taking good care of my things is very important to me.

A typical Falu Red Wooden House. Falu is pronounced “FAH-loo”, in Swedish Falu rödfärg) is the name of a deep red paint well known for its use on wooden cottages and barns.

Sometimes I feel that everything I like is just black and white, so I try to use colors more. At least one or two colors. Right now it’s yellow and I’m all excited about the idea to have a bright yellow carpet in my bedroom!

My bright yellow carpet. Naturally, it’s pinned!

I like old and new Scandinavian design classics like Stool 60 by Finnish Alvar Aalto, Liv pendant lamp by Swedish Jonas Bohlin, Adam and Spisa Ribb tableware by Swedish Stig Lindberg, Kartio tumbler by Kaj Franck for Finnish Iittala and the String shelfs by Swedish Nisse Strinning. But I can’t afford any of them at time and to be honest I don’t think that design is worth so much money that some pieces cost. I get inspiration from it. I take the feeling in it and find it in something else or in some cases make it myself.

Scandinavian design classics: Stool 60 by Finnish Alvar Aalto, Liv pendant lamp by Swedish Jonas Bohlin, Adam and Spisa Ribb tableware by Swedish Stig Lindberg, String shelfs by Swedish Nisse Strinnin.

I have 2 favorite materials: wood and porcelain. I have to say that I love how the two get combined.

Wood and Porcelain: Button board from Snug, Clock in mixed wood from Hiromatsu Shop, Arbor desk from Bolia, The Kime line from DREAMY PERSON Inc, Coin bank by Ideaco, Tid ceramic clock by Marianne Abelsson, Potholder Perle designed by Adam und Harborth Designbüro, Apple vase and trinket pot.

I live about 2 km from a big Ikea store, so a lot of Ikea furniture tend to find it’s way home to me. Ikea is pretty cheap and if you chose the right things and mix it with other things it can be rather stylish. I don’t want to live in an Ikea catalog.

IKEA: Henny blanket, Alex storage unit, Bondis clock, Kvarnsten table, Riklig teapot, Vinstra night stand, Konsmo.

I also have a board that’s made to inspire me to a more colorful living. Lots of colors and lots of shapes that I try to fit in to my black and white style world.

Is there anyone you can think of who really has inspired you or informed your taste?

I can’t say that one single person inspired me. But all the bloggers I like inspires me and that also means a lot of designers, stylist and photographers.

How do you use Pinterest day to day? What did you use before you had Pinterest?

I pin things every day. Right now I’m trying to get rid of all those other places where I’ve saved things before. Before I used endless lists of bookmarks that just got mixed up and then deleted because I didn’t have the energy to look through them all. I’ve used other “pinning sites” but they’ve always been 1. ugly, 2. full of boring things, 3. focused on buying things. I use Pinterest to get inspiration and to see everything I like neatly collected. I only have four boards – A new home, Inspiration, Dressed for success and DIY OR DIE but as they grow I might have to make some more specific boards.

Thanks so much Tiger. Keep up the great pinning!