Kootut murut

Remember to update your subscription

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:12:00 +0000

I can see from my stats that many of you are still following this site, when you should be here, in the new address :)

Bye-bye Blogger ...And the SHOP is open

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 08:46:00 +0000

It has come time to say bye to Blogger. Blogger has been very good to Kootut murut (I've been blogging here for over two years! Almost 400 posts that is!!) There's definitely certain things I'm going to miss. But it's time to move on, and Kootut murut has a brand new site here. I hope you will follow us there.

Oh, I almost forgot. The SHOP is open too! You can find it at the new site as well.

Stunning Finnish home

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:12:00 +0000

In the new address.

First photo shoot

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 13:30:00 +0000

Find it on www.kootutmurut.com.

Dreamy winter home in Sweden

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 07:21:00 +0000

I was flipping through my old decor magazines as I stumbled into this dreamy Swedish home in Divaani. I had bookmarked it before and could immediately remember why. It's so stunning. It was photographed by Petra Bindel, who I guess is the interior photographer on everyone's lips at the moment. At least I seem to be bumping into her photos constantly, and no wonder. They are stunning. From her portfolio I could see the same home in Elle Interiör.

I love how this home is both soft and romantic - and rough at the same time. Nothing looks too polished. There's little quirky details all over. Like is that a Wunderbaum I see hanging there?

I think I might die out of sheer happiness if we had a kakluuni oven like that.

This home is just too cool for words. I mean look at the pink guitar with that scary doll. And could I have that shoe collection, por favor??

There's a LOT more stunning interiors in Petra Bindel's website, so pop on over for a healthy morning dose of beauty.

Christmas inspiration from the Husband

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:56:00 +0000

Panu wanted to contribute to the holiday decor this year. So he sent me this inspirational christmas light video, asking if we could have something similar.

The nicest neighbors

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 06:53:00 +0000

We have the nicest neighbors. They have been so helpful with our renovating project. We have got spare parts like light switches and heard stories about how things used to be. One of the neighbors has lived here since 1956 and is the oldest original resident on the street. He was also building our house!

And last weekend, we got a front door! I have been in love with that door for two years. We have a "modern" door, looks like from the 80's. I've been saying to Panu countless times we need to find an original front door just like that. I've been searching the internet for the right one. We've also talked about having it made. But now the search is over, because our neighbors decided to change the door and donate the old to us! Of course we offered to buy, but they wouldn't have any of that. I'm kind of surprised how nice and helpful people still are. And very grateful.

Oh, and I might be a bit quiet for a while. I'm preparing for Kootut murut to move, hopefully very soon. But more about that later.

What are your happy colors?

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:22:00 +0000

Maria of Colour Me Happy asked in her blog what are the colors of fun. That lead me to thinking, what are the colors of happy. On the contrary to what you might think, for me it's not just bright and strong colors. At the moment, one of the corners making me most happy is the one in the picture. And it's probably the whitest and lightest corners of our house! Normally I feel incapable of decorating with white, so it seems quite unusual (for me at least, maybe not for you! :))

But it's not so much the colors, but the color combinations that make the feeling of happy. The harmony that you get when you find the right combination. That's how I feel at least. On the other hand, maybe I am biased to certain colors. There's not many rich, earthy tones in our house for example.

What do you think? Do you have a color or color combination that makes you happy? Is there a favorite, trusted color you always turn to?

Press and blog features

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 07:56:00 +0000

In the October issue of Divaani (one of my favorite Finnish decor magazines) Saija of Cosy home was interviewed. She mentioned Kootut murut as one of her favorite blogs. Thank you Saija! It's an honor to be in such great company. And if you don't already know Saija's blog, it's definitely worth checking. She is an artist living in Helsinki and she has a beautiful home.

Last week Victoria of sfgirlbybay decided to visit and see what we've been up to. She did an update post of our renovation. You can see the original unexpected guest visit here.

And finally, last Sunday Vineeta of Artnlight did a home tour of... well, our home. Go check out her blog if you haven't yet. Artnlight is so full of rich colors that our home is pale in comparison. It's a amazing trip far from home (India!) for someone like me, living in northern Scandinavia.

Thank you to all you lovely ladies, it's an honor!

Everybody was kung fu fighting Disco dancing

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:27:00 +0000

Yo-hoo, we had a moment of sun. It was brief and there still wasn't much light. We are in the middle of kaamos. You know, in the summer we get midnight sun when the sun doesn't set at all. But of course, to balance it, we have to have a time when the sun barely shows her face.

I got the disco ball from Panu as an anniversary present. Now it's hanging in the home office. There's a motor that spins it and colorful, blinking LED lights if you plug it in. Now we can have our own disco in the home office.

Ramsign giveaway: And the winner is...

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 07:47:00 +0000

Thank you all for playing along in the Ramsign giveaway. I didn't know so many of you needed house signs!

And we have a winner. The winner is Roosa who commented:
'Voi, olisipa ihana uuden talon nurkalla!'

Roosa, please email me with your contact info and what kind of sign you would like.

Monday illustrations

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:09:00 +0000

I would love to show you progress around the house, but it has been so dark it's almost impossible to photograph. Well yesterday we saw little glimmer of sun, but those couple of sunlight hours were spent celebrating Father's day. Instead, I've been drawing quite a lot. Here are some most recent illustrations.

Let's hope we get a little bit of sun light this week. I miss taking photographs already!

You still have today to enter the Ramsign giveaway. I will announce the winner tomorrow.

In my dreams: Bathroom storage

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 07:29:00 +0000

via Design*Sponge

Thank you all for your sweet comments on the last post, they mean the world to me! We'll have to wait until next week to know more what is going on with Muru, but I'm feeling a bit more optimistic today.

Then back some more regular blog stuff. I haven't showed you many photos of our bathroom, but it's tiny. There used to be a sauna in the same space with the shower. The kind of spa thingy we wanted, with sauna, a separate shower, clawfoot bathtub (ok, that was MY dream) and a dressing room would have been way over our budget. So we settled with separating the sauna from the shower with a smoke gray glass wall. Now there is enough space for both of them.

via Cosas

The only problem is, I find it difficult to find nice (and small) storage for the soaps and shampoos and stuff. They are still on the floor, which is not nice at all. So I've been bookmarking some beautiful bathroom storage solutions for inspiration and thought I'd share them with you too.

via Real Simple

via Design*Sponge

This cupboard would be too big for the bathroom, but I'd love to have something like this in the downstairs WC. It would fit perfectly under the sink. We actually found something similar at an antique fair, but it was from the late 19th century. We couldn't bring ourselves to butcher something so old and well-preserved. Maybe if we found something a bit newer, or Panu could build it himself.

Do you have any good storage tips for small bathrooms?

The Ramsign giveaway is open until next Monday.

Worrying for my baby

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 11:49:00 +0000

I'm so worried for my little baby Muru. One of her tooth has fallen out and several have broken in half, all of a sudden. We went to see the vet today and they will run some tests next week. She will also have surgery to remove two of the worst broken teeth. Until then, bones are totally forbidden for her. And she LOVES bones. I've never seen any dog chew them so efficiently. Must be some German efficiency in her blood.

Fingers crossed that she will be better.

Pertti the animation

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 10:21:00 +0000

This animated short film was my thesis work when I graduated, but I had since then almost forgotten about it. I watched it for the first time in ages when I put it up on my work portfolio. It made me realize how much I miss making animations. Especially that kind of traditional, frame-by-frame hand drawn. It took countless hours to complete but we had so much fun. One of my favorite parts was recording the sounds. The role of Pertti, the little boy, was played by my friend's 7-year old son.

The animation is in Finnish, but there's English subtitles. And anyway there's not so much talk. But I'm warning you, it's not for the faint-hearted! :)

Another thing, there's still time to enter the giveaway.

More Gifted Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 08:05:00 +0000

I'm sorry if I'm already boring you. I'm just so excited about the Gifted Magazine, that I can't help but talk about it some more. But this is the last of it, promise! It was such a new experience for me. I mean, when Ez of Creature Comforts asked if i would like to contribute to the magazine, at first I panicked a little. Like what can I come up with?? You know, I share stuff that we do around the house, and maybe somebody reading my blog likes it. But to come up with something that such big audiences like Creature Comforts readers (and more) would enjoy... yaiks! But after the initial shock, of course I had to say yes.

It was kind of exotic experience to plan the projects. Normally when I make holiday decorations, it's cold and snowy outside. But now it was early August. And mind you, we had an exceptionally hot summer. It felt quite surreal thinking about snowflakes and holiday stuff when outside it was +30 degrees (90 F degrees). I was even worried that the summery feel would show in the final pictures.

But now that it's all done and out there, I feel so happy and honored to be a part of it. I think Ez has a magic touch. Somehow everything she touches turns... well if not into gold, then into something very very pretty. So thank you again Ez, and of course all the other contributors for making it such an amazing magazine!

Ramsign giveaway: Beautiful enamel signs

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 09:10:00 +0000

Ramsign is a small Danish company specializing in manufacturing and selling classic enamel signs (house signs and house numbers) based upon original designs and techniques. And you know what, they have offered to donate one of their lovely signs for a giveaway! The winner can decide on the design of the sign and whether they want a name sign or a house number. Ramsign will then manufacture the sign according to wishes, so it will be perfectly suited for the winner. Pretty great, huh?

The Finnish webpage can be found here: emalikyltit.com.

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post.

For a bonus entry, blog or tweet about the giveaway with a link back to this blog post. Please leave a second comment if you do.

The giveaway is open for everyone, and it will end November 15th.
Good luck!

My new website!

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 12:01:00 +0000

In addition to the Gifted Magazine contribution - hope you liked it! - this is another project that has kept me busy. I designed my new website. Since I am a freelancer I guess it's quite important to have an online portfolio of your work. And my old website was badly outdated.

I'm especially proud of the jQuery slideshow I managed to do all by myself (well almost, Panu helped me a little :)) There must be a little nerd living inside of me, because I was so happy when I got the code working. I also decided to use webfonts instead of making all the menus into pictures. I realize this might mean some of you won't see the pretty font (Affair) I intended. But it's a development I definitely want to support, as it makes web design much better looking and websites better functioning.

I would love to hear your opinions about the new site. It would be great to know what you think, also if there's something that DOESN'T work. I can already tell the few of you who are, according to Google Analytics, still using IE6 that the site doesn't support it. Microsoft doesn't support IE6 anymore, so I decided I don't need to either. So if you are using IE6, please hurry and update your browser! :)

Click here for the new site.

Gifted Magazine out now

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 06:41:00 +0000

The first issue of Gifted Magazine is out now. I tell you, it's stunning. It's full of Holiday inspiration and ideas, DIY projects and a wonderful gift guide. I feel so honored to be a part of it.
Thank you Ez and all the amazing contributors!

Here's a sneak peek to one of the projects I was cooking up. You can see more in the magazine. That's also our new headboard, I've been dying to show you! It's a vintage door found at anno.fi (for those who speak Finnish or Swedish).

Beautiful packaging: Claus Porto soaps

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 06:17:00 +0000

I just totally fell for the stunning packaging of these Claus Porto bath soaps when I saw them at Stockmann. We don't have a bath tub, and anyway my skin is so sensitive I avoid using scented products. But I couldn't resist these soaps. So instead of using them for washing, I'm going to keep them in the wardrobe for beautiful fragrance. I used to have incense sticks for that, but these are much prettier.

Mr. Eames in holiday mood

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 19:04:00 +0000

After seeing first snow mr. Eames was feeling festive and demanded that I hang some appropriate decorations. So, what is a woman to do? I think it's a bit early, but on the other hand, I want to keep everyone in our household happy. Therefore mr. Eames is now holding a kusudama ball and a paper globe (click links for instructions), both of which I crafted ages ago.

He asked for some lights too, for he feels they accentuate his beautiful profile. I got the felted lights (originally by Hélène Magnússon on Etsy) from the Vanity. She looks a bit naked now. I think mr. Eames might have started a chain reaction.

Soy Este wallpapers

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 07:22:00 +0000

If you have been reading my blog for a very very long time, you might remember that I dreamt of decorating our downstairs wc (or bathroom, or half bath as I've learned from some tv shows :)) with Rainbow Poop wall decals. Unfortunately Rainbow Poop got discontinued and they don't sell it anymore. It's a shame, I could totally see the back wall covered with it.

But now I've found a pretty good match to it. Soy Este produces these extraordinary wallpapers inspired by every day objects. I love it. It's such a great idea. Here are just a few, there's much more on their website.

But it's quite difficult to choose a favorite. The lime green chewing gum speaks to me, of course because of its color. But the white toilet paper would be quite appropriate to hang on the wall behind the toilet, don't you think?

Which one do you like best??

Livingroom paints and colors

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 07:51:00 +0000

I've been asked many times about the color codes for the livingroom paints so I thought I'd share them here too. The wall color I originally fell for was from this chip. But because we painted with Uula Into, we color matched it with Tikkurila Symphony color chart to get it as close as possible. The code is H388.

The chest of drawers is painted with left-over paint from the office. It is also Uula Into, but semi-matt (walls are matt). The color code is V370 from Tikkurila Symphony chart.

The floors were painted with Permo. The creamy white is Tikkurila 4737. I think choosing whites is the most difficult thing, but I'm very happy with the floors. Thank you Annika for the tip!

Vitamin pill: Stellan Herner photography for Elle Interiör

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 06:27:00 +0000

I saw a most wonderful home in the September issue of Elle Interiör, photographed by Stellan Herner. It's so bright and colorful, the couple living there must smile every time they come home. (And it's probably not hard to guess they are both graphic designers.) Look at all the details, it's so creative.

I love the mix of old and new, it all blends so fluently together. One of my favorite features is the outdoors lamp in the livingroom. It used to belong to a tivoli (fun fair in English).

This is probably the coolest art wall I have seen. I love the black backgroung giving it form and structure. The frames and items are just similar enough - and different enough - to make it interesting while still keeping it together. Perfection...

If you want to see more photo gorgeousness, I recommend you go see Stellan Herner's portfolio over at Skarp Agency. It's full of stunning interiors, some of which you might already have seen on blogs.

(Images: Stellan Herner)

Nerdy or nice?

noreply@blogger.com (Jutta) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:23:00 +0000

I'm still undecided whether my new glasses look nerdy or nice.

This photo reminds me that we still haven't made a windowsill in the office. It's been on the to-do list for a year now!