Nordic Living 17-03: Spring Greens

NORDIC g in Liv ISSUE NO.3 | APRIL 2017

Welcome spring!

Spring has finally arrived, and as the light and higher temperatures are coming back so is our energy. In this issue, we endulge in the first signs of spring with lots of flowers, greens and pastels.

The spring is also a season full of parties. Weddings, graduations and other occassions line up, and we’ve put together a gift guide to help you find the perfect and personal gift.

As always, we want to bring you the stories behind the products. As we’re all about flowers in this issue, we went to Stockholm to meet with photographer Maria Bäckström who runs the brand Details by M, wellknown for beautiful photos of different flowers.

Thank you for reading, following and supporting us! We wish you happy reading, and a joyful spring.

Maria Richardsson Founder and CEO of Nordic Design Collective Ps. As always, we love to hear your what you think about our work! Tell us through social media or send us an e-mail. We want to hear it all - the good, the bad and the ugly.

CONTENT Spring Flowers

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Presenting: Wintherland Trend: Spring Gifts

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Meet the designer: Details by M 12 Trend: Nordic Silver

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Presenting: Home of Eve Wall Flowers Spring Fika

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Nordic Living is a magazine created by Nordic Design Collective, all rights reserved. www.nordicdesigncollective.com | info@nordicdesigncollective.com

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SPRING FLOWERS Styling and photo: Maria Richardsson and Elin Karlsson

Spring is here! Bring that lovely feeling indoors with the first flowers of spring and a few budding twigs. Get the best effect by bringing them all together in a collection of vases and glasses.

Mini Copper Vases by Jenny KĂĽberg Metalldesign, Parad Candelight Holder & Vase by Wis Collection in black and white. Glasses, carafe and glass bottles are second hand finds.

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Find all featured products in our online store.

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Presenting

WINTHERLAND Sometimes the most unexpected leads to success.

Like the work from Wintherland. Her background is in economics, marketing and criminology, with no professional training in design. The result however, is just beautiful.

Tell us about your background!

I have no professional background in the design and art industries and no education in the field either. I actually have a Master in Business and Economics and a lot of criminology courses under my belt! When I finished my education I knew that I wanted to work more creatively and I had already started my own company, creating interior decor items on my free time. Even though I don’t work in the field of my education I still use the knowledge I gained over the years in my everyday business, such as accounting and marketing, which is really useful.

What’s the story behind your brand?

The name of my business WintherLand, comes from my last name Winther. ”Vinterland” in Swedish or ”winter wonderland” in English is supposed to express the creative world of Winther, in other words, me! Today I feel that the visual art field is where I belong and hopefully my brand will evolve with it for years to come.

What inspires you to create?

As inspiration I almost always use nature.

I spend a lot of time outdoors, in the woods and forests near where I live in Stockholm.

I bring a lot of stuff with me home that I find on my hikes, such as leaves, pine cones, nuts and pretty much everything I can carry. I often use what I find, creating directly with it or inspired from it, with different techniques and with different art mediums. Besides from my immense nature inspiration I also create a lot of abstract art. What I love with the abstract art is that I never know how it will turn out and what the finished print will look like, which is always super exciting! These two ways of creating gives me a creative balance that I really enjoy.

What made you decide to start your own company, and what do you like most about it?

For me, it was and is very important to create and to express myself creatively so I knew I wanted to build my own business, to be able to do it every day and to be able to support myself doing something that is meaningful and satisfying.

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Trend

SPRING GIFTS Love is in the air! Spring feelings and pure happiness. What a better way to expand that feeling, than to give gifts to those you love? Perhaps you’re going to a spring wedding or to a birthday party? Or why not just give someone something special because you love them. Spring is wonderful - just like you!

From top left: Virrvarr Necklace by Sägen, Hammered Bracelet by Maro Design, Glasilium by Scandinavianform, Gammelgädda Cushion Cover from Matilda Svensson, Birgitta Towel by Egna, Alva Candle Holder by Saga Melina, Hedvig and Hugo Pots by Camilla Engdahl. Right: Silver Rings and Silver Bracelets by Maro Design, Madde Leather Bracelet by Svenskt Läder by Anna.

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Meet the designer DETAILS BY M

“THE BUSINESS PART IS JUST AS IMPORTANT TO ME AS THE DESIGN ITSELF” Maria Bäckström, the photographer behind brand Details by M, is business-minded, creative and competitive, always striving towards perfection and new goals. Her beautiful floral photos is the essence of the Nordic spirit and a perfect way to bring nature to ones home.

Text and photo: Maria Richardsson

She grew up in Sandviken, in the middle of Sweden, and her love for animals has always been an important part of her life. “As a kid, I always had a lot of pets and loved spending time with horses. Now, I have my dog Kompis, and he is such an important part of my life” she tells us, while showing us the tricks he can do.

Her path to running a design business has not been a straight one.

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“I took an IT course and worked for a consultant company for a while, and then studied economics to become a real estate agent. It turned out that was not really my thing, but the classes in economics and marketing has been really useful” she says.

Growing up, her father had his own business and she was very sure that she would never have her own company. “No, that was just about the only thing I was sure of.

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I would never start my own business! But here I am, with my own part-time design business. And since my father passed away a few months ago, I’m also taking on the role as CEO of his company. It is a very different business, in metal engineering with 14 employees. It is a big change for me but I love challenges and has already learned so much”.

Her creative career came about much at a chance a few years ago. “I had just bought a camera and fell in love with a photography. To give myself a proper goal and a deadline, I decided to have my own exhibition and invited my friends to the opening two months later. So I just had to create a collection of photos to show them” she says smiling. It turned out to be a good strategy, as she now has her own business based on it. The collection consists of about 60 different motifs, and

Maria often saves the items she finds and use to create her posters. These can be seen on the motifs Crystal white, Skir and Lightness.

she is adding new ones continuously. The posters are being sold all over the world, and one of her biggest retailers is located in South Korea. “I think everyone just love to bring nature into their homes, it brings harmony and balance”.

A lot of the plants and items for her collections are usually found when she is out walking her dog Kompis. “If I bring my camera, the walk will take forever. I stop all the time, finding new motifs and things to photograph. My friends have stopped joining me for those walks” she says laughing. Usually she brings the things she find to her home instead, where she sets up the studio to create the atmosphere she likes in her photos. “I can spend hours doing this, keep adjusting small details to get the perfect shot. I’m afraid I am a bit of a perfectionist”.

At the moment, all focus is on her photos but she also has ideas for other kind of products. “I like to keep my home clean and in harmony, and I want to create more products to support that. But it is not at easy as one could think, I recently took a course in product development and it really opened my eyes to the complexity in choosing the kind of materials to work with, the design process, packaging and everything else that you need to master.

But I’ll get there, somehow, maybe in collaboration with someone - time will tell”.

As we leave Marias home and studio in Stockholm, it is very clear that the business part is as important to her as the creative part. That makes me convinced that we have a very exciting journey to follow!

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NORDIC SILVER Update your jewellery collection for the new season. Silver has a clean and fresh feel to it and these are a few of our favourites for this spring.

From top left: Ekollon Earrings by Zete Lundin, Berså Triple Bracelet by Sägen, Circle Earrings by Sparv Accessories, Linda Bracelet by Svenskt Läder by Anna, Maria Earring by Opium, He Cube Earring by Home of Eve, Origin Ring by Pargo, Birch Ring & Cloudberry Ring by Camilla Mustikka.

Left: Klara Bracelet by Svenskt Läder by Anna, Silver Rings by Maro Design & Hammered Bracelet from Maro Design.

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HOME OF EVE The story behind Home of Eve is one of the most exciting and inspiring ones. Born in Stockholm, with a Lebanese heritage and now living in Dubai, Magdalena Chamoun is the perfect example of being born global and what happens when you mix Scandi design with middle eastern culture.

Tell us about your background!

I’m Swedish born from Lebanese heritage.

I grew up loving arts and crafts. I specially loved carpentry and drawing. So after high school, collage and some boring jobs I decided to pursue jewellery making and gemstone engineering at Luleå University of Technology. I studied for 2 years and acquired an international gemology certificate. After that I worked as a pupil for a local jeweler outside of Stockholm before moving to Dubai. Here I studied jewellery designing for two years. I also studied wax carving and computer aided design in London’s jewellery district, Hatton Garden.

What’s the story behind your brand?

“Eve, the first woman, the source of life and the mother of all mothers. This is our driving spirit in creating and designing artistic jewellery. We are inspired by the greatness and beauty that is represented by all the women of the world. We strive to represent them all here in our home, the Home of Eve.” We love to create dream jewellery. We see jewellery as an artform. We also love the process of designing and creating

jewellery therefor our vision “to create an extraordinary design experience where the client walks away with their very own dream piece”.

What made you decide to start your own company, and what do you like most about it?

To me it was unavoidable. But I needed a big push. My husband has pushed me from the start to go out on my own. I’ve also been very fortunate to meet great mentors and teachers who made me dare to bring so much of myself to my company and make it into a brand. I love the creative freedom I have. I love that I get to bring so much of my Middle Eastern background into it but also show my very Scandinavian style of designing. The cross over between east and west is my greatest strength.

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Trend

WALL FLOWERS Having green thumbs? You can still get more greens and flowers in your home, just add them to your wall! These flower posters add a spring feeling to any room - and no spring is complete without the sighting of the first butterflies and birds, right!?

From top left: Flower Poster 5 by Toril BĂŚkmark, Ancient Blossom No.2

by Details by M, Swan Orchid by Sanna Wieslander, Somnia Papilio by Magdalena Tyboni, Greeness by Details by M and Flower Poster 3 by Toril BĂŚkmark

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From top left: Blush by Details by M, Waxving by Lisa Hult Sandgren, Harvest Party by Adelina Lirius, Lady’s Mantle & Tulips by Anna Handell, Magnolia by LO Art Design, Oblivion by Sofie Rolfsdotter, Wallmo by Magdalena Tyboni and Grace by Details by M.

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SPRING FIKA Styling and photo: Maria Richardsson and Elin Karlsson

There is always time to take a moment for a “fika”.

By adding details in spring green and yellow every cup of tea can get you in a happy spring mood.

Mångfald Cushion Cover and Traces Mimosa Yellow Linnen Throw by Butler/Lindgård, Mini Copper Vases by Jenny Kåberg Metalldesign, Rio Green Tray by By Malevik, Green Plate and Tea Mug by E.Leijon.

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