Gunillaberg part 2

Have you put Gunillaberg on your bucket list yet? Well, prepared to do so after this post. If you love some beautiful interiors, you're in for a treat. 

If you're just joining Lars now, I posted part one about our roadtrip to Gunillaberg, Sweden, summer palace of floral artist Tage Andersen (my creative hero). I showed the lovely grounds and animals in part one and today I'm showing the interior of the palace itself, which Mr. Andersen designed from the furniture to the flooring. It acts as both a house and a gallery. He exhibits artwork by a few different artists.

This chair in the office is my favorite.

And let's talk about flooring. Because the painted wooden floors rocked my world.

A sofa that he designed with triangle pillows, of course.

 A close-up of the window-paned linen bedding. How gorgeously simple is it?

Beautiful stone bathtub.

And a selfie in the three-way mirror.

ROOTS ALERT! Or as we call it nowadays, ombre.

Guys, there's more! As you daydream about this place this weekend, be excited for the next installment, which I'll show more of the architecture of the grounds.

Happy weekend! 

This girl

This girl flourishes in earthy rustic with a dash of brilliant red.

This girl  |  reclines  |  works

See more This Girl here

Making the Movies: Beauty & the Beast

I've been wanting to do a column of DIYs from memorable elements from the movies forever now and today is finally the day! I have a hard time sitting during films so keeping an eye out for specific DIYs while I watch is the perfect distraction. First up, your and my favorite movie from our childhood, Beauty and the Beast. I used to imagine that I was Belle. And Lumiere was my buddy. You? I chose to recreate the enchanted rose that once wilted, meant that the Beast would remain a beast unless he found true love. The rose was kept in a beautiful cloche and since I finally found the perfect cloche at the Beehive Bazaar last weekend (from this vintage shop), we could finally get cracking. I didn't want to make the DIY version TOO in your face cheese ball so I toned it down by changing the red rose to a yellow one.

Materials: crepe paper (I used a two toned color from here), scissors, fine tipped glue gun (they are the best), floral wire 8", green crepe paper, template (download here), cloche (vintage are my favorite but here's an Amazon pick), fishing wire

Step 1: Cut out 13 pieces of the template onto your color choice of crepe paper. Make sure the grain of the paper goes horizontal to the petal.
Step 2: With your thumb, gently shape the petal. 8 of them will be shaped vertically. 5 will be shaped horizontally. I use a pencil to shape the horizontally shaped pieces.
Step 3: For the center of the petal, glue one side of the horizontally shaped petals and curl it around to the other.
Step 4: Glue on the back side of the next horizontally shaped petal on either side points of the petal.
Step 5: "Hug" the two sides around the center petal. (center right picture above)
Step 6: Repeat to the other side of the center petal. (bottom left picture above)
Step 7: Repeat the process and glue the next 2 petals so they are equally spaced around the center petal. (bottom center picture above)
Step 8: With the vertically shaped petals, dab some glue onto the bottom of the petal and attach it to the bottom of the now glued flowers.
Step 9: Glue four evenly around the flower.
Step 10: Intersperse the remaining petals around to fill in the gaps.
Step 11: Cut out a 12"x1" piece of crepe paper for the stem. Make sure the grain is going the short way of the paper. Pull it taut.
Step 12: Cut out leaves from green paper.
Step 13: Shape them with a pencil and cut jagged shapes into them so that they appear to be more lifelike.
Step 14: Glue the end piece of the stem crepe paper and begin rolling it around your wire.
Step 15: About an inch down, glue one leaf into the stem paper and immediately continue wrapping. Add on as many leaves are you'd like to the stem.
Step 16: At the end of the stem, glue the paper into the wire to secure.
Step 17: Glue the stem into the bottom center petal of the flower and hold.
Step 18: To make the rose float in the cloche, glue a small piece of fishing wire into the top of the rose and hold.
Step 19: Glue a tiny dab of glue into the top of the cloche and immediately attach the fishing wire of the rose in. If you want to reuse the cloche, the glue should easily be picked off.

Are there any specific projects you would like to see for next time? Feel free to enlighten me!

PS--Speaking of Beauty and the Beast, have you seen this? 

Gunillaberg, Sweden Part 1

When I found out that floral designer/sculpture/magic maker Tage Andersen had a summer palace in Sweden, I knew I had to go with my mom when she came to visit me in Denmark last summer (yes, I'm THAT behind on blog posts). It's about 4 hours from Copenhagen by car and it will blow your mind. You must go here before you die.

It's called Gunillaberg and it was owned by the first Swedish representative to America before America was America. Mr. Andersen bought it a few years ago and has turned it into a museum? wonderland? farm? gallery? All those magical things. This year there's a brand new orangerie even. I'm going to walk you through. You start by entering through two topiaries. Topiaries mean that you know it's gonna be good.

Then you pass some cows on both sides and I didn't get any good photos but there were then dozens of potbelly pigs. POTBELLY PIGS!

Then, you pass this beautiful barn

 before coming to this little hut draped in burlap and checkerboard. It's the sign-in, of course.

Mr. Andersen has created a number of topiary courtyards. This one is complete with whiskey barrel planters, which makes me feel really good because our rental right now has a few in front so I feel better about having them in our yard.

No Scandinavian locale is complete without chopped wood.

 or a bunch of roosters running around.

 More of those whiskey barrels.

And here I spotted Mr. Tage Andersen. I didn't have the guts to chat with him this time around for fear of turning into Superfan, which I had already established when I tracked him down in Copenhagen at his downtown studio.

 Swedish flag.

 And oh, the details! Nothing is basic. Stacked branches to hold the water barrels.

"I think it's T double E double R double R double I double F double I double C, C, C". What movie?

 And now, we get to the palace doors.

 Just a sculpture of a tree. NBD.

 Ok, that's all I'm going to leave you with for now. And the amazing part? It somehow gets better.

Selecting the right sofa

If you're just joining The House That Lars Built, I also write for The Interior Collective, an interior design site, where I give all sorts of advice. I'm going to start post more interior design advice here too including little summaries of the posts I do for Interior Collective. Today I wrote about sofa selection, which I think is super tough! I mean, finding the right balance of price, durability, style, and uniqueness is tough. The house we moved into here in our new place came with basic sofas, but I've been seeking out some beautiful sofas that will really make our house feel like a home. In my dreams I have this lovely gold, navy, and white number. How dreamy is that!

To read more about how to select the right sofa for your lifestyle, check out the post here.

Other recent posts on The Interior Collective include: how to design for your dog, how to mix styles effectively

The perfect summer sandal

I was talking to a friend while I was in NYC and she mentioned that she had found her perfect summer sandal. You know, the sandals you wear every day for the summer until they wear out. I hadn't realized that this is a "thing". I thought I was the only one who did this! Perhaps you do the same thing too? We're all friends here, right? Friends help friends find the perfect summer sandal, right? Here's what I'm looking for for this year, something plain and basic, leather, minimal (though I love the tassle ones on bottom left). Something to go with everything. Something that can withhold wear and tear. I went on a sandal window shopping spree this weekend and found some options, but I'm thinking that collectively we can provide a whole resource.

Ideas?!?!

Clockwise from top: blue sandals  |  gold sandals  |  black and tan  |  yellow/tan  |  black/cognac  |  cognac  |  tassles  |  strappy 

PS- I know saltwater sandals have been back for a bit, though I've missed the trend while I was in Denmark. I think they are adorable and I'd get them in red, though I think the designers should think about a different design for adults where they raise the back strap like the bottom center picture above. Then, I'd be more prone to buying them. Just a suggestion, guys.