Get their look: Scandi multi-patterned kitchen diner

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Jos lives in Västerås in central Sweden. Her 1950s home is a celebration of colour and pattern and her patterned kitchen diner is eye-catching and welcoming.

The clash of Marimekko patterned walls and black & white window roller blind and chequerboard floor is just so right!

She has a marvellous collection of pottery, glass and tins – I’m often jealous of people in Scandinavia who can easily pick up all those lovely vintage cups & saucers, plates, drinking glasses and enamelware.

Have a browse of her squares (and swipe through the squares above) to see the before & after shots of her home.

Get their look

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Man knife block

Russell Hobbs TR9150RDR retro style 2-slice toaster, red

Red JH Fabrikerna bread bin

Erik Kold plastic food storage container

Al & Lena Eklund storage tin for Lorids Lonborg

IKEA Trådig wire fruit basket, by Ehlén Johansson

Marimekko Unikko wallpaper

White String Pocket shelves

Man knife block

Russell Hobbs TR9150RDR retro style 2-slice toaster, red

Red JH Fabrikerna bread bin

Erik Kold plastic food storage container

Al & Lena Eklund storage tin for Lorids Lonborg

IKEA Trådig wire fruit basket, by Ehlén Johansson

Marimekko Unikko wallpaper

White String Pocket shelves

Designer Desire: Vuokko Nurmesniemi

This is a Designer Desire post for all you vintage fashion fans! Vuokko Nurmesniemi (born 1930) was one of the two main pattern designers at Marimekko during the 1950s. Her striped Jokapoika (top image) was one of the company’s best sellers.

I just love her big, bold op art designs, many of which are in the New York Met’s permanent collection. Those tent coats and dresses are to die for!

I couldn’t find much of it available online. However, a few sellers on Etsy stock vintage Nurmesniemi-designed Marimekko and her own brand Vuokko Oy pieces.

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Additional image credits:

Marimekko | Pinterest

Designer Desire: Ristomatti Ratia

Last week, we blogged about a couple of vintage Palaset storage boxes we put into our shop. Today, we’re featuring their designer, Ristomatti Ratia.

By all accounts, he has so far led a very colourful life. He’s been married numerous times, had a challenging relationship with his mother and had even appeared on the Finnish version of Dancing with the Stars.

He has, however, found the time to design all manner of products in his 50-year career. From clothing, spectacles, jewellery, glassware, cutlery and bedding to a free-standing fire and even a boat-shaped coffin and urn for ashes!

He’s best known for a couple of his early designs; firstly, his 301 shoulder bag (shown above in green) for his parents’ company, Marimekko. The other is the aforementioned, award-winning Palaset modular storage system – the LP units are especially sought after by vintage vinyl junkies. I discovered today that the ever forward-thinking Sir Terence Conran stocked Palaset in his Habitat shops in the 1970s. The image of the beanbag-seated lady is taken from a vintage Habitat catalogue.

His contemporary designs are readily available from the Finnish Design Shop and the Ratia Shop. His vintage designs pop up from time to time on 1st Dibs, eBay and Etsy.

Ristomatti Ratia has, as one might expect, a beautifully furnished home. You can take a house tour here.

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Additional image credits:

70 Luvulta | Flickr | Mundadaa | Why not 2nd Cycle

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Palaset Treston storage boxes

We picked up these fabulous red & white office drawers last week. They’re from the Palaset range designed by Ristomatti Ratia for Treston of Finland in the early 1970s.

They come in individual units which slot on top of one another allowing you to customize your own larger system as required. They’re also available in brown, yellow and green colourways. For vinyl junkies out there, the open cubes are the perfect size to accommodate LPs. The modular range was very popular at the time, selling worldwide, but it’s increasingly hard to find these days. We think that there was a later re-launch, but the manufacturer used an inferior plastic and production didn’t last very long.

Look out for the early examples. They have real solid weight to them – people often think they’re made of wood when first handled.

In addition to designing office products, Ristomatti Ratia worked on a variety of homewares – fashion accessories too – including spectacles and a best selling shoulder bag. Incidentally, he’s the son of Armi Ratia, née Airaksinen, the founder of Marimekko.

We’ve put the drawers into shop space number 2. The look of this space changes quite often, but it tends to mix mid century modern design with much older country antiques. It’s certainly quite eclectic at the moment!

These two stacking units are priced at £195 (ish!) for the pair – ‘collection only’ for these. Drop us a line if you’re interested and would like us to reserve them for you… or, if there’s anything else in the pictures that takes your fancy, we can advise on prices, shipping options if applicable etc.