Adding cosiness to a room with fairy lights

I recently wrote a blogpost about my new white metal daybed that I assembled and styled to fit my arty room in the house. This room is decorated with a lovely olive green hue, along with some dusky purple details, so the throw and the cushions on the bed obviously had to match these hues.

My latest addition to this room is a lovely set of fairy lights from Cable & Cotton. I realised when I got the bed that I needed some atmospheric lights in the room if I was going to have guests around – the ceiling lamp is just too bright – and Cable & Cotton came to the rescue.

The fairly lights are made of little handmade balls of thread, which you can custom order in the colours you want, so I opted for dusky colours of green, pink, grey and lilac that would match the rest of the room. You simply pop the balls on the light bulbs yourself, and can therefore decide exactly how you want your lights to look. If you’re not happy with your original combination you can just take the balls off and move them around until you’ve got the result you want.

I’ve also hung a couple of white wooden mini shelves on the wall this weekend. I’ve had them for ages but couldn’t decide where I wanted them, but once the lights were up I found a great spot for them. There’s not much you can keep on these small shelves, but they’re only really there to look pretty. I got the idea of placing some colourful books on them though, which I think looks quite cute.

Again, matching everything to each other. Lamps, books, cushions... (this cushion is from Primark's home section) 

...and my Swedish panel curtains as well, of course! These were a birthday present from my sisters a couple of years ago, and I absolutely love them. I also find it hilarious that my English friends don't see the point with them since you can't cover the window with them. But us Swedes are all about letting in as much light as possible in our homes!

This is what my Cable & Cotton lights look like when they're lit - very cosy, and I think any guests staying in this room moving forward will be very happy with the whole room in general. 

For the Love of Food - street food festival

 On the last weekend of September, the food festival 'For the Love of Food' came to Leeds. It was all set up on Millenium Square in the heart of the city, and it sure was a different experience.

 With street food from all over the world including Scandinavia, Asia, the Caribbean and more, there was something to suit everyone's taste. There was even speciality food that doesn't belong to a certain part of the world, but that would work anywhere - the one I'm thinking of in particular was a stall that served smoothies out of donated fruit and vegetables that were going out of date, that would otherwise just have been thrown away and become landfill.

The different street food companies are all part of a competition, and they tour England to gain votes to win an award for Best Street Food. You can read more about it on For the Love of Food's website. 

I was really amazed by all the different stalls, with the unique decorations and quirky and unusual menus. All companies had something really unique with their food - either ingredients wise, or the way they were cooking it.

How about this funky street style caravan from Fresh Rootz for example? Doesn't it look unique, if anything?!

Myself and my other half, whom I visited this food festival with, tried a few different dishes - one being this slow cooked venison in a flatbread from The Moocher. Their unique thing is that they cook their food on an original Sankey Army Field Kitchen. It looks delicious, and it was - except for the insanely hot scotch bonnet sauce that almost made me cry!

Being from Sweden, I was extremely curious of what they would serve in the Nordic Street Food stall, and I hurried over straight away...

I almost screamed with joy when I read the menu and saw that they served chanterelles - a sort of mushroom that is classed as a delicacy, and that only grow up north. Me and my parents used to go out in the forest and pick these mushrooms every autumn, but unfortunately they don't grow in England. If you're lucky you might find them in Scotland, but nowhere near the same amounts as in Sweden. 

The wrap looked and tasted absolutely delicious. Very fresh flavours, with sour cabbage and soured cream as well as the chanterelles. I was in heaven!

This is what chanterelles look like when they're fresh - bright orange-yellow, and they smell amazing. I was so close to grab the whole basket and just run off with it ;)

We walked around the food festival for a couple of hours, and it was so lovely just taking in the atmosphere; the Caribbean music that blasted out from one of the stalls and filled the whole square with its rhythm, the fantastic smells from all the food being cooked, and the general noise from happy people munching on food.

I'm loving how it's so trendy to be environmentally friendly nowadays. This is what the people behind The Cauldron says about their company;

-“All our power is supplied from the solar panels on the roof of the van. And all our packaging is 100% compostable. Our mission is to prove that fast food CAN be delicious and ethical and give the towns and beaches in our corner of the world a taste of something different from the usual fish ‘n’ chips and frozen burgers.”

We tried the pulled pork wrap from The Cauldron, and it disappeared so quickly that I didn't even get a chance to take a photo of it. I guess that's the best feedback they can get ;)

We were very happy with our little day out in Leeds at For the Love of Food festival. It was a lovely day, and something different to do. If this festival comes to your city it's definitely worth visiting! Even if you're not hungry it's worth it just for the atmosphere.

The only thing we thought could have been different is that we would have liked to see an option of half sized portions, so that you could have gone around and tried more food without getting too full. Something to think about for next year, perhaps?

A visit to Kosta Boda Art Hotel in Sweden

This summer I was lucky enough to visit beautiful Sweden, and I spent some time in the county of glass - a part in southern Sweden known for its glassworks and glass art. 

I ventured into the deep forests of Småland and had an overnight stay at the amazing Kosta Boda Art Hotel in the heart of the county of glass. The hotel, which was built in 2009, is a spa hotel as well as an art hotel, and all guests have access to the indoor and outdoor spas.

When entering the hotel you're met by various beautiful pieces of art in the reception, and everything you see is available to buy. Although, if your wallet can't handle the giant exhibition pieces there is a smaller glass shop for decorative and collectable pieces, as well as an impressive outlet shop just across the street.

Kosta Boda Art Hotel is also famous for its stunning glass bar, which has an underwater feeling to it. The photos don't really do it justice, but you have to visit it to experience its true atmosphere. The well-respected Swedish artist Kjell Engman has contributed to the design of the bar, and several of the art installations around the hotel. Himself, along with six other Swedish artists, have also designed the actual hotel rooms in their own unique styles - no room looks the same as another one, which makes your stay even more exciting. 

You can read about the different artists here.

The room I stayed in was designed and decorated by Kjell Engman, and his style is inspied by the animal kingdom (especially the sea), as well as music. All of his rooms have a glass guitar hung up over the bed, and the vases and other smaller glass pieces in the rooms are all from his collection - and just as with the pieces in the reception these are all for sale.

I was also lucky enough to stay in a room overlooking the outdoor pool - gorgeous!

There's was an underwater theme in my bathroom, with the sink being the same shape as the swimming pool in the spa, decorated with colourful  little glass fish.

And talking about the spa - as I mentioned before there is an indoor as well as an outdoor spa at Kosta Boda Art Hotel. The outdoor spa has a hot tub which you can use all year around, as well as a large swimming pool, and the indoor spa has a sauna, a steam room, a relaxation area, a hot pool and a normal swimming pool. Although saying that it's a "normal" swimming pool doesn't do it justice - it was designed by Kjell Engman and actually has an underwater glass art exhibition in it. Now, I'm not going to tell you what it is, but you're just going to have to visit the hotel and see for yourself ;)

I really enjoyed my stay at this hotel and found all the different areas and exhibitions really interesting. The hotel may be located out in what feels like the middle of nowhere, but I promise you you'll keep occupied, and you will definitely not be bored.