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.

Building and styling up a day bed

 When I first opened up the boxes for my new day bed and saw the instructions for building it, I thought  'It's not exactly as detailed as IKEA!'. But I needn't have worried - it was pretty straight forward.

 The Sophie day bed is from the wide selection of furniture at Asda Direct, and has a white metal finish. It was delivered in 2 different boxes, with the accompanying mattress on the side. The mattress is optional, but since I didn't already have a mattress this size, I thought it was best to get one. 

 After having figured out which of the metal pieces went where, and what screws were meant for what part of the bed, I started putting the bed together. It probably took me about an hour since I was doing it myself, but if you are two doing it I can imagine it being a lot quicker.

One thing to think about when screwing in the screws is that you only do it  loosely to start with, and then when the whole bed is finally put together you go around and tighten all the screws as hard as you can.

 Almost there...!

 Aaaaand... voilá!

All it needs now is the mattress and some nice bedding.

 The day bed is basically just a single bed, but the whole point of a day bed is that you use it as a sofa during the day, so you'll need a lot of cushions that'll work as the back rest. I've gone for a colour theme that matches my room, and the main colours are lilac and olive green.

 I got the cushions and the bed spread from Asda Direct as well. This French post card cushion is my favourite, and works as a focal piece amongst the other more basic cushions.

 I am really happy that I finally got rid of that ugly sofa bed I had in this guest room before. Those of you who have followed my blog will know that I have ranted about replacing it for years now. And now the day is finally here!

Guess who was the first one to take a nap in my new Sophie day bed! Little bugger! ;) But I guess that means it's got a zeal of approval.

Most people think that they can only get furniture at places like IKEA or other speciality stores, but buying from Asda Direct works just as well. Plus, they tend to be a lot cheaper than stores that focus solely on furniture.

Sofa bed vs. day bed

I've decided! I'm finally getting rid of the ugly sofa bed in our guest room. It's not even a proper sofa bed, but just one of those ugly grey metal frames with a folded futon on it. Uuurgh...

I'm thinking of either replacing it with a proper sofa bed - proper meaning one that actually looks like a normal sofa when it's not used for sleeping in - or a day bed.

 I've been looking around online for some inspiration, and found quite a few that i like. Now the question is, sofa bed or day bed?

The two lifestyle photos in the collage above are from Pinterest, the beige sofa bed is from Home Essentials through Catalogues247, and the lilac 2 seat sofa bed is from AHF.

This gorgeous white metal frame single day bed is from ASDA. It looks very girly in this picture, but with it being of such a simple design you can style it how you want. All you need is a throw and some stylish cushions.

Although the dream is to purchase this white wooden Hemnes day bed from IKEA. I've had my eye on this for ages as it's so clever - you can eiter use it as a sofa, a single bed, or you can pop up another bed from underneath so that it turns into a double bed. It's just a teeny bit expensive...

Wouldn't it be funny if I went for an olive green bed to match the focal wall of my guest room? ;)

Nah, maybe not... hehe.

Choosing the right mattress for you

A good night’s sleep is essential for your health, and the first thing you need to make sure of when it comes to sleeping is that you have a good mattress. Not just any good mattress though, but one that is perfect for your body.

The best way to check whether your bed is too soft, too hard, or just perfect is to lay on your back and slide your had under your lower back. If your hand slides under too easily it means that your back is arched, and the bed is therefore too hard. If you’re struggling to slide your hand under your back it means that you’re putting too much pressure on your back and the bed is too soft. So take your time when choosing a mattress for your bed, as you don’t want to end up with back problems and deprive yourself of a good night’s sleep.

If you are sharing your bed with a partner and you have very different body sizes it could be worth getting separate mattresses. A double bed frame can hold two single mattresses, and this way you both get your perfect mattress without having to compromise. By placing a mattress topper on the two different mattresses it will still feel like one big mattress and you can easily snuggle up together without one of you laying on the gap.

A mattress topper is also beneficial due to the fact that it can prolong the life of your mattress. 

Also, when it comes to sharing a bed with your partner, the term 'bigger is better' is actually accurate. We all need to be able to shuffle around in bed without getting disturbed, or disturbing the person sleeping next to you.

It’s great to be able to buy online, but make sure you know what you are after before you click the purchase button. Choosing a mattress is all about taking your time, trying it, and not compromising on neither price, quality nor comfort. Mattress Next Day is one of the many mattress experts out there, and they will be able to help you pick out the perfect mattress for you, whether that is a king size mattress, a single mattress, a memory foam mattress, or even a mattress topper.

If you know what type of mattress you’re after it’s easier to filter down the options, and you will find your perfect mattress quicker. Here’s a quick guide to the main differences in mattresses:

Sprung mattresses provide good ventilation and distributes your weight evenly, eliminating extra pressure on any one part of the body.

Pocket springs move independently of each other and give support that closely follows how your body moves.

Memory foam moulds itself to your body and provides firm support while also being soft and resilient.

Always look on the bright side of life

A couple of years ago I discovered the witty brand The Bright Side, and was immediately hooked! I found a makeup bag in a local store, and was giggling away to what was written on it; ‘Real life photoshop for my face’. It couldn’t get more honest than that!

And that’s what The Bright Side is all about – blunt and hilarious comments written is a scrappy style, that makes people laugh. 

Even though it was a makeup bag I bought at this time, The Bright Side mainly focuses on homeware, such as biscuit tins, mugs and baking items, but also note pads, signs, etc. You can see the majority of their range at Mollie & Fred – prepare to giggle!

I recently invested in a cake stand and some cake plates from this brand as I thought they looked really cute, and at the same time were hilarious

I mean – just read what it says on these plates!

‘The voices say I must eat cake”, and “Goodbye waistline, hello cake!”

As I said before – very honest and witty comments, that reflects what people really are thinking in this situation.

The other 2 plates in the set of 4 say;

‘How bad can it be when there’s cake’, and ‘Me & cake are in love’.

And I’ve saved the best one for last – the main item in this set, which is the cake stand, says the absolutely brilliant comment of;

‘Put the cake on the plate & nobody gets hurt’

The white fabric napkins with a lace edge and an embroidered ‘M’ on each of them, as well as the shabby chic style heart shaped napkin rings in white, were a gift from my grandma.