An idyllic Finnish cottage with an outdoor summer kitchen

As January comes to a close and the short, snowy days continue,  I find myself dreaming of the summer sun more and more. And when it arrives - I'm going to be outdoors along with the rest of Scandinavia. That's why I thought I'd share the latest developments of one of my favourite summer cottages - an oh so idyllic family retreat on an island in the Finnish archipelego. The ongoing renovation project is driven by owner Minna Jones of Time of The Aquarius and her partner and has been well documented here on My Scandinavian Home (here and here plus her year round home here). To me, the residence epitomises the essence of the Scandinavian summer - life at a cabin with a beautiful, yet basic interior and maximised to ensure time outside enjoying the long awaited summer days. Last season the owners added an outdoor kitchen to the mix. And the good news? It's easily replicated.  Here are a few new snaps of Minna's home and her fab new outdoor kitchen.

Minna Jones, Time of the Aquarius

To get a similar outdoor kitchen: try painting an IKEA trestle table,  the water can with tap and lights are from Granit, buy a camping stove here. Finnish birch basket. Rattan furniture is set to be big this spring / summer - I'm a big fan of the uber comfy BYHOLMA chair.

Other items I know and love: Bertoia chairs, Butterfly chair and String shelves. IKEA PS 2012 chest of drawers and FÖRHÖJA kitchen trolley.

To get a full picture of the summer cottage and for more images of the plan, interior, grounds, surrounding nature and family life at the cottage you can wile away a few hours on Minna's dreamy blog.

I also absolutely love this Finnish log cabin with a sauna.

Summer in Finland anyone?!

And because it's still January (just): I loved how Scandinavisk summarises the 'Sense of Scandinavia' in Thursday's piece. And this beautiful video by Volvo featuring Amanda Begman's song 'Vintersaga' (winter tale) perfectly sums up the coldest season in Sweden- I was particularly excited to see it even features the beach by my house here in the South! Thank you AMM blog for the tip!

Have a lovely day!

PS Thank you so much to Ana of Blog Milk Shop for all your amazing technical help with my blog lately! Ana is not only my tech saviour but she also creates the most stunning blog templates available to buy here.  

Christmas touches in a Finnish home

When do you start putting up your Christmas decorations? I've already added a few touches to my home including white amaryllis and hyacinths (I love the scent) as well as a few lit candles at breakfast and as soon as it gets dark at 15.30 (yes, I know!). This lovely, warm Finnish home is a perfect example of late November / early December Christmas decorating. It's the Helsinki pad of Kaisa, her partner, and cat Mr Paw (who can be seen making himself at home on the sofa). Kaisa is a dab hand at DIY (as you can see on her blog No Home Without You) and loves Scandinavian interiors and crafts. This is reflected in the way she has decorated her space - I particularly love the fairylights display, plants and bunting. How about you?

No Home Without You with kind permission. 

I love how Kaisa has used a nordic base (white walls and light wood floors), and then added mid-century finds and touches of rustic wood for an extra cosy vibe. The bunting over the table reminds me of this wonderful Christmas space. DIY decorating idea for Thanksgiving or First advent perhaps?

Is there anything you love in particular about Kaisa's home?

Have a lovely day!

PS you can see examples of how I add amaryllis and hyacinths to my home work work place here.