It’s Friday friends – JAAAAA! To wrap up the week I’m leading us all over to the dark side (mwah ha ha) on a virtual journey to an incredible maisonette in Oslo. Formerly a stables, the two floor apartment is owned by Nina (blogger behind Note to Self), her boyfriend Jørgen, baby boy Gustav, and cutest pup Ipa. When Nina’s not sewing or working as a graphic designer, the pair are transforming the space (often on a minimum budget) into a dramatic family home full of contrast and delicious, warm, dark grey, chocolate and beige accents. Enjoy the tour!

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
The maisonette has an upside down layout with the entry, bathroom and bedroom on the ground floor and an open-plan kitchen, sitting room and dining area on the upper level. I thought we’d start with the cosiest zone of all – the sitting room!
The sitting room wall has been painted in NCS S 7002B which makes a wonderful contrast to the oak floors, plastered brick walls and a fluffy 70’s style shaggy rug (from Layered). And just how cosy does that velour Madison sofa look? The Blind No5 print is by Danish artist Kristina Krogh (available here).
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
It’s incredible what a difference vintage wood adds to a monochrome space. Pick up similar  Thonet-style bistro chairs here (gah! So beautiful!). Nina never quite got on with the original brickwork and so they decided to plaster over it.

“The plastering gave just the right, tactile texture the apartment needed. And the colour was perfect too, so there was no need to paint it.”

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
Where would a Scandinavian kitchen be without a natural linen tablecloth?! So pretty (and it looks better un-ironed too). It’s nearing lunchtime here and I’m sort of drooling over the cheese too!
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway

All hale the Bollo chair by Norwegian designer Andreas Engesvik (I’ve got my eye on the pink one). 

Since the pair are currently renovating a house elsewhere right now (their future home), they didn’t want to invest too much money on the apartment. Even so, they still managed to transform the kitchen from this…

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway

 To this…

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
…on a limited budget!
 To achieve the new look they plastered the walls and painted them in NCS S 7002B, spray painted the cabinets in NSC S 8002B, replaced the thick laminate counter top, kitchen taps, sink (all HTH), added Borghamn handles from IKEA and spray painted the switches, sockets and cables. 
Quite incredible, and so inspiring to know what you can do on a limited budget, don’t you think?!
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
When the pair moved in the stairs were a varnished yellow colour…
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
They painstakingly sanded them down before washing them with white pigmentation, and then painted the walls and doors the same colour as the sitting room. They also added the same oak floor. 
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
What an incredible transformation, don’t you think?! I’ve been wondering what to do with my stairs (which are also tinged with an old yellow varnish) and now I may have found the answer – I just need to brace myself for the work (and warn Per!)!
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
Nina saved a load on a designer clothes rail by creating one from a 12 mm copper pipe, which she bent into shape using a wrench, lightly sand papered and then sprayed matt black! So clever! More info on her blog here. 
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway

The dark tones are also carried through to the bedroom which give the room a wonderful cocoon like feel – and no doubt feels blissfully dark at night, even under the Norwegian midnight sun!

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
Another Scandinavian must – natural stonewashed linen bedding (it’s that ironing thing again! Source similar here) – the unbleached material looks particularly lovely against the dark grey walls!
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway

And this little chap feels right at home!

Thank you so much for inviting us into your beautiful home Nina, Jørgen, Gustav and Ipa! I for one, might be tempted into over to the dark side in my own home after all. Anyone else feeling inspired too?!

See more of Nina’s home renovations, creations and recipes over on her fabulous blog Note to Self as well as on her instagram feed.

I can’t resist leaving you with a few other links to enjoy over the weekend too:

f you’re looking for more home tours on the dark side try a cosy cocoon-like Swedish home (also featured here) and dramatic green and grey in a Swedish home – actually, do you know what? I’m just going to go ahead and give you the link to the entire ‘dark colours’ archive! Way easier!

And now for one of my favourites. Conversions. Don’t you love it when a home has history (like the stables in today’s post)?! See everything from converted garages, warehouses, schools, shops and even a bar here!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Niki

PS This weekend I’m writing a guide to Malmö in which I’m hoping to cover off a load of the things I missed in my previous Malmö guide (and some of the new places that have popped up too) I’m so looking forward to my staycation! Look out for the guide soon.

All photography  © Nina / Note to Self

©

It’s Friday friends – JAAAAA! To wrap up the week I’m leading us all over to the dark side (mwah ha ha) on a virtual journey to an incredible maisonette in Oslo. Formerly a stables, the two floor apartment is owned by Nina (blogger behind Note to Self), her boyfriend Jørgen, baby boy Gustav, and cutest pup Ipa. When Nina’s not sewing or working as a graphic designer, the pair are transforming the space (often on a minimum budget) into a dramatic family home full of contrast and delicious, warm, dark grey, chocolate and beige accents. Enjoy the tour!

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
The maisonette has an upside down layout with the entry, bathroom and bedroom on the ground floor and an open-plan kitchen, sitting room and dining area on the upper level. I thought we’d start with the cosiest zone of all – the sitting room!
The sitting room wall has been painted in NCS S 7002B which makes a wonderful contrast to the oak floors, plastered brick walls and a fluffy 70’s style shaggy rug (from Layered). And just how cosy does that velour Madison sofa look? The Blind No5 print is by Danish artist Kristina Krogh (available here).
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
It’s incredible what a difference vintage wood adds to a monochrome space. Pick up similar  Thonet-style bistro chairs here (gah! So beautiful!). Nina never quite got on with the original brickwork and so they decided to plaster over it.

“The plastering gave just the right, tactile texture the apartment needed. And the colour was perfect too, so there was no need to paint it.”

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
Where would a Scandinavian kitchen be without a natural linen tablecloth?! So pretty (and it looks better un-ironed too). It’s nearing lunchtime here and I’m sort of drooling over the cheese too!
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway

All hale the Bollo chair by Norwegian designer Andreas Engesvik (I’ve got my eye on the pink one). 

Since the pair are currently renovating a house elsewhere right now (their future home), they didn’t want to invest too much money on the apartment. Even so, they still managed to transform the kitchen from this…

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway

 To this…

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
…on a limited budget!
 To achieve the new look they plastered the walls and painted them in NCS S 7002B, spray painted the cabinets in NSC S 8002B, replaced the thick laminate counter top, kitchen taps, sink (all HTH), added Borghamn handles from IKEA and spray painted the switches, sockets and cables. 
Quite incredible, and so inspiring to know what you can do on a limited budget, don’t you think?!
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
When the pair moved in the stairs were a varnished yellow colour…
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
They painstakingly sanded them down before washing them with white pigmentation, and then painted the walls and doors the same colour as the sitting room. They also added the same oak floor. 
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
What an incredible transformation, don’t you think?! I’ve been wondering what to do with my stairs (which are also tinged with an old yellow varnish) and now I may have found the answer – I just need to brace myself for the work (and warn Per!)!
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
Nina saved a load on a designer clothes rail by creating one from a 12 mm copper pipe, which she bent into shape using a wrench, lightly sand papered and then sprayed matt black! So clever! More info on her blog here. 
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway

The dark tones are also carried through to the bedroom which give the room a wonderful cocoon like feel – and no doubt feels blissfully dark at night, even under the Norwegian midnight sun!

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway
Another Scandinavian must – natural stonewashed linen bedding (it’s that ironing thing again! Source similar here) – the unbleached material looks particularly lovely against the dark grey walls!
Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway

And this little chap feels right at home!

Thank you so much for inviting us into your beautiful home Nina, Jørgen, Gustav and Ipa! I for one, might be tempted into over to the dark side in my own home after all. Anyone else feeling inspired too?!

See more of Nina’s home renovations, creations and recipes over on her fabulous blog Note to Self as well as on her instagram feed.

I can’t resist leaving you with a few other links to enjoy over the weekend too:

f you’re looking for more home tours on the dark side try a cosy cocoon-like Swedish home (also featured here) and dramatic green and grey in a Swedish home – actually, do you know what? I’m just going to go ahead and give you the link to the entire ‘dark colours’ archive! Way easier!

And now for one of my favourites. Conversions. Don’t you love it when a home has history (like the stables in today’s post)?! See everything from converted garages, warehouses, schools, shops and even a bar here!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Niki

PS This weekend I’m writing a guide to Malmö in which I’m hoping to cover off a load of the things I missed in my previous Malmö guide (and some of the new places that have popped up too) I’m so looking forward to my staycation! Look out for the guide soon.

All photography  © Nina / Note to Self

May 18, 2018