As you may know, we went to Stockholm recently. This was perhaps our best trip to Scandinavia, and we were extremely surprised we would enjoy Stockholm in February as much as we did. There is something about a country that has learned to make the best out of the cold dark winters. It seems there isn’t a restaurant or bar in the city that isn’t lit in the evenings with candlelight, and even the shopkeepers keep large torches on the sidewalks in front of their shop, beckoning you to come inside and warm your bones.

I would like to start this introduction with a big thank you to Monocle’s Hugo Macdonald, the host of radio program Section D, who interviewed us during our visit to the Stockholm Furniture Fair. If you would like to listen to our interview it starts around 40 minutes into the program (around 3/4 of the way), episode 70.

http://monocle.com/radio/shows/section-d/

We have to keep a some fodder for the print version of Mjolk, but we hope you enjoy the few teasers we’ve created for our most recent trip.
There will be a few normal (aka non instagram) posts to follow soon.

Amazing packaging, is there anything better than exploring a grocery store in a different country? Though I have a feeling the one on the left is maybe from the UK, the brand Saltå (right) has a butik in Söder.

The best part of this season is having Semla buns and heated milk, they’re filled with whipped cream and meant to fatten you up over the winter. Needless to say, there were a few days where we had double fika.

The Canadian Embassy is right in the center of the city, near Sergels torg. We met up with Eero Koivisto to help set up the display for the CEREMONY party.

This was the first time we’ve visited during the winter, and Stockholm didn’t disappoint.

We headed out to Kastellholmen to check out the Nendo installation, “Illuminated” for Wästberg. We love how they place candles outside to greet guests during the cold night. More on this installation another day.

We were fashionably late for this party, which in Stockholm terms means too late, as the party was over. We decided to pop into Hotel Skeppsholmen for a coffee, and then proceeded to walk back into town. But alas while we were crossing the bridge we ran into Mårten Claesson and Ola Rune! They were on their way to the Glass Elephant opening party in a bunker, so we joined them.

The next day we attended the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair. Surprisingly it was our first time visiting. Although we saw plenty of nice designs, we already work with the best companies so this was more a casual visit. Nendo was the guest of honour, and this their installation “80 sheets of mountains”. We didn’t bring our camera to the show and I regret not getting a better snap of it! Check it out over on Designboom.

It was recommended to us to visit Speceriet for lunch, where we ran into Jonas Lindvall and his lovely wife and daughter. He designed some brilliant lighting for Wästberg which was originally used in Speceriet and their larger formal restaurant gastrologik. He generously introduced us to the head chef and took us on a tour next door at gastrologik. Jonas Lindvall designed both restaurants, and although we had the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful white and copper space we didn’t get a chance to have dinner there.

Chairs designed by Jonas Lindvall with Copper pendant lights hanging above (soon to be available at Mjolk).

This usually sits outside the entrance of the restaurant, we loved the design.

“To be perfectly Frank”, an exhibition by Michael Anastassiades at Svenskt Tenn.

<

Fika time with (more) Semla buns.

One of our favorite stops in Stockholm is seeing mid century galleries Jacksons and Modernity.

Our official event listing in the Stockholm design week guide.

The party at the embassy. It’s hard to tell how many people came in this photograph but we had at least 300 people come to the event. We were blown away with the turn out, and it was so nice to be in such good company alongside Claesson Koivisto Rune and Patty Johnson.

A late night stroll for a night cap with Eero and his lovely wife Deta.

We had to stop in to visit one our our favourite people Pia Wallen, a designer we have been working with before our store was even open. This is the view from her studio.

The amazing staircase we walked up on our first visit to Pia’s studio. We now know better and opt for the elevator.

There’s plenty more to come, stay tuned!

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Stockholm.

We just saw this video made by Disegno about Claesson Koivisto Rune and our CEREMONY set and we wanted to share it with you.

Enjoy!

More from our trip to Stockholm later this week.

On Wednesday night we hosted an exhibition for Claesson Koivisto Rune. We are so honored to be presenting their first retrospective in Canada, and debuting “CEREMONY”, the serving set designed by Claesson Koivisto Rune and produced by Mjolk with the expertise of local artisans Alissa Coe, Scott Eunson, and Adrian Kuzyk.

It was such a pleasure to be able to spend time with such a brilliant firm, whose personalities are as equally warm and charming as their work. For those who didn’t have the opportunity to visit the exhibition during the opening night, the show will continue in its full installation until January 31st, and after that a stripped down version of the exhibition will continue until February 8th.

CEREMONY set: trays in pure brass, copper, and blackened steel reversible with Canadian hard maple serving/cutting side. Pitcher: unglazed white porcelain exterior with glazed interior, and bowl / lid in Canadian hard maple.

As our exhibition coincided with Toronto Design Week the Ceremony set won “Best in show – Best new product” from Toronto Design Offsite, as well as a “Designlines Loves tag”.

Ceremony with maple serving side up – underside in raw brass.

The front half of the store was emptied to make room for the full installation. Every work you see is designed by Claesson Koivisto Rune.

The Kami table for Discipline in black, paired with 6 Röhsska chairs for Swedese in white oak.

The Unit cabinet for Asplund, and three Spin poufs for Tacchini.

Zoo table in raw copper for Asplund.

The Vass cabinet for Asplund, W08 Claesson Koivisto Rune task light for Wastberg, Camp clock for DavidDesign, and Sense air purifier for Blueair.

A collection of smaller works on display including the beautiful Rothko trays for Botswana based furniture maker Mabeo.

Teatime tea trolley in ash wood with removable white painted trays for Swedese. The table lamp is called the Baklava lamp for Orsjo.

Monet – A set of sugar candies for the Japanese tea ceremony designed by Claesson Koivisto Rune and made in collaboration with Sfera and a Kyoto based candy maker.

The model of Örsta gallery.

Torus bracelet by DFTS.

Anemone vase for Gallery Pascale.

Press magazine stand for Asplund.

Folded Roof House model.

Tonic glasses for Italesse.

Widlund house model

Basso champagne coaster for Skultuna.

Nest bamboo basket for Sfera.

PO/0018 fruit basket for Cappellini.

Eve bracelet for Gallery Pascale.

Lima sofa for Tacchini, Brasilia coffee table for Swedese, Fluid pendant light for Muuto.

Thank you to everyone who came out to the opening party. So many familiar faces and interesting conversations.

 

The prettiest sushi from Sushi67.

In anticipation of our exhibition CEREMONY with Claesson Koivisto Rune on Wednesday January 23rd, we’ve put together a collection of images to provide a bit of context for the architect firm in case you weren’t already familiar with their work.

We hope you enjoy!

Kråkmora Holmar.

Örsta gallery.

N0. 5 house.

Råman house.

Sfera building, Kyoto.

Marrakech tile exhibition.

Dandelion tile.

Model for Espina De Cruz + residential house.

Kin Urushi tea light holders

Monet – Japanese candies

Brasilia coffee table with Boxplay sofas.

Spin poufs

Vass cabinet and Press magazine holder.

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone on the 23rd! All three founding members of Claesson Koivisto Rune will be attendance, so please drop in and say hello.

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a nice weekend.

We get some nice light in our bedroom, so I thought I would take a couple of snaps to share it with you this morning. When we first moved into our home, the upstairs kitchen and living room still were being renovated, so our bedroom became our sanctuary and we kept it nice and tidy while the rest of the rooms were filled with boxes or being worked on.

We’ve developed such a connection to this room that we find ourselves having lunch or a spot of coffee here like we did those first few weeks of moving in.

We lovingly refer to this floor as our apartment. A habit I don’t think we will ever shake.

Rough linen sheets, and Pia Wallen Crux blanket.

A permanent fixture in our bedroom – Isha.

My brother gave me this beautiful Hinoki cedar wood aroma diffuser. It makes our room smell like a Japanese spa. The other little objects are glass paper weights by Tsuji Kazumi.

A set of bowls by our friend Renaud the potter (Atelier Des cent-ans).

Did you know we carry Noguchi lights at Mjölk? We don’t sell them online by request of the manufacturer, but we have some beautiful specimens in our showroom right now. This light we specially ordered for the bedroom because it’s the same one that adorns Mirei Shigemori’s tea house.

Happy New Year everyone!

We’re very excited to announce our first exhibition of 2013.

Along with a retrospective of Claesson Koivisto Rune’s furniture, design accessories, and architectural models we are debuting a small series of products inspired by The Japanese Tea Ceremony and Swedish Fika coffee culture.

The collaborative work is executed by local Toronto artisans:

Alissa Coe of Coe and Waito

Scott Eunson – sculpture artist and wood worker

and

Adian Kuzyk – wood artisan.

Please stop by to see the exhibition and meet our guests of honour:
Mårten Claesson, Eero Koivisto and Ola Rune!

Invitation design by Sali Tabacchi