We were especially excited to receive our June issue of House and Home yesterday because not only is it the budget issue… where you can see a lot of cool and realistic homes, but because our cottage was being featured! And jeeze louise the spread looks amazing!

The bleed from one page to another looks so beautiful, it’s so much better when you’re holding the magazine.

So please go out there and pick up the June issue. This issue is amazing, and I’m not saying that because we are in it.

Let us know what you think of the article!

You may or may not have heard, but we are leaving Monday to go back to Scandinavia. We’re starting in Reykjavik (Iceland Air stopover), then heading to Copenhagen, Stockholm, and finishing in Helsinki. This time of year is a wonderful time to travel, it’s getting warmer but cool enough to trek around with a jacket, and we’ll be there just before tourist season.

A big mistake we made on our last trip was not preparing for rain, it poured for most of the days we were in Stockholm and I ruined a pair of nice leather boots. This time we are bringing our rain boots and jackets with us, along with a slew of other handy things we wanted to share with you.

The two rain boots on the floor we both purchased during our last trip to Scandinavia. Juli picked up a pair of Ilse Jacobsen low rise rubber boots, and I got the classic Swedish Tretorn rain boots.

From top left / clockwise

Mucu pocket notebook $15
Mucu blank notebook $14
Kuksa camping cup $85
SIWA glasses case by Naoto Fukasawa $28
Masakage Tanno business card case $165
Ruler
Pencil from MUJI
Japanese pocket tape measure

The Kenton Sorensen Dopp kit is just a classic, I take it on every trip and it only gets nicer with use. $200

I picked up a beautiful white travel electric shaver at the MUJI in Narita Airport. Honestly, I purchased it because the design is just so pleasing, but it does a pretty good job, and the size is perfect for traveling. Underneath is a soft cotton VIC face cloth I purchased from Canoe in Portland.

The great thing about going back to a place you’ve been before is that you are familiar with the city, and you don’t need to rely on travel guides to find your way around. The exception is the guide in the photo above which was gifted to us on our last trip to Reykjavik. It’s full of obscure spots that only true locals would know about.

For instance, best place in Reykjavik to enjoy the sunrise, or where to get an ice cream cone.

Juli – I’m not going to lie, I bought this gorgeous Hoi Bo purse after seeing a well-worn one on an acquaintance. And then I ran into another friend who had an even more worn-in one. These bags age so beautifully. The trip is the perfect time to break it in, because the bag is big enough to carry my honkin’ camera, a book, and a sweater.

Also pictured is the Kenton Sorenson passport wallet, which I love because it helps me stay organized. $120

We have definitely stepped up our luggage in the past few trips and replaced everything with nice Filson bags.The hat above is designed by Naoto Fukasawa for SIWA and is made by highly durable Naoron paper, which will be fine even in the rain.

We’re looking forward to start blogging on location! See you in Scandinavia!

Spring is here and we’re excited to show off a crop of our spring related goods. Starting from the top of the libri shelf and working our way down we have:

Still Green ceramic flower vessel
Dopp kit by Kenton Sorensen
Grass Vase by Danish ceramic group Claydies
F,l,ow,e,r,s ruler, and Twotwo cups by Studio Note
Duck and Ducklings by Hans Bolling

Next to the libri shelf on the floor there is a SIWA tote bag, and Kake broom by Oji Masanori perfect for spring cleaning.

The two T.S. chairs are by Thomas Sandell for Asplund. On the chairs there is a PURE nature pillow by Dorte Agergaard, and hand forged herb and garden scissors from Japan.

Juli’s spring dress is by Steven Alan from robber on Queen West, the heels are Christian Louboutin.

John’s sweater and shirt are by Marni from Sydney’s on Queen West, shoes are Premiata.

We finally have the f,l,o,w,e,r,s ruler back in stock. Every spring designer Norihiko Terayama picks these tiny flowers. He then dries them, places them 1 cm increments with tweezers and casts the flowers in acrylic. Each ruler is completely unique and hand made by the artist.

f,l,o,w,e,r,s ruler, $220 (limited stock)

A couple of notable updates in the shop this week. We replaced the E27 lights in our kitchen with mouth blown pendants designed by Alvar Aalto. I think they would look brilliant in a kitchen or in a bathroom, the shape is so iconic but the opal glass adds a nice softness.

We also received new handmade cutting boards by Tomiyama Takakazu. I’ve admired these cutting boards for a long time and I’m honored to be able to bring them to our shop. The boards are made of Japanese walnut, Chestnut, and oak, and finished with a house made concoction containing fish oil. It smells really good.

An exhibition showing Tomiyama Takakazu’s work in Japan.

A shot of the entire kitchen with the lights on.

We’re excited to announce we have received our shipment of Masakage and Norio Tanno products that we ordered when we visited their studio in February. We’re the only store carrying these new products in North America, so if you are interested in ordering anything in this post please send us an email.

We will have a new online store debuting soon, so until then we won’t be adding these to the current website.

Items starting from the top left of the above photo:

Leather iPhone sleeve by Kenton Sorensen
Leather coin case from Sapporo
Georg Jensen key ring
Nendo comma and period paper weights
Ebony card case by Masakage Tanno
Cherry toothpick holder
Wrap Wrap headphone wire keeper
Masakage Tanno maple pencil case
Braun calculator
Mucu blank notebook

All items except for the Braun calculator and coin case are available from Mjölk.

A video at the Masakage workshop, unfortunately I had as much charisma as a wet blanket.

The new collection centers around the push button mechanism made entirely out of wood except for a single metal spring. I am also happy to announce that Masakage Tanno recently came in 1st place at the Takaoka Crafts competition.  Take a look at the new collection:

Cherry toothpick holder $145

Maple and Ebony card holder $165 / $175

Ebony and padauk card case and our Kitka business card.

Maple and ebony pencil and pen holder $200

The classic oak and walnut business card case $98, we’ve been proudly carrying these since our first day open.

Getting to see a little of Norio Tanno’s brilliance.

We were lucky enough to get a couple Norio Tanno tea canisters in the store. They are meticulously made and you can stare at all of the tiny intricacies for hours. The tea canisters are displayed in many museums around the world. These pieces are an amazing example of his technical woodworking skills. Available in Japanese ash $650 or ebony $750.

Inlays and tea scoop in padauk wood, tea chamber made from Japanese maple.

Yesterday Grant and Ben from the Black Hoof stopped by the store, and they were nice enough to give us some wild onions they had just picked.

I cleaned them up and thought our Sori Yanagi cast iron grill was the perfect vessel to cook them up. Grant said that the best way to cook them is under a charcoal fire, but cooked on the stove top with butter and a little salt and pepper is delicious.

More product placement: the Sori Yanagi tongs. Best tongs ever.

We picked up some house made sausages from Butcher by Nature (Annette & Runnymede) and beets and turnips from The Sweet Potato. Nothing fancy.

The onions were sweet and delicious, thanks Grant & Ben!