Vipp

Vipp is better known for their range of home accessories and minimalist kitchen cabinetry but now they are also a reference in the world of comfort and accommodations. Vipp has been developing a collection of meticulously designed spaces through Denmark, where fans and clients of the brand can experience their products and have a unique experience.

The Vipp Loft is the newest one of all. The apartment was designed by Copenhagen-based architecture firm Studio David Thulstrup, perched at the top of an only printing factory from 1910. The 2-bedroom, 4,000 sf space showcases beautiful exposed beams, natural wood floors–and it’s accented by wonderful pieces of art: Vipp’s products, Tired Man sheepskin armchairs by Flemming Lasson and several pieces by Poul Kjaerholm.












vipp

The place is divided into a mezzanine and a downstairs lounge area. The upstairs is a study and library with a sky bridge that connects to a second secluded bedroom at the peak of the loft space. The space is decorated with Vipp’s first lighting fixtures and furniture, dating back to the 80’s.

Downstairs, we find the living and dining areas, embellished by the kitchen of everyone’s dreams: A Vipp Kitchen. The steel cabinetry collection is showcased in the Vipp Loft by a long, multifunctional island and open shelving system for displaying the company’s classic housewares.

Needless to say, we are all waiting to see what their third (and soon to open) Northern Copenhagen Hotel will look like.

Marcus Lawett

IKEA’s Creative Offices in Malmö, Sweden, were designed by Nanna Lagerman–a multidisciplinary designer, creative director, curator and stylist. Based in Stockholm, Nanna has previously worked with IKEA on numerous publications–and her work on this space speaks of her vision and creativity.


















For this project, Nanna and her collaborator–interior designer, Nina Warnolf, wanted to find out what happens when you have a board meeting in a room with plywood walls or sit on a spectacular sofa with plywood cubes instead of tables. They kept the best interior features like the beautiful parquet floors, decorative ceilings and structures intact and they decided to restore them.

Each room in the hub has its own feel and its own personality, which makes it a different experience for the teacher–one day they could be writing on the walls and the next they could spend their time in an all-pink room decked out with (also pink) curtains.

Only one word: Stunning.

Anna Pirkola

One of the biggest human struggles since the beginning of modern times has been the attempt to achieve a balanced life. We push, pull and try to fit everything in, falsely believing that we can be everywhere and do everything all at once–spreading ourselves thin.

If you were born in the late 80’s like me, you can attest to the revolution of technology. Life as we knew it changed before our eyes . . . suddenly everything went wireless, we no longer needed booth phones to call when away from home, video games were all the rage and all we could hear was that technology was here to make our lives easier.

What started off as something that could ease the pace of our lives, ended up making us feel dissatisfied. It’s made us work harder, longer and feel a constant sense of unfulfillment. It’s like we cannot ever achieve our goals. Technology was supposed to connect us . . . but it’s pulled us away from real life–to the point where we now understand the difference between being “in” and “out of” real life (well, some of us still do).

I used to think that faster was better. Only a year ago I was living my life like a race, doing everything on autopilot and living my entire life logged on, isolated from the real world–incapable of switching off even for the sake of my health or my relationships.



The non-stop mentality is making us sick. In my book 30 Days To Minimal Blogging I explain how my response to anxiety in the past was to do more, to try harder and to never, ever stop hacking at the things that were difficult to deal with. We are tackling our challenges in the wrong way; we are doing more than ever but in that we are getting less and less life out of our days.

Fast living at all times isn’t natural; the bigger, better, stronger philosophy is what brought us fast food–a disconnect with what we put on our plates. It’s made way for big chains, for dehumanizing services, for automating our consumption–without truly making things that once used to be an experience, what they should be.

That’s why after spending my life trapped in the "do-not-stop" and the "boss-everything" mantras, I reached the tipping point and I needed to rewire the way I defined living.

I’ve said this before: that often times the answer to changing a radical point of view is to start with a new radical approach and tweak that. So, my response to my fast-paced life was to make a 180 degree turn and start living slowly. Rethinking my approach to work, to myself, to my family, my relationships and my surroundings. In other words, I started being mindful.

The Slow movement is not just about diminishing the speed at which we do things–it’s about being aware of ourselves and the things outside ourselves, about understanding when the right time is to be slow and when it’s time to be fast–and recognizing the difference at all times.



Certainly, living on the slow side is a challenge in this modern era we live in and it has doubly so been a challenge for me and for my business. We live in times where people feel entitled to a response almost immediately as they send in an email, where everything is urgent and no one can wait. I’ve had to force myself to comply with a daily schedule, to switch off on my weekends, to connect more outside of social media and find gratification in simple things–in cooking a simple meal, in spending 15 minutes in meditation, in having a conversation with my daughter and sitting in the learner’s seat once in a while.

By taking simple actions in our lives, we contribute to everyone’s life–we add significance to the lives of the people we love, we contribute to our communities by buying local, we say no to dehumanizing treatment by making better choices. We re-educate people to wait and at the same time we allow ourselves to be better at what we ourselves do.

It’s imperative for our health and our happiness that we learn to slow down by doing what we can to add more life to our days and we that we collectively start redefining what’s truly good and what it means to be truly stronger.

It is time for all of us to remember that slow can also be a good thing.

Rylee+Cru


I have an innate inability to make myself feel uncomfortable in the name of fashion. It’s something that was probably built into me from the womb. There’s not a single picture of me as a baby OR a toddler all dolled up–and I clearly recall feeling itchy at the mere suggestion that I should put on a ruffled dress or pair of tights for dinner out when I was a kid.

My mother... the badass! She had to raise me at a time when fashion for girls was either full-on “toilet paper doll cover” (remember those?) or being often referred to as a boy-which I was (ALL the time) but I couldn’t care less; playing on the floor while wearing a yard of taffeta wasn’t even a question.

My go-to outfit: A long (often batman) t-shirt, shorts and tevas. Yes. Tevas.




































The fashion industry has become more inclusive when it comes to kid’s clothes and I believe we owe that to the small-independent designers and studios, pushing the envelope and allowing our kids to be themselves–creating fashion that is not only comfortable but that they can identify with, no matter what their style or needs are.

Rylee + Cru does just that: it’s fun, encouraging, ludic and practical. It’s real, fuss-free clothing that kids approve of–and their newest collection guarantees a lot more moments of play for our little ones... which translate into a whole lot more memories made for all of us.