Trends are a bit of a hit-or-miss for me personally. I like to go more sustainable which is kind of against trends as I believe trends are basically a trick for you/me to buy more. But of course, it is nice to stay on trend and keep an eye on what is happening in the world of interior design.
What I do know is that fashion trends are normally a couple of seasons ahead of interior trends. So for example, the leopard print that came a few years ago started in the fashion world and as it became so popular we suddenly saw it in the interior world, leopard print cushions and notebooks anyone?
I read a few of my old interior magazines at my mum's that were from 2013, 2009, 2015 etc... I am glad some trends went as fast as they came...
The cost of living crisis is a factor this year as we see less being promoted. And what we have seen during 2023 is the smaller luxury treats and the push is more about everyday luxury, the home spa, the candles, the flowers, the stay-at-home dates etc...
Colours are finally coming back after a few years of beige but in gentle additions, like a large lamp. So a nice gentle room in neutral colours and then BAM! A large purple lamp, or a pink table, a bold blue cushion cover... you get the point.
Japanese and Scandinavian design mixtures are still hot! And the greenery trend with houseplants is moving into our homes in a new angle by mixing different colour and types of wood furniture, which I LOVE! And believe it or not, the lovely 70s is adding its mark as well with large round and soft furniture. Rattan baskets and bamboo designs is a great combo.
I like this more neutral design trend, but I also love colours so having them mix and match is wonderful.
Overall, trends come and go. You do you! Find what you love and create your own style. A mix is good, that giant big blue box furniture mixed with grandma's old chair, mixed with that expensive branded vase you love so much. It is how you put them together that makes it unique, you can always find a flow, and everything is possible to mix together. Some more naturally than others, perhaps your furniture can be like your plants, move them around until they find a perfect spot where it is happy and thriving.
What home and interior trends do you like the most? And which trends are you happy to say goodbye to?
I am grateful the stencilled upcycled furniture trend went quickly. Do not get me wrong, I really like upcycled (amazing from a sustainability point) and bold-coloured furniture but the hand-painted stencil on soft colours... not for me!
I also used to love the more industrial look, chunky bookcases with metal fixtures, but I have grown out of it, so yup trends do come and go just like your taste. And that is absolutely fine.
This Autumn, I have decided that I will add more texture to my front room, more cushions on my sofa and more wool blankets. Perfect for rainy Autumn evenings when I read more. I made a deal with myself, I have 16 books on my bedside table at the moment, and I am not allowed to add any new books to that table, the exception though is library books, until after Christmas.
Thanks for reading and I hope you are looking forward to a cosy Autumn... I know we still have August, but right now it is Friday evening, I am sitting by my desk with a cup of herbal tea, my hoodie on and I have dug out my wool slippers. I mean, it feels pretty Autumn to me. I will try to hold out until September before the heating comes on.
Charlotte x
]]>Does everyone love a photo dump, no, just me? Well, here you go: Our summer in Sweden 2023.
I will even do two blogs. One with what we did and ate (you always seem to like that) and one with a few reflections on what will be on trend this Autumn.
Every summer we head to Sweden. Sadly this year we were not even lucky with the weather. One day over 20 degrees! Now that is pretty rubbish, but we were home and it is lovely to be home. I managed to read 6.5 books (the half book I skimmed through and read the end) borrowed from the local library.
I am as you know from a small town, surrounded by lakes with cute wooden houses and cobbled streets. Great shops and café after café. Alingsås has become the FIKA capital of Sweden. And of course, it is always good to test some of these cafes and their cakes to make sure they are alright. One café I would love to go back to on a dark and rainy Autumn evening. Sitting at that café enjoying my coffee I could picture myself with a nordic noir, a large cup of tea, apple pie, cosy jumper, and rain outside. Oh I love the cosiness of Autumn, and it is already on my mind, maybe it is because the weather has been so rubbish. Fingers crossed we will get a few days of glorious weather in August.
Anyway, we saw family, my grandmother will be 90 in three weeks so it was lovely to see her. We visited her together with my little sister. Little sister had baked the most amazing treats that our grandmother always made for us when we were young (like a year or so ago 😉), and this time she surprised grandma with them. They were accepted, phew! Chokladbiskvier, I added a recipe for you from the fab All Recipes website, I think it is roughly the same, might be a good one to test on a rainy day.
We had gentle gatherings at my mum, siblings turned up, and we spent an afternoon with the young cousins south of Gothenburg. We did some swimming, but I think I spent less than an hour in the water in total which is not a record at all.
A lot of eating, a lot of silliness, a lot of family walks, shopping, and dog walks, have to admit, longer dog walks in the countryside certainly can be good to clear the mind.
It is Spring cleaning time here at Spektakulär. We are making changes and creating new ideas for our future. It is quite fun actually to come up with new ideas to keep the online store fresh and exciting.
When we had the physical store, we could always play around with window displays, make new cool colour combinations in the shop, create events and so much more. Anything to bring people through the doors, and that is what it is all about, to get more people in through those doors.
Believe it or not, this is more than half the battle in retail, using advertising, social media, and hiring retail experts who will tell you how to do your layout and your windows.
If you walk into a shop, just open those doors, and come inside, well that is advertising working, but it can be blooming expensive and a lot of hard yet fun work. But it is the reward!
So I like to thank you for walking through the doors into our shop, well I am pretty sure every small shop you walk into today is thanking you for walking in. Because if nobody visits your shop you basically have no shop.
Anyway... move along now Charlotte! Oh yes, online! How to keep an online shop fresh? Well, that is what we are working on. So I have been reading lots of books, joining groups, signed up for networking events. I have a plan but first, we need to spring-clean all the beautiful designs while we are redoing the business so I suggest you prepare yourself for something different this summer.
NOW I will highly recommend that you sign up for our newsletters, as our newsletter subscribers always get the news first and I also give them better discounts. So if you are after beautiful Scandi designs, sign up by clicking on the link here
Please enjoy our Spring Cleaning offers and make sure you sign up for our newsletter.
In other news, I have finally settled into working five days a week in a whole new environment which has been emotionally hard. I joined a fundraising team working for a cancer charity back in January. I am so honoured to work for this charity as it makes such a difference to the people using it. And I am developing whole new skills I really enjoy, but what I have learned about myself these last few months is how extremely proud of my own business I am. This I somehow did not grasp, more taking it for granted I think. I was only 29 when I opened my very own shop while having a baby at the same time. I am so grateful for Richard who is my partner in life and in business.
Not many people get to do their dream but I have and I still have it but in a different way now, and I think it is time to explore this new adventure! Would we like to reopen our shop, yes but not for another few years. Imagine a destination shop with a cafe! But first let us grow our online business!
Charlotte x
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I have given up on new year's resolutions, well I did the diet, I did the gym and nope they are just not for me. But I am thinking that because it feels like a fresh start, I will try to be kinder to myself this year. And what else?
Be kinder to me
Read more, anything, just more reading
See friends more often, call people
Sleep more, earlier bed routines
Less time on social media
More time with my family
Oh no, I made a list. Hmm oh well, I think these are doable, I just need to create new habits. But if I will be honest with myself, what do I really want to do in 2023?
I want us as a family to get into the habit of going outdoors more, proper walks with a picnic, and views to enjoy. Now that is a mission! But maybe we can start this year and then perhaps next year it will not be such a drag to get us out.
I read somewhere, that kind of made sense to me, I love the outdoors but my family is very reluctant to even leave the house, so instead of me losing my s**t and we leave late in the afternoon on our only day off together, with one crossed parent (me), the other parent is annoyed with the first parent and two children who think that the first parent who is making them leave the house is punishing them for something. I need to prepare them!
So maybe I just need to start a week in advance: "Family, next weekend why don't we pack a nice picnic and go for a hill walk?" And if you think about it, every day leaving the house is a struggle. Putting shoes on, lunchboxes and school bags packed, brushing hair, clean school uniforms. Work bag packed, make sure I have clean clothes, makeup, and so on. That is our routine life and yet it is still a hassle (for us it truly is). So to add the hill walk which is not part of routine life... yup I can see why it can be difficult.
I shall work on my strategy. And maybe I can use the famous, there is a cafe at the top of the hill (sadly they never fall for it).
I enjoy outings, and family outings, we live in a beautiful country that has such a stunning outdoor space and fan activities on offer. And I do think we should enjoy them more. So this being kinder to myself thing. Maybe I will be kinder to myself if I prepare my family for walks. Take away the stress.
Did you set yourself a few new year's resolutions? Or perhaps a few goals? Like a new job? Money goals? Holiday goals? Oh, there are so many to think about, and I do think I have been brought up with that the new year is a way to restart and rethink. But I guess I could still restart and rethink in June as well if I wanted to.
This week, the girls are back at school, Richard to his full-time job and I will start my new full-time job. I am thinking that Friday evening I will be asleep in the hallway after work with my shoes still on as I have not worked full time (unless you count my own business, as you always work when you are self-employed) since I moved to Edinburgh in 2008. And I never worked away full-time after having kids so it will be a huge change for us as a family. So me being kinder to myself will be a very big step toward coping with a new career.
Happy January and I hope you have something exciting to look forward to in 2023.
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I am so tired, so tired I am not even sure where to start. So tired I can not even be bothered to turn the TV on, to read (the book is too heavy to hold). To concentrate on listening to an audiobook, to go outside, to tidy the house, to cook dinner, to be fun. I look at social media and see the people who take the opportunity to clear their wardrobes, do their 2023 budget, play all the games with the kids, and call family, socialise... I envy you because all I want to do is stay in bed and don't speak to anyone. But then, my bed gets uncomfortable and I just want to do something. I get restless but I do not find the energy or lust to do anything.
I did read somewhere that this can be called, as you close down and relax (you are finally allowed to relax), Christmas tiredness!
I am suddenly allowed to lie on the sofa, eat all the snacks, and do nothing. NOTHING is hard to do, I can 100% tell you that doing nothing is not good for me! And now I struggle to get out of this tiredness! Tomorrow I have to go for a fast walk! I need to wake up, as I have emails to answer, I have online things to do, I have books to read, games to win, and roads to run, laughing with my family to do.
Have I relaxed so much that I feel sorry for myself? This is terrible! Does anyone else feel like this? That you have relaxed so much you shut down and stopped functioning? How did you get out of it?
I think it is time for lists and more lists. I am a keen list maker and I love bullet lists, I know it is not for everyone but my head feels so much more organised and clear once I have my lists so I think it is time to get started on my lists.
However, even though I feel slightly lost to the world at the moment, it is kind of nice, to be able to let myself be this tired and to let myself relax this much.
I enjoy our time on the sofa, we have done our Christmas 1000 pieces jigsaw (it will be sent back to the charity shop asap as it was blooming hard and we won't do it again). We watched films together, and just chilled on the sofa with our books. I burnt a lot of candles, and enjoyed a lot of mulled wine!
Tomorrow is a new day, a day to go for a walk, to tidy one maybe two shelves, and not the whole house. And I think tomorrow will be a good day to start making some lists, maybe a list for which lists to make. Is it time to snap out of the Christmas tiredness and prepare for 2023? Yes, I think so!
Charlotte x
]]>In Sweden, we have a word for a day like today, Christmas prep, "Julstök" Jul is Christmas and stök is a word for the mess you make when you are doing something.
Anyway the Royal Mail saga, I understand people are frustrated. And yes, I have looked at UPS, DHL, Evri, etc but as a lot of businesses have swapped due to the strikes they are experiencing just as many delays.
So to try to catch up, Royal Mail has brought forward the dates for Christmas Posting dates:
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We finally pressed the button and upgraded the website. It might not look so different but I can tell you that we have changed so much in the back ground and building a webshop certainly is not that straight forward. Especially not for someone who rather spend their time in a physical shop that behind a screen.
However, we have finally launched the new site and we are fixing a lot of small things in the back ground which I hope you will notice (hopefully). I have added FAQ, I have also updated the About us section and so on. Next is to update all the gift sections and our A to Z. I am still updating the main navigation so every time you visit us it will look different. I hope you like it, I really do. We felt it was about time to upgrade.
And yes Christmas is also updated, we have 100s of amazing Scandi designs, all from the Swedish Tomtar to advent candle holders. I have been asked why we do not have our stars anymore. I will be honest and let you know that it has been a tricky year so I had to choose what to stock and had to be super picky and sadly the cost of the shipping was as big as two small orders for two other brands. I could not justify it. But I am noticing how the Scandi stars are popping up everywhere which is great news, hopefully next year it will be much easier for us to find a better alternative.
I hope you are all super, this week I am working as much as I can on the website and then from Friday to Sunday I will be working in Glasgow at the Countryliving Christmas Fair which I am really looking forward to. No I will not be with Spektakulär but I will be with my amazing friends Liselotte and Tina and we are at the Swedish Tomte stand (B12), so if you are going please come and see us.
Have a super day
Charlotte x
]]>Good question, and I think I have a pretty good answer. We use Royal Mail because we really do not want to lose our local post offices. We need our post offices, we need them for our local communities.
Local areas and communities are fantastic and a post office can be a lifesaver for some. We just lost our local post office where we live which is extremely inconvenient. I can not tell you how annoying that is, and I do not want to lose more of them.
And let me tell you that the Swedish Royal Mail "Posten" was privatised and split many years ago. Now my mum have four different post deliveries to her post box and apparently they seem to come the same days. So she now get four vans (they live on the countryside) delivering different kind of post, one company for 1st class, one for 2nd and so one... I am too confused to even work it out and no parcels to their house, she has to head to a collection point. Do we want that here and how the heck is that good for the environment. You who know me have most likely heard this phrase at least once in every conversation with "in Sweden" because everything is better in Sweden. But no, the Swedish Posten has messed up and it certainly is not better in Sweden, it kind of sucks and really expensive too.
Today Holly Tucker also mention that Royal Mail has the lowest co2 emission of all the couriers in the UK, nope I have no idea how they work that one out, but it makes me feel a bit better.
Then is the next issue people seem to have with Royal Mail, they are too slow! Maybe we should all just slow down. Do we really need to live in a Amazon deliver to me NOW world? No we really do not and I think we all can just slow down a little bit. How did we just accept this "I want it NOW" culture, like we all turned in to Veruca Salt! No thank you!
So there you go, I had three reasons why we will stick with Royal Mail even if the strikes are such a pain in the behind for small businesses right now!
Let us slow down, and let us support our local communities. So this turned into a rant, you are most welcome to ignore this post and roll your eyes!
Have a fab Thursday, am off to my taxi duty, kids activities here and there... looking forward to a glass of wine tonight!
Charlotte x
]]>When I am home in Sweden, I am surrounded by amazing designs and they are affordable. Yes of course you get all the fancy big boy brands and yes I like to have a mixture of designs in my home. Personally I love a vintage chair (found in a second hand shop), a lamp from IKEA and perhaps that fancy design to spice it up. A home is what you make it, so I suggest you go for what you love and not for a brand or a price ticket or a trend!
Anyway, I lost track in the first sentence, must be some kind of record. So let's get back to the idea, that as we are a Scandi/Nordic shop we are too expensive. No we are not, I decided quickly that you should be able to afford shopping a nice design from us, it should not hurt your purse nor you head. I am aware that some Scandi shops in the UK carry the big Scandi brands and yes they can be expensive.
But there are so many brands, not just the big brands which I personally think can be overpriced, but so many fantastic small brands (small makers) that can make an impact but at a fair price. I do not want us to be a pricey shop, I want you to feel like you have come to the right place where you can find a perfect gift at a good price. I have spent some time lately sorting our gift section and did you know we have a gifts under £20 section. And when I was going through our website I realised that 2/3 of our designs online are under £20. So do you think we are too expensive?
Take a look and then head online to our Gifts under £20 section, maybe you will find the perfect gift for a friend today.
Charlotte x
]]>When I turned 40 Richard took me for a couple of nights away and once we were away we decided that from now on that was our treat to each other. That for our birthdays we go somewhere, just the two of us. I used to think date nights was totally overrated until you realise how the two of you kind of start to forget about each other. But I am so wrong, date nights and time away just the two of us, well it kind of reminds us a little about why we like each other. Plus being away from everyday routine, everyday dinners, everyday messy house, everyday laundry is so worth it!
Richard is Autumn and I am Summer which is good as we get a nice gap. This time it was my turn to book and wow I struggled a little to find time with the girls activities and work. But away we went, and the girls went to their auntie in Glasgow and saw the fireworks. They had a fab time as they always do when the spend time with their aunt and uncle. And Richard and I headed to the Borders to a beautiful castle hotel Cringletie.
Lovely and spacious room, comfy bed, stunning views in a beautiful setting. Wonderful staff and small treats. A classic Scottish dream! Log fires here and there, and of course as we are in Scotland there are always traditional tartan rugs, curtains or cushions. Yes you guessed it, it did not disappoint in that department but it was well executed. I would love to go back and spend more time exploring the hotel and woodland walks.
As we only had one night away we went to explore Peebles for dinner at a local pub rather than dinning at the hotel. It was very busy as it was fireworks night, but the staff at the pub managed to squeeze us in for a tasty dinner. Peebles is one of those towns we have not really explored that much. Been a few times but not for many years. However I was so impressed by the amount of small independent shops and have heard that the locals are very welcoming and supportive. And you can tell, it was a great vibe. On Sunday morning we went back and they were putting up all the Christmas lights, so if you are local to Edinburgh but like a change of scenery why not enjoy a little day trip to Peebles, do your Christmas shopping in small independent shops and enjoy a tasty lunch. We parked at a pay and display parking (there were more options for sure) and it was 20p for 4 hours... yes you read that right!
Now we are back to the weekday life again, girls at school, I have been to the warehouse, orders are packed and I will take a lunchtime walk to the post office to drop them off.
But this is not the only thing that is going on at the moment, we are getting ready to launch a new look. The webshop was launched during lockdown and we have not really done much to it since then. Learning a lot of new things along the way and we feel it is time to freshen it up a little. So I am sitting here checking all the designs (sadly finding so many mistakes, so about time to sort it) finding new images, updating text and also working on how to navigate the website easy and enjoyable.
So I have added quite a few small things such as our about us section, the FAQ is new. Next is the gift section. Wow that need some work, but it is so important to get these things done right. I know that people will never shop from you unless they know who you are and if your website is not looking "well done" then they leave and never come back!
Anyway I better crack on, got a HUGE to do list and I so what to launch this new website this week!
Have a great rest of your Tuesday
Charlotte x
]]>As most of you know, English is my second language and the term going home for the holidays is one I associate with Christmas holidays so it is correct to use it for October break too?
Which is what we did, we packed our bags and headed to Sweden for a long weekend! I am from the Gothenburg area, from a small cobble stone town called Alingsås, known to be the "potato city" but now I think they are more known as the Fika town. Potato city as the person who brought potato into Sweden lived there yes there is a statue on the town square of the man himself, Jonas Alströmer.
Alingsås is a beautiful small town with a welcoming city centre. Lovely independent shops and café after café hence the new(ish) nickname of Fika town. If you want to you can go for guided Fika tours. What is Fika you are wondering. It is the Swedish concept of a short break, which mostly includes Coffee and something tasty to go with the coffee. Swedes used to be number one or two on the coffee consumption list but I just noticed we have been knocked down to number six... what the heck!
Of course we enjoyed some cakes, cream seemed to have been on the girls mind as they picked Budapest and Princess cake. So so good!
It had been frost a few nights before we came over so the leaves were falling and the colours was amazing, coming back here I think we are a couple of weeks behind here as my neighbours birch tree is still quite green, we get to experience this vibrant season twice!
I took the girls to the local swimming pool, we went to visit my grandmother who is 89. And we also spent an afternoon at my younger sisters flat in Gothenburg for her birthday celebrations so managed to see my older sister, two of my brothers (yes I have many many siblings) and two of the girls cousins. The brand new baby cousin was born while we were on the flight over so did not managed to meet him yet as he is a week today. Next time for sure!
And we ended our holiday with a walk around Lights in Alingsås, it was great and very busy even if the weather was rubbish. Proper Autumn wet and dark! This years event was not as big as it normally is but hey we all know why some of these kind of events are not back to normal yet. I bet next year will be fantastic.
This section of the walk was for the kids and they had built welcoming houses in the trees, warmly lit up and it looked fab in the dark.
It was intense to be back, we managed to fit a lot in and yet had some time to chill. Even made a pumpkin for mums steps and enjoyed pumpkin soup and roasted pumpkin seeds (something I never do when we do our Halloween pumpkins).
It looks pretty good on their step!
Now we are back to routine life but wow late flights with delays and taxi faff in the middle of the night drained us a bit, so am glad we had a extra day off yesterday. It was tricky to get up this morning, heard Stina up and when I looked at the clock I was hoping it would be 4 am so I could go back to sleep, but not 06.20... time to get up!
Busy day ahead, I have connect planning for a couple of hours, then a webinar and then a few phone calls to make, tonight I signed up for a networking event, I never do these events. I like the idea of them but putting on my shoes after 8 pm has become a struggle. The sofa is calling!
Have a lovely day
Charlotte x
]]>Royal Mail Strike dates are as follows!
Please note, every date is not a completely closed day, some days are delivery and some dates are the sorting offices and so on, you can find out more on the Royal Mail website
Will this affect your order? Most likely is my answer, there will be delays along the way so please be patient and please do order early.
What are we doing? We are posting your orders as normal, our local post office here in Edinburgh will remain open as normal and process your orders as normal.
Are you wondering why we are using Royal Mail? Because we believe in local communities hence why we support our local post office. We really do not want to lose more post offices.
Please remember, we have had delays before, during 2020 most sorting offices had to shut some weeks due to Covid and that was a record year for Royal Mail. And I was reminded the other day that it was the same last year as we still had quite a lot of Covid around at the run up to Christmas.
If you are in a rush and wants your parcel asap, then get in touch with us as they will apparently prioritise Special Delivery parcels.
I am happy to look up the real cost and give you the quote for that option. Just email me at webshop@spektakular.co.uk or fill in our contact form on the website
Next up!!
October Break! Oh yes, we will take a short break and head home to Sweden to see family for a long weekend. This means that the online is open as normal but we will close the warehouse for a few days. Anything ordered between 19th - 24th October will be shipped on Tuesday 25th once we are back.
Please send me your order Monday and Tuesday and I get them in the post asap! Thank you as always for support small businesses and for your amazing love to Spektakulär! Your fave Scandi online shop ;)
Charlotte x
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Hattifnattar is the Swedish word for them and the one I grew up with, the word fnatt can be used as little bit bonkers such as "Har du fått fnatt? - Have you gone bonkers?" But are they silly? I don't know, what do you think?
Hattifatteners are the restless and mysterious creatures in Moominvalley.
They are small and almost ghostlike that apparently resembles worn socks. Their motivation in life (the only motivation in life) is to keep moving toward the horizon and they are always traveling in large numbers and always in odd numbers.
They grow from little white seeds, but only if the seeds are sown on Midsummer's Eve. They are pale grey-white in colour and I would say they resemble mushrooms rather than worn socks.
They "recharge" or become charge up with electricity in lightning storms and can cause electrical burns. They communicate using telepathy and even though they can not see very well their sense of touch is very strong.
Ah the magical mind of Tove Jansson! These were first introduced in "Comet in Moominland" written in 1946.
Have you one or perhaps many favourite creatures in the world of Moominvalley. I am not sure who I love the most or the least. Moominmamma I think is very resourceful.
But I do know reading the comics and books is great for the imagination and I love the feeling of entering the Moominvalley for a few hours while enjoying the stories together with my girls.
The Amazing Lovi have a fantastic Moomin collection and I am delighted to add the pretty hattifatterners online as well.
So October break, Moomin books and Lovi designs that you and you loved ones can assemble together (easy peasy to do so no need to worry it is too difficult).
Charlotte x
]]>I took a weekend off from family life, easy as one was away at brownie camp and the other just wanted to be at home and do nothing (her words).
I know us small business owners are always supposed to stay positive about our businesses, never tell you our followers and supporters how crap it can be, and when we do, we will just come across as negative and whining. No-one wants to support someone who are horrible to listen too, we are better to just to be quiet and/or just stay positive. However it is really really HARD to always love what you do and sometimes we might just need to vent a little!
Since February this year, I have not been in a great place at all. An online shop is really hard and emotionally difficult to run when it does not go well. I felt stuck, did not know how to move forward and then the war started and the constant chat about financial crises. It has scared anyone with a heart and bills half to death, honestly turning on the heating in October feels like a bad thing to do.
I am budgeting everything at the moment and I am really careful. Yes things for myself is at the bottom of the list! And it turns out I am not alone, you are too. Because the first thing we drop to shop when money is tight is things for ourselves (not the beauty stuff, that seem to always survive the cutting list) and our homes! So running an online shop with beautiful designs for you and for your home is really difficult. It does mean that sadly this year we might have less of the lovely designs we normally have at Christmas, because the retail "experts" are telling us that this Christmas we should be really careful!
With all this on my mind and with 12 weeks to Christmas I have been feeling extra disheartened, on a daily basis I wonder if it is actually worth running an online business at all. Finding energy to keep moving is near impossible some days.
But then you take yourself off grid and head out into nature!
I have this lovely photographer friend Tina (of course you should check out her amazing images), a beautiful soul who recently moved to a little cottage in the Scottish Borders. This weekend I packed my hiking boots and headed down for a night. We had planned to sit down and work, light a fire, eat and get stuff done, like proper responsible business owners! But we did not even open our laptops, we just walked and talked and drank a lot of teas.
We walked along River Tweed on the Saturday. Yes of course a log fire, and as she is a fellow Scandi lady, a lot of candles. A proper Hygge Saturday evening! Sunday we hiked up to Three Brethern and enjoyed the stunning views. Maybe we would have worked if the weather had been terrible, but we were very lucky and got a our hearts pumping up the hill in the sunshine.
Even though we did not open our laptops we managed to get some kind of work done as we (yet again I) got to rant and properly vent. I went on and on, and a lot of stress, anxiety and worries about life and the future was discussed. And I think these things we have on our minds sometimes holds us back. We make small things unnecessarily big. For absolutely no good reason at all.
I know a lot of us are struggling with our heating bills, watching the news and wondering what the heck is going on. Privately we are looking to buy a house and just the thought of a mortgage is terrifying. The rate when we put an offer on a house a few weeks ago is not the same this week.
I needed to have a good rant, so thanks Tina for listening and giving me some good ideas.
Today I am looking at the online shop, properly looking and am critical to my own webshop. And this is a good thing as we have been working in the background on a new look. It is time about bloody time to make this your favourite Scandi online shop. I have a vision about Spektakulär online and the only one who can make that work is me! So time to make my vision come true!
But not only this, I am also searching for new designs for the website. But yes I am careful, Cristmas at Spektakulär this year will be sparse but we will always stock candles! And we will always need cosy tealight holders like these beauties by Kähler in our lives!
Happy new week, and if you like me are sometimes feeling completely overwhelmed by everyday life, then try your best to find someone to have a good vent with. And ideally while you are out for a walk in nature! Autumn is beautiful in Scotland!
Charlotte x
]]>Yup, prepare yourself, not even October yet and Christmas is thrown in your face. Actually you might already have seen sneak peeks in some supermarkets (since August). The retail world believe this is not going to be a normal year, and after watching the news and listing to retail experts it sadly does look like a bleak year for retail. As always, make sure you support local, independent and small businesses, in your local community or online.
Last weeks announcement by Royal Mail was a bit of a blow, they are planning another 19 days of postal strikes in October and November (yes you read that right, 19), I had to take a deep sigh when I saw that news! And they are starting tomorrow!
Strike dates that are set, more possible dates are available already on their website!
We will continue to post your lovely orders within 1-3 days but sadly the parcels might take longer to get delivered. I would not recommend 1st class at the moment as there are no guarantees they will arrive next day. Continue to shop just get yourself a bit more organised, remember I do gift wrap for free so if someone has a birthday in a couple of weeks then feel free to just add a little note and I can send them a gift, wrapped with a note, all on time for their birthday!
In other news!
I am expecting beautiful designs from Scandinavia! Candles, tomtar and gorgeous decorations! However yes they do get stuck on their way here and yes with postal strikes they will take even longer to get to you.
My point is, start now! It is never to early to think about Christmas. When I had the shop and people came in and asked when I was putting Christmas out in the shop, I used to get a bit annoyed (I did not hide that mood particular well) and said we like to wait until after Halloween. We have a beautiful Autumn to enjoy first!
However online is different in so many ways!
Who will you see this year?
Who would you like to buy a gift for?
Who do you think need a cheer up?
How can I enjoy this festive season?
These are the questions I ask myself when I am planning my Christmas budget and I have started to think about this already which is very unusual for me!
With these questions I will leave you, as I am off to make pancakes and then collect the girls from activities and help one pack for Brownie camp this weekend. I hope you will have a super evening.
Charlotte x
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How are you doing? My girls are back at school and this is week two. Wow my S1 girl could probably sleep for a week. She is enjoying high school but it is full on, luckily not a lot of homework yet.
When we were in Sweden this summer we went to visit the fantastic Spira of Sweden. We have gotten to know the ladies and the office well and love to visit, and we love seeing all the new designs. They have been part of Spektakulär for many years now, I can not even remember for how long to be honest. But that is a great sign, working with suppliers and building relationships is kind of a very important part of retail. Let me explain, it works like this. A supplier or maker creates a design and then they need to sell it to retailers, people like me and then I do my best to sell it to you our customers.
So I need to build a great relationship with my suppliers as these kind of relationships makes life so much easier and over the years I have said good bye to amazing brands as the people behind the brands has not been interested in a good relationship. I even had a few saying we are too small, not worth it for them. Hmm clearly their loss as we are amazing!
Oh classic me, side-tracked! Anyway, so I get to know the brand and then I believe in their products, I follow the trends and buy it in for the shop and then I need to build a great relationship with you so you want to come and spend your hard earned cash at our shop, and then ideally you want to come back again as well. It is much harder to do this online than in a shop that is for sure! When we open back in 2010 the shop looked so different than when we closed the brick and mortar in 2021. We went from a Swedish look to a colourful and happy Scandi/Nordic look as that was what you wanted. So we found designs you loved and that is how it works.
So the makers need to believe in themselves and create something that I believe will sell in the shop. Finding your niche can be difficult, and at the moment it is tricky as homeware might not be an essential in the current climate.
However what we have noticed is that you still love sending gifts to your loved ones and I love wrapping gifts so that kind of works quite well!
Anyway this was not all why I had on my mind to talk about, but I am getting there. You will never have a conversation with me about one topic, that is for sure, my mind is just full of random stuff and stupid inputs...
Spira of Sweden has the most beautiful collection called Kompisar which is the Swedish word for Friends. And every year they welcome new friends (they also say goodbye to one or two) and this time I have four brand new friends for you but also two returning friends with new background colours which I personally love. They are bold and fun!
And what we love so much about each friend is that each has a name and a little bit about them. Pim for example, the calm looking one loves horror movies, yikes!
These friends come in cushion covers, 50x50 cushion covers that you can buy just as they are. Some of you might have a lot of inners already, but if not, we do sell feather inners as well.
You can invest in a super tote bag that you obviously will bring with you when out and about. Time to say no to plastic and bring this awesome friend with you instead!
And finally toiletry bags, however I would use mine as a pencil case as I more pens than make-up! Or take with you for all the small bits in your bag.
Now head online and explore our friends, maybe you see a design that looks just like you or a friends! A perfect treat that is for sure!
Happy weekend, our little one is away the whole weekend with brownies, she will be knackered on Monday morning but I think she will have so much fun! So it looks quite a nice weekend for us as one wont be home and the other one most likely wont leave her bed!
Charlotte xx
]]>Just because gifts, what even is that you ask?
When we give gifts to people it is often because of a situation, instantly I think of birthdays, Christmas, weddings, new homes etc...
But what about a spontaneous gift, completely out of the blue? Working in retail as long as I have "Just Because" gifts have always been my favourite. I remember a wonderfully chatty lady in the shop, we had a good chat and suddenly she saw a design and went; "oh that would be perfect for my friend, oh I am just gonna get it!" I gift wrapped it and she left feeling so happy she found something for a lovely friend and it was not for a special occasion. She was shining and I could not stop smiling and still think about that moment today!
To give gifts should feel lovely, it should not feel like a must, it should not be stressful... but with todays world and todays financial situation, gifts is one thing we might cut, especially the just because gifts.
It is a shame, as believe it or not spontaneous gifts are important. There are big benefits to give unexpected, we build connections, it makes us feel good and to receive an expected gift do really feel brilliant!
I think the best gifts to give are the ones you just see out of the blue and think about a person, these are not really gifts we spend a lot of time thinking about, they just happen. It could be flowers from our garden that really makes our neighbour happy, or a homemade apple pie as we have millions of apples in our garden. Or it could be just a card, or even paying for a cup of coffee for the person behind you in the queue! Or maybe you are thinking about a friend and is searching the web and came across us... I have created a Just Because Gifts online with designs that makes me smile! Take a look!
Maybe today, just give that person you have been thinking about a little call, send a message or pop over with a cake and just say hi. We all love unexpected treats and it is good for our souls.
Have a lovely Sunday
Charlotte xx
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Hej, Hejsan, Hallå!
So Spektakulär Agency, what is that? Well let me tell you! After we closed the shop and I only had the online shop, to be frank I was so so so bored and felt slightly lost!
What next? I started to think about looking for a new career, I applied for some jobs and evening courses. But then out of the blue I got a phone call from one of the agents I have gotten to know during the years.
This lovely lady has also become a friend and we had chatted a bit beforehand about me closing down the shop and so on, then she phoned me and asked if I wanted to be her sub agent for Scotland, hell yeah!
So yup, here you see the Scottish sub-agent for two amazing Danish brands.
What an opportunity! And what a lovely job this is! I still get to work in retail, still get to play shop sometimes, still get to visit shops and chat to amazing people and I get to travel across and visit the most beautiful parts of Scotland. I do feel it works well with the online shop together with this new role.
And after a few months I also became the UK agent for two Swedish brands too. I am so pleased as these are two brands I really care about. Two brands I have sold for a long time in my own shop. So steady but slowly I think I am starting to get the hang of this.
So here you have it, Spektakulär Agency is me being the agent for amazing and fantastic Scandi brands. And I am thinking I will blog about my Agency adventures more often, such as working at trade fairs, visiting amazing shops and so much more. I will also tell you more about the brands.
Happy to tag along? I hope so as I am very excited about this! I have really enjoyed blogging a bit more this week and aim to keep this up!
Have a super day
Charlotte xx
]]>These hangers are called WoW, as they are made of Wool and Wood. You can stick to one colour, either a brighter or just a calm colour depending on the rest of the room. Or if you like me, like to mix and match, then go for it, I have five colours available online. They come in a small recyclable cardboard box, and is designed so that you screw one screw into the wall and then attached the hanger to that screw, it is all very simple and you get a little instruction as well.
I have a whole set of these on one of my doors in the hallway, it is supposed to be for only the girls school bags and jackets but my jacket fits perfect here too so yup we all use them.
What would you hang on your hangers?
I love how they have added a few colour garlands and children's' bags here. Stylish yet happy and so welcoming. Or like below, a little pet corner!
At the Scotland's Trade Fair in March I wanted to use the hangers to display Aveva Designs' wool posters as the posters have colours in them that match perfectly for the hooks and I really love that, sadly those walls were made of some flimsy kind of paper and that did not work but next time for sure!
Something simple as just a small wall hanger can really make such a different to a plan area, bathroom mirror, a happy print. Use the walls in your home, add colour, add designs that makes you smile.
Hej, Hejsan, Hallå!
How are you doing? Great I hope, I hear there is a heatwave down in England, well it is not here, it is warm and humid but wet and windy, and it is fair to say that I am not enjoying a pink fizz in the garden tonight!
Anyway let me tell you about something more fun than the British weather (even though it is a classic topic).
I like to tell you a little bit more about the fantastic LOVI, a Finnish brand that we have stocked at Spektakulär since 2014.
LOVI, founded by Anne and Mikko Paso in Finland. A origami Christmas Bauble was Anne's first design. And what is so awesome with this, well it was made in wood. And today they run the most beautiful sustainable business. Every design is made in their own factory in Northern Finland, surrounded by nature which gives them space to think and find inspiration.
Everything is done by them in house, the design, manufacturing and sales. All products are plastic free, the packaging is plastic free and we love this brand. And what is even more amazing is that they plant trees and work together Eden Reforestation Projects and if you like to know more about how they work, why not head over to their website here and read more about how the protect the nature.
I can not pick one single design that I love more than the other as I love them all! There is perfect little wooden creature for everyone, from the Moomin fan to treats at a wedding.
If you are worried that even the craft-disaster-person will not manage to assemble these as they come in a beautiful paper envelope, then do not worry, they are enjoyable and easy to assemble and there is even handy YouTube videos available. So yup a perfect gift for perhaps a rainy summers day or a nice cosy afternoon craft project with the family.
Now why don't you head over to the webshop here and find your favourite design and please do let me know which one that is your winner!
Charlotte xx
How are you all?
Urck, anyone else had enough of January. I am so over it now! This is a very depressing month as a shop owner. Sales drop like a stock market crash, some days the only sales we have are not sales but returns and refunds which are just sole destroying. I understand why shops close in January, I think that will be our future. Head abroad to a sunny happy place instead.
In January you hear the words, dry, vegan, gym, diet, declutter and of course no-spend January. We shop owners do our best to stay positive, it is just January and it will soon be over. We head to trade fairs to find jolly and happy designs for Spring and Summer, we network with fellow shop owners, agents and suppliers. We listen to retail experts and trying to adapt fresh ideas, we follow trends and eagerly await the colour of the season. All to stay positive.
Now trade fairs is what normally gave me a energy boost when the shop was so quiet that I had anxiety and did not sleep well. Top Drawer has always been my favourite, great atmosphere and wonderful people to chat with. But this year Top Drawer was postpone, and so was Scotland Trade Fair. Formex in Sweden was one of many trade fairs that was cancelled.
This year is our first year without a physical shop, last January we were in lockdown but was hoping we could open the shop for a closing down sale. Online is a very different way of retail, I am sure you have heard me say it about a million times. However there is always something to do and this January I have organised the warehouse, counted stock and trying to work out a future for the online shop. I do have a vision! A great vision what I want to do with the online shop and how to run it so now I shall sit down and get vision board sorted. I read somewhere that businesses with clear vision boards are x% more likely to survive and as 2020/2021 was our trial years, 2022 will be our doing year. It is time to invest and move forward. And I love a good mood-board!
Now first of all, what would you like to see in the shop this year? More colours? More gifts, less home? More home, less gifts? Less colours? More sustainable designs? Special brands?
Personally I am not a great fan of a minimalist home style with expensive brands. I love small brands, brands that want to make a change, family business where you become a part of the team. Designs you can really feel the love behind, not just another design mass produced for the season or nicked from a small business to add to their gigantic catalogue. Buying is by far my favourite part of being a shop owner. I love it, I love finding new designs, I love how a design can make me feel. Happiness and inner joy!
Top Drawer will take place in February but as I will be working as an agent there I will not see as much as I normally do, but hopefully I will get a few hours to catch up and hunt for new Spektakulär treats.
So time to say see ya January and hello February! Time to add colours and joy to the webshop! What do you think about these wool flowers by Aveva Design. Called Endless as they last forever! Let me know and I add them to my next Aveva order.
Charlotte x
]]>It is time for a little new years blog! I guess this is what people do, they reflect on last year and think about the future. However I really do not what to think about last year as it frankly was pretty crap!
So lets leave 2021 and move forward, what do we have in store for 2022?!
Well let me tell you! It is time to focus on the online shop 100% and we are working in the background to create a new layout. We will say good bye to some of our brands and rethink our future brands. We are also aiming to focus more on sustainable designs and brands. It for sure is the future!
Also after thinking what makes Spektakulär Spektakulär we know that it is because we have always been very personal, colourful and we hand select designs we love, and that is what I will continue to work with. Spektakulär is me and yes Richard too, and we loved our shop and to create the same online is damn hard but achievable, so yeah! That is 2022 for you!
We aim to add a few POP-UP shops, just so we can enjoy our chats with you face to face (however more towards the end of the year) and we will add a wish list to the online site so you can find what you want and just create your own little wish list which you can forward on.
So when it comes to new sustainable designs, what do you think about this awesome net bag? Created by The Organic Company and is in 100% GOTS Organic Cotton. Perfect for everyday food shopping and will be reused over and over. The strong strap goes all the way around so it is comfortable to carry on your shoulder and a strong base. What do you think? Pretty cool! I shall order them in asap.
One more thing I really want to do this year is to travel home. I have not been home since new year 2019/2020 and oh man I miss Sweden and I miss my family and I miss shopping in small independent shops back home. Because when I need inspiration, going home and enjoying the Swedish shops is perfect!
Have a great January, you should start noticing a few changes quite soon, we wont do a crazy new webshop reveal, more gentle changes... unless of course you rather have a new look launch...hmmm maybe I need to think about this! But do let me know what you think!
See you soon
Charlotte x
]]>Every year in the brick and mortar shop we were scratching our heads where to find space to display all the new designs that came daily. This time of the year is the most important one for retailers. This is the time we have a chance to grow or recover from a bad year, and it is also the best time for shoppers as the shops are jammed packed with amazing designs.
However this is the first year without a brick and mortar shop and I am being so careful what to order and how much to order as we do not have the same kind of sales online as in the shop. I also aim for light postable designs however yesterday while unpacking Moomin candles, blimey those big candles are something else! You will see once I get them online (they are stunning and large).
And this year we have no backshop or stockroom, yes we have a warehouse which thank goodness you helped me make some space there by visiting the pop-up shop. So every delivery ends up in our dinning room, hallway and front room. Now did I tell you we live in a flat, well it is a big traditional flat but the lack of storage is frustrating. However it is also so much fun to unpack and see all the new designs and it seems like we are all kind of used to live with it.
This Halloween weekend we are working really hard to get everything online and so far so good, I have uploaded two new deliveries and I have two to go. Richard is working in the background trying to make the webshop nicer and easier to navigate and I must not forget to make sure I tag each product with the right tags so it ends up at the right place.
But before I crack on with todays task I shall start with pumpkin carving and Stina wanted to make some Halloween cookies...fine by me, we just had a great delivery with the amazing Swedish Dishcloths so it is both easy and enjoyable to clean up afterwards.
Have a wonderful Halloween weekend and I shall hopefully get everything online very soon.
Charlotte xx
]]>Oh so much loveliness is about to happen at Spektakulär! We are gearing up for a busy June which will include a huge Midsummer Clearance!
We noticed that we have a lot of fantastic designs that is not even online yet so we are working hard in the background to add these online and during June we will also tidy up the webshop more so it will be easier to navigate!
The girls have three weeks left of school, what an odd time this has been, can not believe that it is almost six months ago since we closed the door to Spektakulär, Christmas Eve was the last time we had customers in the shop. I am happy with our decision, taken time to process it but it also took away 70% stress and I am starting to appreciate all the wonderful things about being a small business owner and am missing the lovely things now rather than all the drama that went on in the background. It certainly was not easy to run the shop during Covid restrictions in the run up to Christmas and when I am stressed I pile on the weight and now finally it is starting to let go so am feeling a lot better.
I know many of you are really missing the shop and I am so grateful for all the lovely messages I get and these are great reminders why I love my business. And we are about to add new ideas to the business, which I will reveal in a couple of weeks once it is up and running. But yes I miss the shop too.
We will end our time at the Post Office in Morningside, it is time to move on. So if you are local please do head there to stock up before I clear out the shelves. I am so so grateful for the opportunity to fill some of their shelves with Spektakulär goodies while we were forced to closed due to Winter lockdown.
Now, June is the month for Father's Day, Teacher Gifts, camping, wedding and amazing long evenings in the garden. We have had some cracking sunsets this week, proper pastel colours with pink clouds which I love and can't stop staring at. The trees are so green and the air feels amazing so June can only be a good month, plus this is the month when I turn 40 (not sure how I feel about that).
So what do you need during June? What can I tempt you with? Enamel mugs for camping, perhaps Moomin, Emil or Pippi? Wedding gifts, the stunning Juliane flower pots? Father's Day treats, well anything food and kitchen related is always a winner. Perhaps a great lifestyle and cookbook? Teacher Gifts, I bet teachers just want to sleep for a week or two as this must have been such a challenging year so maybe they like a good book too. Or nice new Moomin mug so they can enjoy their morning coffee in the garden without any stress.
I hope you will have wonderful weekend and it looks like the weather is here to stay, I totally jinxed that now didn't I?!
Regarding the Midsummer Clearance, well you know the deal, if you signed up to the newsletter you will get the news first.
Charlotte xx
]]>Oh yes we have had a wonderful delivery with stunning new cushion covers from Sweden. And this time the collection is all about calm and nature. All to create a soft mood at home. Spira of Sweden have been working with lovely colours this season such as : honey, green, brown and a stunning light smoked blue (which is very close to a light grey). The result is amazing and the Renfana design reminds me so much of my summers spent at my grandparents summer house as a child.
Three new designs, Renfana, Randi and Loop, all that works fab together or with previous collections. Spira is all about mixing and matching and to make each collection work wonderfully together with previous collections. So if you already have a stunning for example Ang in blue it will work amazing with Loop in honey.
Not only have they introduced new designs they have also added new friends to their fantastic friends collection. Here we are delighted to welcome, Stella, David and Bodil.
The friends collection is so much fun and I know you love them too, especially if you find one that really reminds of a great friends or family member.
And finally, have you seen we have a cushion clearance sale at the moment, these are all amazing and lovely end of line cushion covers that I have dropped the prices on, you can really grab a bargain now.
So time to treat yourself, cushions is such an affordable way to introduce calm to a busy room or add lots of colours to spice it up. Enjoy.
Charlotte x
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