From Swedish stuga to shop: the renovation

Swedish vedspis - Dala Muses

I’m finally ready to share pictures of our shop renovation. The plan to renovate was there since we bought our Swedish house in April 2016. It had an extra (small) building (a stuga), full of charm on the outside, but old and dark on the inside. I was so focused on the end result that I didn’t even bother to take before pictures (which I regret now, ofcourse!).  At that time it was very dark in general in Sweden, so that didn’t really help my motivation to pick up my camera. Read more →

Seasons in business: summertime slowdown

Seasons in business: how to deal with the summertime slowdown - Dala Muses

We moved to an area with four very obvious seasons, just like I always wanted to. As much as there are seasons in nature are there different season in business. This season, summer, is always a challenging one and I would love to share my tips with all the readers out there with a small business. Read more →

Bucket list of furniture pieces: the Swedish bench

Swedish bench makeover with Fusion Mineral Paint - Dala Muses
Oh the Swedish bench, something I had been dreaming about since we bought our first home in 2005. Around that time there were some antique dealers in Belgium and Holland that offered them, but the prices were not for my budget. Later a lot of dealers started to sell Hungarian benches, and though similar in shape and style, let’s be honest: it’s not a Swedish bench! I also wanted to find one myself. That spark of adrenaline when you hit the perfect piece for a good price on a market, that was also something I was after. Read more →

My own butik, milk paint texture and stenciled leaves

Fusion Mineral Paint, Ludvika, Sverige - Dala Muses
What a complex title I chose. By the end of this post you will get completely what those three items have in common: paint! You may have read one of my posts about the vague idea of opening a shop again. It was a couple of weeks ago and I decided to go for it! I almost forgot to mention it on this blog. I’m stealing a bit of room in my husband’s shop so I can host my own workshops about painting furniture and repurposing thrift store finds into beautiful home decor. I returned to my old love: I will be selling Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint again (just like in Belgium), but … I also added another line of furniture paint: Fusion Mineral Paint. I’m super happy to start this cute ‘butik‘ (Swedish for shop)! Read more →

Meet the Muse: Kristin Vald

Meet the muses: Kristin Vald's lupines @Dala Muses

In my last post I introduced you to my muses through a Pinterest board. One of the muses is Vibeke Svenningsen and I was very glad to interview her a while ago and share it with you. It was so much fun that I decided to start a series on my blog: ‘Meet the Muse’. I want to interview all the creatives that inspire me, show you why I like them so much and share their tips with you. Today I would like you to meet photographer Kristin Vald from Iceland. Read more →