Win six Iittala Korento coffee/tea cups and matching saucers. The Korento range is Iittala's latest launch and I love their bold, summery pattern of flowers and dragonflies
One of the things I miss most about living in Norway is the time-honoured tradition of sitting down and eating cake in the afternoon whilst enjoying a cup of strong coffee or tea. My grandmother always made sure there was a slice of something sweet to pick her up around 4pm, and if she didn’t have a cake already baked there was always the sour cream and vanilla waffle batter on standby for when guests dropped in at short notice.
If you’ve read Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy you’ll be familiar with how much coffee we drink in Scandinavia. Someone once quoted me a statistic that more coffee is consumed per capita in this tiny region than anywhere else on the planet. Who knows if that’s true but we do love our caffeine!
So I’m thrilled to share this gorgeous prize with you from ace Finnish design brand Iittala – makers of iconic glassware such as the Alvar Alto vase:
Alvar Aalto collection dates to 1936 (my parents have had this for 30 years)
Not to mention beautiful, speckled plates from the Kastehelmi range:
Kastehelmi plate
And the endlessly useful Maribowl which we sourced as a prop for my book Secrets of Scandinavian Cooking…Scandilicious:
Maribowl - comes in lots of colours and is perfect for storing fruit, haribo and crayons
OK you get my point. I *heart* Iittala. I simply love all the colours and the bright, bold designs this company have crafted over the years and so when they offered six of their new Korento coffee/tea cups with accompanying saucers as a prize I couldn’t wait to launch this competition.
So here goes: all you have to do is leave a comment on this post and say why you love Scandinavian design.
The competition closes midday on Friday 27th May and is open to UK residents only. The winner will be selected at random and notified that day.
Good luck!
Sig x
Scandinavian design is clear, clean, and simple. Scandanavian design has a lasting quality, and displays the character and atractiveness of Scandanavian women!
I love the fact that the colours are so bright but not overpowering, and that the designs are just timeless.
Skandi Design communicates more than beauty. It spreads a sense of calm and makes room for dreams & memories to blossom.
My best friend is Norwegian (by choice, not birth, she changed her citizenship) and I’ve been a committed reader of fiction from Norway for years. Gunnar Staalesen and Eirik Fosnes Hansen are my favourite writers and Hansen has a scene of coffee drinking on the Titanic that is really brilliant (as there’s a big rat fight going on below decks at the same time) and could almost feature these beautiful cups.
There’s something about Norwegian design that combines beauty with practicality that is very similar to the way Norwegian writers offer glorious characters alongside gritty situations – and the designs are
quite as addictive as coffee or crime novels!
Form, funktion and fun.
I love Scandinavian design because it’s the embodiment of Scandinavian egalitarianism. Objects are designed to appeal to all, they’re classically beautiful with a contemporary edge and avoid outlandishness by being both functional and affordable.
What I love about Norwegian design is that it brings me memories of my childhood, nope, I’m not Norwegian
, but somehow I remember of afternoon teas with my grandmother, she would serve some freshly baked cake, with some tea or coffee, I guess the colors and the design are cosy, simple and cute! Xx
I love the clean, crisp fresh feeling.
I love Scandinavian design as it is clean cut and simple but so fresh, natural and beautifully classic x
Scandinavian design is summed up by clean lines and simple designs. Just my type of thing.
gorgeous goods, Sig. i love it bec it’s elegant, has clean lines and is minimalistic- and bec it goes beautifully w all the Pakistani and Persian rugs / decoration pieces in my home. it perfectly balances everything out. x shayma
Scandinavian design is timeless yet inventive. I love the clean, crisp colors perfect for a minimalist like me:).
I love Scandinavian design because I am a Scandophile
)
Scandinavian design makes your heart leap a little when you look at it. It’s cute, without being twee, colourful without being gaudy, and timeless without looking dowdy. I write this under the watchful eye of my tiny Iittala owl, perched up on the bookcase.
I’ve loved Scandinavian design since I lived in Finland (so Iittala really hits “home”)! It’s so beautiful and clean, crisp and fresh, inspired by nature! I regret that the whole time I was there (1 year – au pair) I never bought anything! Not Marimekko, not Iittala nothing with Moomins on…
I haven’t even been back. These would be a great thing to remind me of what a wonderful place Scandinavia is!
I love it because of the clean, simple, classic lines. Effortless chic but practical too!
I love Scandinavian design because its funky stylish and would go in any type of home i love the the colours the designs and its not too fussy i just absolutely adore scandinavian designs
I love the fact that the colours are so bright, natural and beautifully classic and being both functional and affordable.
I adore Iittala when I discovered it in Helsinki! I love the clean lines of Scandinavian design and the way it fits into my flat.
btw, never had a chance to say congrats on the book!
I heart Scandinavian design because their designs are always crisp, clean, aesthetic and they’re always functional. Perfect marriage of function and design. Iittala, Design House, Marimekko, Birger et Mikkelsen, Flippa K, Swedish Hasbeens, Fjordfiesta furnitures… etc I love Scandinavian design so much at one point I was considering doing a Master of Design in Sweden. Not to mention that there are also LOTS of good music coming from Scandinavia: Club 8, The Cardigans, Lykki Li, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Kent, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Alphabeat, The Kissaway Trail… I could go on and on!
I love the Scandinavian designs. They are fab colours, very classic designs, and have a sleek elegance.
Great giveaway x
I love Scandinavian design as it doesn’t sacrifice style for function, but effortlessly blends the two.
Scandinavian design is wonderful, perhaps my favourite style. Clean yet not clinical, bright but not glaring, striking and subtle all in one. I have several pieces of Scandinavian glass and ceramics, and a wonderful Finnish birch wood tray that I brought home from a trip to Helsinki.
Fabulous.
It’s the long dark November nights that make for good interior designers; there is time to think long and hard about making beautiful chairs that are really comfortable while a thousand candles twinkle in the night and the wolves howl in the pine forests outside, while inside one dreams of the midnight sun and the reflections on the Kattegat from sunlit sandstone cliffs….
Congratulations Joanna! You’ve won the six Iittala cups. Drop me a little email with your contact details and we’ll get Iittala to post your prize. Enjoy using the Korento coffee cups
Signe x
Wow! I wasn’t expecting that! Thanks for the tweet Signe and for choosing me. I will drop you an email right away! How absolutely lovely
beautiful fresh modern design
I just love the clean simplicity of it all. Nothing ever seems to look fussy or cluttered. And I would love to fill my whole house with Scandi style
I love it because it is in my bones.
I love Scandinavian design so much that I chose a Scandinavian designer for our rebrand last year: fabulous use of colours and themes, clear crisp lines and distinctive but classic.
I think the phrase ‘Simplify to Amplify’ says it all, about Scandinavian design. Simple, yet it speaks volumes.
I love the Scandanivan Design as it is simple but the more you look the more you see – a bit like life really! and i just love Dragonflies, they are just magical creatures and its an honour to stop gardening when one flies by!! I think the Dragonfly has been painted well and teamed up with a lovely strong design with great colours! certain to brighten up the kitchen and make the afternoon coffee taste so much richer!
Scandinavian design is:- avant garde, innovative yet timeless.
I love it
I grew up with these designs and really adore them. The new Korento is a stunning set, I can’t wait to get some sent from Finland!
I miss it!
Wherever I am in the world Scandinavian design makes me feel at home, the level of craftmanship for the simplest of items makes them pleasurable to use for even the most mundane of tasks. Joy in the small things
Beautifully simple
being half norwegian scandinavian design has always been a part of my life – ranging from traditional handknit norwegian jumpers to the clean lines of an arne jacobsen chair, its the juxtaposition of the two that makes the scandinavian designs interesting, fresh and, to me, part of my heritage.
As a Finn, I also grew up surrounded with Finnish design: Marimekko, Iittala, Arabia, Fiskars… They are timeless and such good quality that they will truly last a lifetime and more. My favourites have to be the ‘Kivi’ candle holders in all colours one can imagine, sitting on our windowsill and my growing collection of ‘Moomin’ mugs and ‘Teema’ plates&bowls, all getting used every single day here in Scotland!
So proud to be Finnish <3
I love Scandinavian design because it’s cool, sophisticated and delicious, just like the people who propound it.
i love scandavian design because its unique and so totally different to usual modern day designs
Ooh ooh just in time?! x x x
It’s a little touch of home, when I’m far away.
I don’t only love Scandinavian design because it reminds me of home, but its simple and almost naive design really cheers you up! Life is about the small moments that make you happy and the sight of tulips in my Aalto vase or coffee served from my candy pink Stelton termos makes me smile
Wow, I love this – it reminds me of the family glassware my mum gave me when I bought my first flat – glassware from India! Now I have to research the connection, there must be a wonderfully weird link!
These pieces are fantastic, having spent so long going to the simple, minimalist look, I now want to chuck all the white stuff away and replace it with this….
I look at these and all I can see is my childhood in Finland.
Simple, clean, safe and playful.
I’m really disappointed I missed this competition! My grandparents were Danish and had the clear Alvar Aalto vases for as long as I remember. My mum then inherited them and they sit proudly on her dining table in England. I am moving to Norway this summer with my Norwegian boyfriend and am hoping we get our own Alvar Aalto vase as they are just beautiful.
Thank you all for entering the Iittala competition and many congratulations to Joanna who won this gorgeous prize (I’m very envious!) – to those who didn’t win this time do keep checking in for more competitions and great prizes. Have got a list as long as my arm of giveaways coming up
All the best, Signe x
I know I’m late but only just heard about you shortly before leaving for Hay
I love these cups, they epitomise the best of Scandinavian design – unique, fresh and elegant yet playful.
They’re great aren’t they Karla? Sadly the competition’s ended but there will be more great food and design prizes coming up throughout the summer so do stop by again
Lovely to meet you in Hay, hope you have fun cooking from the book! Sig x
Love your new book Scandilicious, we had the “stag” tea set featured on the front cover of the book, when I was a child , I’m now in my sixties! Anyone tell me where I can purchase the Swedish ABBA tinned fish products, Ikea no longer sell this range?
Hope to attend one of your cookery classes,any chance of coming to Yorkshire? Kind Regards Christine Webb
absolutely love your recipes and style of writing. cant wait to buy your book! S x
Thank you Sumayya, really kind of you to say so! Sig x