Here’s a little taste of the world of photography according to Swedish photographer Ulrika Ekblom. Several dreamy white washed spaces and some adorable kids rooms for your Thursday afternoon.

My sister found this website the other day and I had to share this burst of sunshine. If you haven’t heard of Rice before, they’re a totally fun and colourful shop with sales offices across Europe and showrooms in Denmark, Holland and Germany that carries just about anything you can think of. Bags, bath products, clothing, home decor, jewelry, kitchenware, my favourite – Italian tableware and much more. It’s all about colour and pattern and whimsy and everything is so adorable I can hardly stand it. Their product shots are so cute I want to go to the hardware store and stock up on every bright shade of spray paint they carry.

Two years ago Johan Arvidson started a site called Styleroom where Swedes upload photos from their homes and share with others. They now have over 100,000 photos and have recently started sites in the US, the UKand Germany. TONS of inspiration and creativity…and below are a few photos I selected that caught my eye.

Matthew J. Lanphier designs spaces that are confident, contemporary and comfortable. Graphic elements and bold accent colours that flow with ease. Mid-century cool mixes with Hollywood Regency glam. Love the energy, and I’m so pleased M.J. emailed us about his work so we could share it with all of you.

“Thank you so much for your lovely blog – I read it every day! My dog Molly, on the other hand, spends every day sitting on the furniture, watching for squirrels. This is her favorite pose, on her favorite chair.”

– Jessica Sobti

“A few weeks a go you featured my little Lulu in your pets on furniture post so here’s an update. Her days on furniture may be limited (not really but I probably should pretend)!”

– Shelly Schramm

“Being a proud parent of two cats an a chug dog, I love your posts of pets on furniture. I decided to send you my own, of my new cat gigi that seems to love to sleep on anything but her cat bed. On top of the tv, the cabinet, the table, even on the decor.”

– Cindy

“I really enjoy your blog and thought you might like this photo of my dog Whiskey on a bookshelf in our old apartment.“

– Ciara

“Here are our adoptions from German Shepherd Rescue. The sweet cop and the criminal. It’s pretty obvious which is which.”

– Marla

“attached is a picture of my 5-year-old great pyrenees, berkeley. the tin foil is supposed to keep dogs off furniture. it has always worked, until about 2 weeks ago. as you can see, my house is never clean with a dog like that! but i wouldn’t change her for the world.”

– rebecca

“Kubrick, he is a 1 year old Scottish terrier, in Washington D.C.”

– Kati

“I am a fan of your blog and have desperately held off on sending you a picture (or two) of my dog on my bed. I love your animal features (among everything else) and just had to send you my pictures of Luna. She is a 1 year old Golden Retriever who is always sneaking up on my bed. With a face like hers I just can’t say no to her.”

– Elizabeth

I’d like to add some of my own that I took over the last few days. The first is my old guy Cheeks, napping on one of the sections of my DIY sofa that is strategically placed under the window so all the cats can perch and watch the stray/neighbourhood cats hanging out on the porch (and is covered in a piece of batik becaus the white covers are SO impratical).

Next is Lucky (again) who loves to lean on something when he’s laying down. Here he’s using a freaking pillow on my sofa. UNREAL.

And I took this yesterday while hanging out in the backyard with a few of the cats on their harnesses. This is Felix having a little nap on my falling-apart vintage wicker loveseat.