It's a cover-up

Design-It-Yourself: umbrella stands, plant pots and fancy drawers

Do you ever visit a favorite blog that has an interesting post that leads you to another blog where you discover all sorts of new things and, before you know it, you have traveled so far away you can't even remember where you first started - you've discovered some amazing stuff, but where did the time go? That's what happened to me today. The internet is a gift - and a curse!

Thinking of the old adage April showers bring May flowers, I wanted to share a couple of great design-it-yourself ideas that I came across relevant for the time of year:

This umbrella stand comes c/o Design Sponge and is a great idea, especially if you live in a rainy place like me (Scotland!). You can find very clear step-by-step instructions on how to put this together as well as a complete list of materials needed here and there's loads of room to DIY it to your own specific look.

Another brilliant yet simple one again via Design Sponge - transforming plant pots and jars into beautiful one-of-a-kind potters. And this is one the whole family can get stuck into. At the moment my 4-year-old daughter is growing cress as a part of a school project and incorporating a home made pot would really bring the project up a notch. Again, step-by-step instructions and a list of materials needed can be found on Design Sponge.

Finally, I also came across this gem thanks to Swedish blog Sak och bild. I recently wrote a post on how to Design-it-yourself: chest of drawers and thought that this is another great idea. I have in fact been looking for a solution for my children's arts and crafts materials and this would be ideal! There are long flat drawers for paper and coloring books, smaller drawers for paraphernalia like stamps, glue, ribbons, pipe cleaners and good sized drawers for coloring pens, paints, paint brushes etc. I love the way Ina of Sak och bild painted it the colors of the rainbow - it looks childlike without sacrificing sophistication. The Mackis storage range from Ikea is similar to this. Just paint the units in the colors of choice and fasten together. 

Have you put your creative hat on and made something you're proud of? Share it with us! Send it to me at blog [at] bemz [dot] com.

Kramfors gets covered in Canada

Maggie of Canada sent along these pictures of her home, including her Kramfors sofa with a new Josephine - Strong Pink cover from Bemz on it.

This is what Maggie had to say:

We're from Canada. I've loved this Kramfors sofa for a long time, but it was discontinued before I was ready to buy a new sofa. Luckily for us, there happened to be one more left in the as-is department, so we bought it even though slipcovers were no longer available. After a lot of back and forth between colours and prices, we finally decided on this bright and noisy fabric, thinking it would be perfect because our home is rather neutral.
As you can see we made the right decision. We absolutely LOVE this cover. It fits well, looks beautiful and really adds stylishness to our tiny home. I would HIGHLY recommend this product to anyone.

You made a great choice Maggie! Thank you so much for sharing your home with us. You are doing a wonderful job - keep it up.

If you would like to have pictures of your home published here, send along pictures of your Bemz cover to me at blog[at]bemz[dot]com or post it on our Facebook page.

Linen week! 10% off until June 3

Now that summer is firmly knocking at our doors, there's no better way to usher it in than by filling our homes with gloriously crisp and cool linens! To help you achieve this, Bemz is selling all solid colored linens at a 10% discount from today, May 27, until June 3.

To take advantage of this offer, choose from any of the 16 solid colored fabrics from the Belgian linen blend series (51% linen, 49% cotton) or any of the new 100% linen fabrics from the Rosendal Pure Washed Linen range.

Go to the shop to order your favorite linen slipcover or pick up some free swatches to see how the fabric works in your home.

Loose Fit: Country style goes large

Our latest hot on-trend look, Loose Fit: Country is officially launched today, and we are not the only ones excited about it. Big thanks go out to Swedish blog Purple Area who shared in our joy, and Yvonne of Yvestown who posted about it on her other blog Today I Love. Also, thanks go to Chez Larsson who presented a really cool collection of Bemz images from this new collection alongside non-Bemz images of the photoshoot location. Some people have such beautiful homes!

Read all about this new shabby chic inspired look here and here or pick up one of the new exclusive 100% washed Belgian linen covers at bemz.com.

And while I'm sharing the gratitude, I also want to pass on thanks to ohdeedo for highlighting the usefulness of our daybed covers and to Architect Lines for appreciating our designer fabrics, including Marimekko and Lisa Bengtsson.

Trend alert: flowers

Photos of catwalk shows for Stella McCartney and Dolce and Gabbana c/o How to look good

It's not just spring that is alive with hazy, wild flowers. They've been blooming everywhere from catwalks to curtains. 

Photo left: Ren bed linen from House of Fraser: right Bluebellgray cushions

In homewares, these have been captured as petals and long grasses swaying in the wind along with giant blossoms.

Photos c/o Anthropologie and Bluebellgray

You can introduce a splash of this trend with Anthropologie's Verdant Acres dinnerware (pictured left) or Bluebellgray's print (pictured right).

Photo c/o Kim Klelund

Or go the whole hog with this stunning sofa by Kim Klelund, called Fabula. Fabula indeed but unfortunately a fabula price tag to match, ringing in at over £4000. If you love this look, don't despair, you can still get it at a fraction of the cost.

Photo c/o Bemz

This very similar designer piece will set you back less than a tenth of the cost of Kim Klelunds, ringing in at a very decent £369 (excluding the sofa, which can be picked up without a cover from Ikea for around £200).

Photos c/o Bemz

Don't you love this trend? Adopt some floral today and enjoy the cool breeze and the hum of the bees as you bask in own indoor garden. Bring on summer!

Credit: Livingetc June 2010 issue

Beige for Ektorp in Belgium

Gregory of Belgium first posted a picture of his Ektorp chaise longue on the Bemz Facebook page. He chose a Sand Beige cover for it and said:

I received the beige cover for my chaise longue fast and it this perfect on it, looks completely different than the standard fabric, will be ordering more, nice thanks

But he didn't stop there - oh no. Gregory is in fact an interior consultant and has had his home featured in several magazines and TV shows! He kindly put together this collage of his home, which also features his chaise longue (top right) newly dressed in its Bemz cover. You can see more photos from Gregory's home here.

You have a beautiful home Gregory and obviously a good eye for design. Thank you so much for sharing it with us!

If you have a Bemz cover and are proud of it, share it with us! Send a picture along to blog[at]bemz[dot]com or post it on our Facebook page.

Remembering John-John: our Bemz dog

Just a short note to pay tribute to Sara's dog John-John who died suddenly two days ago. John-John has trotted around the Bemz office (everyone of them!) since the company started. He has modeled for us. He has protected us. He has made us all laugh as his snores penetrated the din of the office.

We will miss you John-John.

Bemz goes a little bit country with new sofa covers

There's something exciting happening today at Bemz: the Inspiration Store is shut and it's by invitation only for the press because we've got some pretty big news. Bemz is adding a completely new look to their range: a Shabby Chic-inspired slipcover made from 100% washed linen.

This versatile rustic-chic style, popular for home interiors, is now available in slipcovers for Ikea furniture for the first time - exclusively from Bemz. Taking its cues from the provincial feel of rural French interiors combined with the comfort and intimacy of ’English rose’ country homes, Loose Fit - Country is the optimal combination, embracing a looser fit as well as 100% linen textiles.

"This is a very exciting step for us. Aside from the fact that we absolutely love these new fabrics and the beautiful Loose Fit – Country slipcovers, we are also taking our product range to a whole new level thereby further developing our own, individual look." (Lesley Pennington, CEO and founder of Bemz).

These new slipcovers are manufactured using an exclusive linen from Belgium, a country with a centuries-old tradition of flax cultivation and processing. The fabric, a new addition to the Bemz collection, is pre-washed to give it that soft, beautiful, vintage-like, wrinkled look. The new range of 100% linen fabrics, called Rosendal Pure Washed Linen, will be available in Absolute White, Unbleached, Sage Brown and Medium Grey.

Loose Fit - Country will initially be available for the most popular Ikea models: the Ektorp, Tomelilla and Nikkala ranges, as well as the Henriksdal dining-room chairs though the fabrics from Rosendal Pure Washed Linen range will be available as the standard made-to-measure style for all Bemz products. The Loose Fit - Country covers and Rosendal Pure Washed Linen fabrics are available to order from bemz.com starting Tuesday, May 25th.

Bemz does B2B and Swedish Lernia gets a make-over

It's true: most of our customers are people like you and me - people looking to make a change to their homes. But we're not the only ones taking advantage of Bemz covers to transform the look of our sofas and chairs. Did you know businesses also use Bemz covers?

Lernia, a Swedish company providing a range of services including staffing, training, job coaching and organizational development, decided they wanted a uniform appearance for their offices in their 80 locations across Sweden. Here's the look that won.

Seen above is the team from Lernia responsible for the make-over, relaxing in their winning entry. Marianne Björk and Ida Larsson are basking in their victorious glory on the Klippan sofa in Mandarin Orange, while colleague Gabrielle Widell is enjoying her success on the Klappsta chair, also in Mandarin Orange. We couldn't be happier with their winning choice!

Find out more about Lernia and the services they offer here.

Now more Kramfors models

Any Kramfors owners out there will be happy to know that Bemz has now added the 2-seater sofa cover and the footstool cover to the collection of for this range. That means you can now get covers for the 3- and 2-seater sofas, the sofa with left or right armrest, as well as the chaise longue with left or right armrest, and of course the footstool.

Not been holding out for the Kramfors? Send us an e-mail at customerservice[at]bemz[dot]com and let us know what you are after. Our customer service reps keep a tally of all the requests sent in and will drop you a line as soon as they have any good news to share.