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| ブラウン・シュガー(薔薇) |
I’ve always been terrible at interior design, so the major, long-term makeover of my room—which unfolded almost like a sudden accident—finally wrapped up the other day.
I enlisted the help of people with a keen sense of interior design.
It looks like a book café, and I really love it.
When I think of my room’s interior as simply “my environment,” it all makes sense—it clicks in my mind.
But for some reason, I just can’t seem to successfully blend interior design with the atmosphere I prefer or the elements that make me feel at ease.
I’ve never quite understood the appeal of cabinets, so for a long time, I chose not to have them in my own space.
Since I didn’t understand them, if someone told me, “Put a cabinet here,” I wouldn’t object, but I’d walk right past it in my daily life without even touching it.
Eventually, I came across a type of cabinet that hides its contents—one where you slide open the built-in shelves, close the lid over everything, and display your favorite books on the outside—and I realized, “Ah, this is the kind of design I like.”
It’s a Vietnamese-made cabinet; I bought it several decades ago, but I still use it to this day.
However, since I’d kept the same books on display for so long, a few years ago I wondered, “Is this weird?” I realized I might just have gotten so used to them that I hadn’t noticed they’d taken on a worn, weathered look, so I tried putting different books on it—but they didn’t match at all, so I gave up after just one night.
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| Iron Plant Stand / Temu |
I had actually planned to display it in my garden—which has a lovely name—but I hadn’t assembled it because it would take up too much space.
Then it suddenly occurred to me: “Why not use it as a room divider?” When I placed it there, it looked really nice.
I like to have just one or two items that people might call “useless” or “just in the way,” so this was a pleasant surprise.
It seems the key to improving your interior design sense is to see how you like the view from where you usually stand or sit.
When it comes to photography, I was taught long ago that looking at tens of thousands of good photos helps you improve, and I’ve been putting that into practice—but is the same true for interior design?
Also, I’m wondering if it’s best to start by visualizing a small scene that includes elements that create an atmosphere I like from a specific vantage point, and then gradually expand on that? I’m thinking about this with great delight, even though I’m a bit embarrassed to ask for your help.
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| SWEDISH CAKES AND COOKIES / ICABOKFORLAG |
Even today in Sweden, it’s said that many people purchase this book when they move into a new apartment or buy a house, using it to recreate those flavors and memories of delicious meals from the past as they build their new lives.
The text is in English.
In this book, I found the recipe for “fika”—the soft cookies I’d been searching for—and yesterday, on my second attempt, I finally managed to achieve the flavor and softness I’d imagined.
For my second attempt, I used bread flour (the recipe calls for cornstarch), mixed chopped mixed nuts into the dough, and made indentations in the cookies as I shaped them.
I topped them with raspberry jam.
I think they go well with either drip coffee or black tea.
While I was baking, I used the largest size of the ladle-shaped brass measuring cups I mentioned before (?) for the first time, and I blushed as I realized once again that Hong Kong truly is a place where Chinese and British cultures meet.
These wonderful ladle-shaped measuring spoons, with their great design and functionality, are also from Temu.
As always, I’m buying cookbooks from various countries in an effort to recreate recipes from around the world.
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| Top: Nostalgia Café / Bottom: Nostalgia Diner / Both by Iskra |
Since the country where I live has always been a democracy, information about daily life and recipes from socialist countries hadn’t reached us for a long time.
“Nostalgia Diner,” in particular, is a very valuable cookbook that offers a glimpse into people’s daily lives.
In terms of design, I also find the restaurant displays featured in this book to be very stylish and sophisticated.
In the “Iron City” where I was born, grape bread arrived earlier than in nearby towns back then, and music schools apparently had exchange programs with Czechoslovakia—so the book is filled with designs that I should not have known, yet somehow felt familiar.
When I stumble upon something like this by chance—something I’ve searched high and low for but couldn’t find—I think, “Ah, this!” and feel a pleasant sense of recognition deep in my heart.
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| Pastries and Bread Display / Nostalgia Diner / Excerpt from *Iskra* |
I wish they’d retrofit the refrigeration units in the cake display cases in the basement of department stores and arrange the pastries on beautiful glass shelves like these.
Glass shelf decor is still highly sought-after online. I’m not giving up—I’ll keep searching.
I remember very well how, back in the ’90s, the confectionery section on the lower basement level of a shopping mall in my town—which closed to much regret—was displayed just like this, and I used to gaze at it, my heart racing at how incredibly stylish it was.
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| A plate of delicious-looking sweets / Nostalgia Diner / Excerpt from *Iskra* |
They look delicious, and I like how easy it is to help yourself to them.
It’s not the kind of thing you can eat that much of in a single day, so this amount is just right—and it’s reassuring to see.
I think the key is to place the plate at a height where children can’t reach it.
I don’t see many kids like that these days.
Moms and dads with small children are still treated just as kindly as ever, and I’m truly glad that all of us have come out on top in this long battle.
Seeing moms and dads being so considerate—almost to the point of being pitiful—always used to make my heart ache.
Concerns about flies are certainly valid, but placing strong mosquito coils in front of the store or upwind, or letting the smoke waft inside, is a good idea, isn’t it?
The incense I bought on Temu—the kind that’s been used for ages in mainland China and Hong Kong—also has insecticidal properties, so if you look around, you might find something that suits your needs.
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| Display of Prepared Foods? / Nostalgia Cafeteria / Excerpt from *Iskra* |
They used to sell it at a shop just off Keyaki Street in the town where I live. The bowl was different, though.
Do you mind buying things by weight?
I don’t have a problem with it at all.
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| Holy Communion Veil / Shop Pauline |
My idea isn’t to use it for the day I eventually attend Mass, but rather for those moments when I want to quietly pray in front of a statue of God.
I’m told it was handmade by a sister from the Congregation of St. Paul.
I feel like the lace helps put me in a more contemplative state of mind.
When I catch a glimpse of it while I’m busy, it becomes a moment in my daily life that makes me think, “Maybe I’ll listen to some classical or jazz music.”
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I’ve customized a mini rosary by attaching it with delicate wire to a thin bracelet decorated with blue glass beads.
If I get the chance, I’ll post instructions on how to customize it.
Don’t worry—I once made art objects out of wire and discarded engine parts a long time ago.
Compared to that, this is a piece of cake.
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| Charm (Rose) and the iron shelf used as a room divider |
I’d be happy if you could read it when you have a moment.
Have a wonderful Sunday.



















