To be perfectly honest, Scandinavia wasn't on our "bucket list of destinations we need to see," but this fact is simply due to the fact that we didn't know that much about it. In an odd twist of fate while researching a new car purchase, we learned about the Volvo Overseas Delivery program. We jumped at the chance to save money on a new (and responsible/safe/reliable) car while getting a pair of free round trip airline tickets to see a part of the world that was unknown to us. You know I love a good bargain, so our bags were packed!

Like most, we use vacations to get away from our day-to-day concerns of work and those things that typically stress us out. But for us, we also use the opportunity to take a step back and think strategically about our renovation plans (yes, we're house nerds like that). It seems that getting out of the work zone allows us to think differently about the projects we're working on, how we want to manage and execute future projects, and gives us ideas and inspiration to try out back home. Our trip to London in 2006 for example, was the driving force behind our paint selection for our new front doors. 

The bright blue doors at the Tower of London...

...and the shiny black paint at 10 Downing Street...

Photo Credit: Maapu

...ultimately helped guide us to the final look we chose for the front of our home. (Please ignore the Christmas decorations in this photo.)

Our trip to Scandinavia, just like our trip to London, was chock full of inspiration. 

Not only did we see a wide array of interior design styles and home decor that inspired us (as we discussed in this post), but we were wowed by the intricate details and history of the homes, buildings, architecture, and public spaces. Don't get me wrong. We recognize how fortunate we are to live in Old Town Alexandria, an old (by American standards) town full of historic significance that oozes warmth and charm. But stepping away from our country to see other parts of the world recharges our renovation batteries so to speak.

Today we want to take an opportunity share some of the things we saw on our trip that got our creative juices flowing. Who knows, maybe they'll give you a little inspiration too.

At the time, we were working on our vestibule project and were still debating what type of house numbers we were going to use. I know I had doors and house numbers on the brain because I couldn't stop snapping pictures of interesting doors with Alex's iPhone. (Yep, not camera, iPhone. Why don't you ask me who forgot to pack the memory card for our camera when it was one of the few things he was responsible for?? <sigh> I'm still not quite over that one.)

Alex here:... oops :-)

Sorry, back to what inspires us. Just look at this beautiful door in Copenhagen, complete with traditional gold transom window numbers. As you can see from our decision on the numbers for our house, this is a look that we grew fond of.

Here's a shot of a home in Copenhagen that was also sporting transom house numbers. Although more modest (and let's be honest, in need of a fresh coat of paint and a little reinforcement for above), I loved this door and found the look very inviting.

Transom numbers weren't everywhere though. Here's a stunning entry in Oslo that proudly displays it's numbers on the home itself. And seriously, how beautiful is the iron scrollwork behind the glass? 

I was also drawn to this quaint gate, marking one of the water side entrances to the historic and charming fortress of Old Town Fredrikstad, not far outside of Oslo. Maybe we love all things "Old Town," but the sweeping vine and simple but patina'd light seem to call out to those passing by to come on in. 

Don't worry, we weren't totally fixated on doors alone. In addition to doors, as beautiful as they were, I was also struck by the interesting ironwork throughout Scandinavia. Even the park benches are a work of art in Copenhagen!

Though the red phone booths from the UK are iconic, the British shouldn't get all the credit for making this otherwise mundane and utilitarian item quite interesting. Check out Stockholm's version of a phone booth. Its fish scale roof and feminine shape gives the red telephone box a run for its money in interest and visual coolness. 

Also beautiful was this iron fence in Copenhagen. How amazing could this look surrounding a quaint and peaceful garden?

How about this majestic gate, also in Copenhagen. I can just picture this as an amazing way to admit visitors to a secret garden, perhaps in my Napa Valley vineyard. A girl can dream, right? 

On the subject of gardens, Alex and I fell in love with this little courtyard we stumbled upon in Copenhagen. From the cobblestone pavers to the lovely harlequin door, it was just dripping with charm. We already have the ivy in our own yard, maybe we can pull some of these elements in when we give it a makeover in a few years? 

While in Fredrikstad, I snapped this photo of a weathered historic building. Not only do I love the brick and stonework, but I could see incorporating outdoor lighting such as this along the wall in our garden. How cute would that be? 

Good things come in small packages, and this little gem in Fredrikstad was no exception. Using it as an example I could see building a great little potting shed, studio, or playhouse. I found the chevron pattern of the wood door beautiful, and the patina on the roof added interest and texture. 

Fredrikstad seemed to have no shortage of alluring and beautiful old buildings. I found this courtyard to be particularly appealing. I loved the roof, the stone pavers, and the casement windows. Maybe some day, when we look at renovating our sun porch, we could think about infusing some character into the space with windows like these. 

Just as quaint was this home in Oslo. The textured roof reminded me of the building above in Fredrikstad, and the shape and size of the home was so welcoming.

House colors can be tricky, and typically when I think of rust and gold I think southwest design complete with turquoise and kokopelli. But these amazing buildings in the heart of historic Old Town (Gamla stan) Stockholm showcased how beautiful and versatile these colors can be. 

So there you have it. A quick roundup of some of the things from our trip that have given us design inspiration. I can't wait to begin implementing them in ways around our home. At least we already have the house numbers under our belt, and we love how they look. 

Where do you go to find inspiration? Pinterest perhaps? Decorating shows and magazines? Or maybe a trip to a new part of the world is what gets you excited to roll up your sleeves and dig in. 

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When I'm on the hunt for inspiration, I usually look for a color, fabric, accessory, or interesting item that inspires the look of my space. I do this during every day shopping, magazine reading, internet browsing (thank you Pinterest), and even going through open houses, but this goes doubly if I'm on vacation. Whether we're just in a different city for the day, or thousands of miles from home, I can't help but continue my quest for the new, different, unusual or just plain eye catching. After all, my number one design philosophy is to incorporate one unique item in every room.

When Alex and I visited Sweden last month as part of our Volvo Overseas Delivery adventure, I made sure to soak in the local styles and keep my eyes peeled for some Scandinavian inspiration to get my creative juices flowing. 

After we arrived in Gothenburg and took a short nap (we would have been toast without it), we set out on foot to explore the streets of the second largest city in Sweden. My first impression? Gothenburg is so charming! Even on a slightly cold and drizzly day, we couldn't wait to explore the cobblestone-lined streets and quaint cafes and shops.

One of our first stops was in a store just a few blocks from our hotel that reminded me of a small Bed, Bath & Beyond here in the states. But this was a Bed Bath & Beyond plus chic design. We found an amazing array of chandeliers, modern furniture, and fun and funky accessories. If I had to categorize it, It was sort of a Bed, Bath & Beyond meets West Elm with some pretty decent prices.

We continued our adventure and found ourselves in the primary shopping district and Old Town area of the city. There seemed to be cool and fun stores everywhere, from food to furniture to fashion. While exploring the Old Town section, we stumbled on a few very interesting shops, including one called Stajl.

This place was so cool! Think World Market but way more unique. I was in heaven, to say the least. And I'm very fortunate to have a patient and even interested spouse when it comes to this type of shopping, I'd say he might even enjoy it as much as I do...well maybe not as much, but close. One of the things that caught my eye was an amazing light fixture. It reminded me of the fixture Sarah Richardson installed in the powder room of Sarah's House season three. I can only imagine how great it would look in a dining room, and what interesting light it would cast.

Another cluster that caught my eye was this colorful display of silk lanterns. The soft light that comes from silk lighting is a great accent to most rooms.

I think they'd be beautiful in a covered outdoor entertaining space or in a bedroom.

I also spotted a collection of large metal trays that reminded me of the two Asian platters we recently picked up at a local estate sale. 

We currently have one of the platters hanging on the wall in our family room, and the other we're using as a table top, perched on two wicker storage blocks in our sun porch. I'd like to eventually find our build a better base, and this store had a great example of using it just for this purpose (we actually may have found one last night, I'll keep you posted). 

It was hard to leave Stajl empty handed, so I picked up a small gift for my mother in law, but sadly left without anything for our home other than lots of inspiration for future projects.

Soldiering on with the little sleep we had we came across this natural and organic stool in a kitchen supply store that also had a small furniture and accessory section. I love how eclectic all of the stores seemed to be.

I think it would make the perfect informal seating in a basement wine cellar tasting room, or could be charming as additional seating in a rustic or simple family room with natural or organic decor. Picture it: "Hey honey, pull up the bundle of kindling stool and sit with me next to the fire." Just don't get confused and use it as firewood. 

The price on this piece knocked our socks off (It was about $300!!), but it could be a really fun and relatively easy DIY project. All you'd need to do is cut the wood to size, glue it together, and bind it with a secure strapping, in this case they used metal.

All in all, we had a wonderful day exploring a part of the world we never dreamed we'd have a chance to visit. My only regret? Not bringing a bigger suitcase to transport some of these finds. And to answer what may be an obvious question, no we couldn't just pack it in the back of our new car and have it ship over on the cargo carrier, something about customs, homeland security, and not allowed...blah blah blah. 

What about you? Where do you like to look for your design inspiration? Is it an on/off switch for you, or are you like me and find yourself constantly on the lookout for something really cool?

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Wendy and I just spent the last eight days tooling around Scandinavia and during that time we saw some pretty amazing stuff. But I’m getting a little bit ahead of myself. Let’s take a step back and get you all up to speed on exactly what we were doing well across the pond.

A little while back we posted about conducting our entire renovation using a now 12 year old Ford Mustang. As the only car between the two of us, our Mustang has served us quite well. We’ve been driving our car since the week after we graduated from college in 2000. During our various renovation projects, our car has been a true workhorse. (No pun intended.) On any given weekend you can find us folding down the back seat and packing the usable space full of anything and everything we’ve needed along the way.

Though we have grown quite attached to our car, it is getting up there in years. Over the past few years, and especially whenever the weather threatens snow, we’ve toyed with the idea of replacing our impractical but fun car with something that might suit our needs a little better. However, every year until now we’ve had the “well…maybe next year” decision.

I know you may be thinking “what does buying a new car have to do with a trip to Scandinavia?” Trust me, it all makes perfect sense.

Earlier this year I was talking to a coworker about our on-again-off-again car search. We had recently borrowed a neighbor’s Volvo SUV to run an errand, and Wendy and I really liked the car. I mentioned to my coworker that we were seriously considering a Volvo as our new car purchase. As soon as I said something his eyes lit up and he said “Have you looked into their Overseas Delivery Program?” He briefly described the benefits of a new car purchase combined with a European vacation, and suggested we look into it as an option.

Being the web junkie that I am, I jumped onto the Internet and began researching the program. I was stunned, to say the least, by what a good deal Volvo seemed to be offering. The primary benefits are:

• A significant discount on a fully customized new car (about 5% in our case)
• Two free round-trip airline tickets to Gothenburg, Sweden on SAS
• Transportation to and from the airport and Volvo delivery center
• Two tickets to the SAS business lounge on your departing flight
• One night free hotel stay in Gothenburg
• Complimentary breakfast and lunch on the day of pickup
• A Volvo factory tour
• The ability to drive your own car around Europe rather than renting a car
• And a pretty cool souvenir (your car) from a rather unique vacation

If you're a reader of our blog, you are well aware that Wendy is a sucker for a good deal. I excitedly called her to inform her of the program and almost as soon as I said “two free round trip plane tickets to Sweden,” she was sold. Ok, maybe it wasn’t quite that easy, but she was interested in learning more.

With thoughts of a new car dancing in our head we headed down to the local Volvo dealer to test-drive the car we were interested in. We decided to test-drive a 2011 XC60, their smaller crossover SUV. We’ve long wanted a bit more cargo space, but didn’t want and don’t have room to park a large SUV. We had been looking at various small size SUVs for a while, so this fit right in with our preferences. After a short test drive, we determined the XC60 was the car for us.

Once we had settled on the car as a viable candidate,, I continued my Internet research on the model, options, reviews, opinions, and anything else I could find. During my research, I stumbled on a Volvo website and forum called Swede Speed, a Volvo enthusiasts website, that has a whole section of their forum dedicated to the Overseas Delivery Program or OSD.

Through the Swede Speed forum I found the name of Bob Kennedy, OSD specialist for University Volvo of Charlotte, NC. While purusing this website and others, Bob’s name kept coming up, and I kept reading nothing but great things about Bob’s work with his customers, so I reached out to him and we got the ball rolling on our new vehicle purchase.  

We signed the paperwork on July 1 and sent in our deposit. Our new car that we had long talked about was becoming a reality.

Several weeks later we received the paperwork from Volvo with the official pickup date for our car. We ordered a 2012 model year XC60, which were just coming out, so I knew the wait for delivery might be a little while off. Though we had hoped for a September date, our pickup date was set for October 18. With the date in hand, Wendy and I moved into vacation planning mode.

Since neither of us had ever visited this part of the world, we decided we would take advantage of our new car and drive from major city to major city in Scandinavia, making stops at smaller towns along the way. We typically like to go to a single area on vacation and exhaust what we can do in that location, so this driving around thing was a little bit outside of our comfort zone. In a hope not to feel rushed out of any one location, we decided on an eight night stay with stops in: Gothenburg, Sweden; Oslo, Norway; Stockholm, Sweden; and, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Our trip started at Dulles International airport on October 16. After a very long wait in the rather annoying security line (I thought all of the Dulles construction was supposed to make the lines better, not worse), we headed over to the Lufthansa business lounge in the international terminal. Let me tell you, if you need to start a long trip, doing it in the business lounge with free food, wine, and comfortable seats is the way to go. We didn’t have long before our flight, so after a quick bite to eat, we were boarding our SAS operated flight to Copenhagen.

The plane was an Airbus 340-300, which seats almost 250. Lucky for us, the booking agent for Volvo was wonderful and put Wendy and me in a window and aisle seat on our own. There’s nothing worse than being stuck next to someone you don’t know on an eight hour flight, and this is something we didn't have to endure.

The flight itself was rather uneventful, which is always good. We got into Copenhagen about 40 minutes early. This allowed us to make our connecting flight in spite of a rather long security line at customs. If you’re making this trip, remember that the connection can be tight, so don’t dilly dally.

When arrived in Gothenburg right on time, grabbed our luggage from the carousel, and headed to the exit where we met a driver from Volvo holding a sign with our name on it. We had boarded the plane at about 5:00pm on a Sunday, and with the six hour time change it was about 8:00am on Monday, so we were a bit bleary eyed and ready for some rest. After a short but scenic trip from the airport, the driver took us to our complimentary hotel in Gothenburg -- the Radisson Blu.

Exhausted from the trip and very little sleep on the plan, Wendy and I did what we usually do international flights, we crawled into bed for a three hour nap. For us, the three hour nap is key. We’re not people who can just stay up the rest of the day, we crash about noon, and we’re also ruined for sleeping that night if we sleep more than three hours. Three is our magic number to give us enough rest to recharge our batteries for the rest of the day, but not too much to ruin our sleep that night.

Recharged from our nap, we headed out for some sight seeing around Gothenburg, but we’ll cover that in another post. Today’s post will be more about the whole OSD program and our very fun experience.

As I mentioned, we arrived on Monday, but our real Volvo adventure didn’t begin until Tuesday morning, the day we were going to pickup our car. We kicked the day off with a full complimentary European breakfast at the Radisson. Though there were pastries, meat trays, sausage, eggs, fruit, cereals, coffee, and more, we stuck with a simpler meal of some toast and yogurt. We’re not often into the big breakfasts.

Shortly after breakfast, we met another Volvo driver in the lobby of the hotel to take us and another couple to the Volvo Factory Delivery Center to receive our new car.

The ride over to the Volvo plant was only about 15-20 minutes, but gave us a small glimpse of the Gothenburg industrial area. It was interesting to see, as it seems to be an area that is thriving as a robust port town that is also appreciative of the art and culture as a modern Swedish city. It was also fun to talk to the other couple headed to get their car. They happened to be from Ashburn, Virginia, only about 30-40 minutes form where Wendy and I live. Small world, right?

Walking into the Factory Delivery Center, we were greeted by a clean and modern facility and show room, far nicer than most car dealerships you see in the states.

The centerpiece was a 1961 Volvo P1800, which has obviously been painstakingly restored to a like-new state.

Beyond this, a display area with two new cars, an XC70 and S60, and wall board with examples of all of the various options, color choices, and materials that buyers can choose for their cars.

You could also see to the upper floors of the workspace, where Volvo employees worked in a clean and modern open office setting of mostly glass. As much as I love historic architecture with character, I can really appreciate contemporary and clean when it is done so well.

We began the various paperwork with Hans from Volvo and we were well on our way to receiving our car. We just needed to establish/confirm a few items like delivery location and when we would be dropping the car back a the center after we were done driving around Sweden. 

With the paperwork all settled, Hans disappeared into their holding area to bring our car out. A few minutes later, our brand new 2012 XC60 T6 R-Design small SUV appeared in the pickup/show area.

Hans took us out to see it and go over the various features of the car, like how to turn it on, operate the stereo, set seat position, etc. You have to realize, I’m a tech nerd, and I tend to have an aptitude for this sort of thing, but we’ve been driving a 12 year old car that has little more than a CD player and a headlight knob that sometimes comes off in your hand when you pull it out, so it was nice to have someone familiar give us the grand tour. I mean, this car doesn’t even have a normal key, so I’m sure I would have screwed something up.

After our car tour, we took a few photos of the car while it was still in pristine shape. It was raining outside, so we knew that as soon as we drove it out of that garage door, that was it, it wasn’t really brand spanking new anymore.

It was approaching 11:30 so we opted to let the car stay new for a few minutes longer and have lunch in the OSD cafeteria before we would go for a drive.

I must say, lunch was excellent. They served a  traditional meal of Swedish meatballs, boiled potatoes, and lingonberries. Wendy has the traditional meal, but I opted to substitute an egg and spinach quiche for the meatballs. Wendy did report that the meatballs were quite good.

After lunch we looked around the gift shop for a few minutes, then we headed out on the factory tour at 1:00. The tour departed at 1:00 sharp. Everything about the whole process was absolutely on time and as expected.

The tour was conducted from a small tram with individual cars that would seat about 12 people. Each car had a specific target language for the tour so no one was left out. And since we would be heading through several areas of an operational factory, we had to wear protective eyewear. (We're no strangers to safety glasses).

The tour lasted for about an hour but, unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any photos. The tram drove us around several small portion of the more than one mile long plant that receives sheet metal on one end, and delivers completed cars from the other end. In all, the plant was a clean, ergonomic, organized, safe, and largely robotic collection of assembly lines and buildings that seemed to be running quite amazingly.

During the tour, we were able to see a stamping area where dies weighing several tons were creating panels and parts from rolls of sheet metal, drive train assembly sections where various models of cars were all being assembled in one line, a section where the car’s frame is married to the drive train and body (where a car actually becomes a car), and the final assembly area where cars are first started and driven across the line.

Really, we saw so much that it would be nearly impossible to summarize it all in a post. If you’re interested in the tour, it is well worth stopping by  and you can do it without buying a Volvo (but you'll have to pay a small admission fee for the tour). 

One of the coolest things about the factory tour was the fact that many of the workers actually ride bikes from position to position on the production floor. It’s an easy and fast way to get around an extremely large plant.

After the conclusion of our tour, we spent a little more time at the factory delivery center before heading out and took a few more photos of interesting things, like this Volvo S80 limousine.

With that, we hopped into our new car with just 7.7 miles on the odometer, and headed out on the rest of our Scandinavian adventure. What’s not to love about driving around Europe with “new car” smell?

Volvo has been doing the OSD program since 1963, but several other manufacturers are now offering various similar packages and deals. I know BMW, Mercedes, Audi, and Saab have some level of benefits. Even Porsche is doing it (but I understand the car costs more and no free air travel through them, not sure of the advantage there).

What do you think, is the Overseas Delivery program a perk that sounds interesting to you? Interesting enough to buy a Volvo? If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments and we'll do out best to answer them.

Stay tuned as we’ll be posting about some of the really cool things we got to do and see along the way in our adventure. We really didn’t know what to expect going into the trip, but we had a really good time. We’re back to the real world now, sad to see vacation end, but we’re excited to share some cool stuff and get ramped back up on house projects. 

Now that we're home, we are just waiting for the free shipping of our car from Europe. Anticipated delivery date is sometime in late November.

Oh, one other thing about the OSD program, you get temporary European plates while you are driving your car around. When the car comes to the states, they are yours to keep. Kind of cool and something Wendy has been thinking about using as decoration in our house.

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