Interior design, home decor and trends. Environment and technology. I get out and about a lot in connection with my everyday life – and there are lots of stories to tell. The focal point of it all is my universe: RAIS Art of Fire.
Here on my blog, I will share my adventures with you. It may simply be a little tale from my everyday experiences. A story that makes me proud. It may be a longer explanation that will enlighten you. Inspiring images. A meeting with a satisfied customer. A little surprise. News. Insight. Outlooks.
You are welcome to share your thoughts with me. Express your opinion and ask questions. It is through dialogue that thoughts take flight and the best ideas are born!
Really, how hard can it be to answer three simple questions? It’s not hard at all…
Many of us probably walk around with a dream of how we could live. In a new way. A better way. Renovating what we have. Or starting over.
Some people are successful in turning dreams into reality.
Just look at how amazing Funkis Tina’s home turned out.
It isn’t always a question of age, laziness or how busy you are. Sometimes it’s just a need to spend your time differently.
The focal point is grain and food culture. The place is Guldager, a small town in northern Jutland.
You can’t see it if you don’t know it’s there ... Isn’t that how the saying goes? That was what I experienced at any rate when I visited one of our customers – a couple in a lovely, recently refurbished bungalow.
You can’t help but feel warm and fuzzy when you get fan mail. And we just got some, in fact all the way from the USA – Northern Minnesota to be precise.
I know I have said, time and time again, that the details can make all the difference…
But now I also want to show you with a prime example from real life – out in the real world where people live and enjoy the fire in the fireplace.
If I were to say Montana, Lego and Poul Cadovius shelves, the common denominator would be: anything goes...
The “yurt” originates from Central Asia. For over two thousand years, the nomads of the Mongolian plateaus have built their yurts, lived in the location for a few months, packed everything up and moved with their flocks to new grazing grounds. To set up their yurt again.
Some people might question why we at RAIS have gone to the considerable effort of producing a magazine to present our wood-burning stoves and fireplace inserts.
Because everyone knows avoiding traditional marketing with its paper, printers and transport is considered normal these days.
As a long-time pusher of wood-burning stoves, I have helped peddle and explain the truth innumerable times, which is: that RAIS has such a large and varied range of stoves that you will always find one that is just perfect for your home.
When, like me, you spend hours upon hours most work days in a factory where raw steel plates are transformed into, let me call it “designer furniture of sorts that produces warmth”, it is both motivating and encouraging to discover fine examples of how the products are incorporated in homes and businesses by the owners and users.
I reckon I am not the only one who, as a child, had the idea of building a little house up in the treetops. And never did...
I'll get straight to the point: for years, I have been a user of an ordinary wood-burning stove. In my daily work, I am mostly at my desk in front of a computer, so I actually enjoy felling trees and all the outdoor work involved in handling the firewood.
I would like to invite you on a little photo safari. All the way to a forest by the name of Mazama – far away from everything in the US state of Washington.
In the weeks leading up to Christmas, we often feel we have all kinds of things we need to get done.
Just planning the holidays and making all the arrangements can take time.
In the weeks leading up to Christmas, we often feel we have all kinds of things we need to get done.
Just planning the holidays and making all the arrangements can take time.
When there are small children in the family, we also want them to notice it is Christmas – and things need to be done in their pace. There's no rushing.
Just twenty years ago or so Halloween began gaining popularity in Europe – a tradition that spread from the US. Actually it was Irish and Scottish immigrants that originally brought the custom with them when they immigrated to America...
Pears are everywhere this time of year. If not in the garden, then in the neighbours garden. And at the roadside stands and the farmer's market. And at the local grocer and the supermarkets.
A little bird told me that a gas-burning stove from RAIS had moved into the lobby of one of the big, busy hotels nearby, Hotel Jutlandia in Frederikshavn. So I made a little trip.
Our newest stove is called Nexo. I love to talk about each and every new stove. After all, they all have their merits, new designs and perhaps new functions. Otherwise we would not have created a new stove here at RAIS…
When we were out for a day of fun in the woods with Fyrrekrat kindergarten, I saw just how easy it is to relish the little things in life. Like roasting over an open fire. Including a grill.
When you have a busy schedule, making good on all those good ideas and finding time for raw hygge can be hard.
Here in our family we just love our Circle, which we feels reaches a new level when it comes to design and grills…
And we are happy to talk about how good it looks on any patio or in any garden. ☺
Here is the "firewood basket" I have been looking for myself...
It's compact, it's lightweight – and it feels nice to carry.
A picture on Instagram led me to designer Bruno Jakobsen, who had incorporated a RAIS inset into a wall built specifically for it.
I have been looking forward to presenting the iconic Circle to you. And now, I can show you the first images… ☺
Just look at how this newly designed bonfire stove can add an element of chic to your outdoor living space! Garden or patio. Created here, in the land of the Vikings, for use in any season.
Circle sits almost majestically atop its base in any type of weather.
When I look out the window in the morning at the trees and their bare branches, it reminds me that it is high time to fell the wood we'll need for next winter. Many have likely already been out with their chainsaw and splitting axe...
How fun is it really to read or write about cleaning and clean glass on a stove? Not much, is it?
But how delightful is it to truly be able to see the fire and enjoy the beautiful colours and light effects dancing in the flames?
How about a little herring with a beer and snaps by the fire? That is all a part of Christmas here.
In Denmark, where I sit - RAIS's homeland and still its country of production – we have short, dark winters. But at this time of year, we have LOTS of hygge indoors, with a crackling fire and pleasant heat from the stove.J Fur on the sofa and woollen throws.
I have actually been a little excited about the first reactions to our new product from RAIS: Woodframe.
It is in the pipeline, but I can already show you some photos of the first installation for one of our regular customers, Jacob at Skagenfood in Skagen...
With the firing season almost upon us, this is a perfect opportunity for me to strike a blow for our mantra, Art of Fire. It really just means that everything should form a synthesis – stove and fire… J
In springtime, flowers blossom, and in autumn, so do all the new designs! In my world of stoves, we are getting ready for a season of extra heat and cosy hours by the stove...
…and you can be co-designer of your own stove!
I will begin by uttering the trending word in design: customization. It covers the more recent phenomenon whereby we manufacturers leave the decisions to you, the customer.
Design with colour – and stoves.
How does a stove become an integral part of your interior design? How does it work together with the rest of the interior and, not the least, with the colours you want in your home?
Touring Skagen
What do fish and stoves have in common? The link between the two may be difficult to spot! And yet...I was recently in Skagen to visit Jacob, a cook at Skagen Food.
Inspiration for your outdoor area
The days have grown lighter. Longer. Energy is coming back. The birds are chirping. Hurray, it is spring! Are you also just coming out of winter hibernation? Are you just like me – anxious to get out into the fresh air, under a blue sky, and start working in the garden or on the patio? Then read on.
Here in Jutland, people don't brag. But we're going to anyway...
Because when we discover that some of Denmark's best designers – from among the many makes and models available on the market – with great care pick and install a RAIS! It is heart-warming – not just on a Swedish farm or in a black ranch home near Esrum Lake in Northern Zealand – but in Frederikshavn, too.