House Tour: Lotta Jansdotter's Cozy Brooklyn Crib

Lotta Jansdotter's line of hand-printed home products, accessories and paper goods has a devoted following. The self-taught designer launched her business 13 years ago and relocated to Brooklyn in 2006. In recent years, Lotta has penned several books teaching others the wonders of making prints by hand.

Lotta's latest venture is a new decorating kit out this month from Chronicle Books. Lotta's Printing Studio is a kit that comes with two carving knives, two printing sponges, six stencils by Lotta and a small booklet on how-to make stencil prints. We caught up with Lotta for a tour of her Brooklyn apartment, which is filled with examples of Lotta's own handmade work.
Lotta's white, calm bedroom is accented with homemade treasures. "I enjoy making quilts, but not really the traditional ones," says Lotta. "I am not a very patient person, so I sewed together a bunch of scrap swatches at a rather fast pace - very crooked and unmatched -- but I kind of like it that way!" Lotta also stenciled the cushion on the bed and tells us "It's so easy to make your own designs using stencils - really!!"

When Lotta and her husband moved into this rental, they found a mirrored wall in the kitchen. "Now, we can't live with that, can we?" Lotta jokes. The couple found a fast and cost effective way to hide the mirrors: Con-tact paper! "You need a lot of patience (my husband has that) to place Con-tact paper, but we are very happy with the result," says Lotta. If you try this yourself, Lotta warns to watch out for the bubbles.

The clever shelving on the left side of the living room is a combination of white kitchen cabinets from IKEA and shelving from RAKKS. Lotta also made the pillows on the couch from fabric from IKEA. "I love that place!" she quips. The curtains are also handmade by Lotta, with a sheer part to let the light in and a more opaque part to block the view into the apartment.
In the nursery, the baby quilt is from IKEA, while the wall art is actually a piece of 'Kulkue' fabric from Marimekko that Lotta simply pinned to the wall.

The linen tablecloth and the wall hangings at left are both Lotta's own designs (the hanging pieces are actually table runners that she pinned up on the wall). The dining chairs are a more recent purchase from West Elm. Lucky us, Lotta was so excited to share her home with ShelterPop readers that she also sent along one of her favorite Swedish recipes for kanel bullar (more commonly known as cinnamon buns to you and I.) Thanks, Lotta!

Lotta Jansdotter's Kanel Bullar (makes 25 buns)

Dough:
1 oz. yeast
3 oz. white sugar
1 cup whole milk
1 egg
4 oz. butter
1 tsp. salt
1 tbs. ground cardamom
26 oz. flour

Filling:
4 oz. butter
2 oz. white sugar
2 tbs. cinnamon

Glaze:
1 egg
Pearl sugar

Crumble the yeast in a bowl and stir in a few tablespoons of milk. Melt the butter and pour the milk on it. Add the rest of the ingredients and knead the dough in a dough mixer for 10-15 minutes. Let the dough rise while covered at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough so it is about 1/8 in. thick and 12 in. wide. Spread the room-temperature butter on top. Make a mixture of sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle it over the dough. Roll the dough the long way and cut the roll into about 25 slices. Place them with the cut edge upward in paper molds. Place on a baking sheet and let rise under a towel for about 60 minutes or until the buns have doubled in size.

Beat together the egg and water, brush the mixture carefully on the buns and sprinkle pearl sugar on top. Bake in the oven (425 F) for 5-6 minutes. Allow cooling on a rack.