By Katla HreiðarsdóttirSeptember 05, 2015

Systur & Makar are turning one year old today- we bought a summerhouse as a present for us!

Yes, it's true! Today it has been a year since we opened our first Systur & Makar store in Akureyri!

Almost four weeks earlier last year we got the idea to open Systur & Makar, this year, at exactly the same time we got the idea to buy a summerhouse here in Iceland.

September 5th last year we opened up our store, September 5th this year we will get the keys to the summerhouse!

It's just remarkable timing and we can hardly believe it, this is apparently our time of the year when the ideas are flowing and the action is taken!

(This time next year: we will be put to sleep!)

Anyway, the idea was to find a house we could refurnish, paint and up-do for us to enjoy and rent out to travellers. We started looking and found this little gem just about 40 minutes from Reykjavik city in a lovely summerhouse area. It is a beautiful little cottage with two bedrooms, bathroom with a shower, low sleeping loft and an open area for a kitchen, dining and living.

It has a fireplace in the living room and a lovely, price winning garden! (We have to keep that up for sure!) The previous owners were an older couple that had nurtured the garden and the house since I believe they got it. The garden has plenty of grass and greenery as well as the natural old lava surrounding this area and a large wooden patio with a path to a little outdoor house. This little cabin could be turned into an extra bedroom or a wet area with a shower, bathroom and changing room whereas we are thinking of bringing in a hot tub for the outdoor space, that is pretty much a "must" in Icelandic summerhouses!

The garden also has a football field, a garden-house with strawberries and a kids playground with swings and a slide.

It is located in a beautiful valley surrounded with tall mountains, such a dream!

Right now it is in the traditional summer house - pine covered look from ceiling to the floors which is a style that is super cosy and warm. We would however like to brighten it up a bit, the ceilings will be white, the beams wooden, slightly darker than now and the walls light grey. We want to import little black features to the area, soft tones mixed with caramel, chalk, contrasts and greenery.

Lots of soft furnishings such as blankets, pillows, throws and carpets in loads of textures mixed with bast baskets, glass vases and black picture frames. We want the lighting to be soft with lamps that can be dimmed and a kitchen with open shelving.

Yeah, it will be a change and we will show you everything on the way. Please stay tuned by following our blog, loads of DIY ideas and fun "before and after" images coming soon!