With her taste for adventure and zest for life, it’s easy to see where the bright playful colors and forms in Maria Dahlgren’s patterns stem from.

It all started with a tray design Maria created for her early hometown of Helsingborg. Her current hometown of Stockholm soon followed, along with other cities as far away as London and Tokyo.

With a deep love and understanding of place, she created tributes to her favorite towns through patterns that not only celebrate city landmarks, but their culture, attitude and spirit as well.

To Maria every letter is unique, and every form helps to commemorate the little things that make a place or a moment special.

Sometimes, it’s the everyday rituals such as meals together, coffee breaks, and breakfast in bed that are celebrated.

And why trays and kitchen towels? According to Maria, “These are perfect frames for everyday art that bring a little joy to life, without asking for much attention. My work is based on the same philosophy… there’s beautiful art all around us, if we just open our eyes to it.

Maria’s everyday art is not only good for your home, it’s good for the earth.

Her trays are made from highest quality Scandinavian birch harvested from sustainable forests, and hand-pressed into shape at a family-run company in Sweden. They’re used in top restaurants and are durable enough for the dishwasher.

Maria’s dishcloth sponges are an ingenious Swedish invention and household mainstay. Made with vegetable dye and natural cellulose, they’re not only absorbent and effective, they’re also dishwasher-safe for long lasting use, and are fully compostable.

Buy the Coffee in Bed tray ($26)

Buy the Stockholm tray ($36)

Buy the Set of two dishcloth sponges ($15)

Buy the Kingdom of Sweden kitchen towel ($18)

See more of Maria’s playful patterns and the Stockholm studio that gets her creative juices flowing.