I started blogging 12 years ago - and one of the things that has surprised me the most, is how many wonderful people I have met! Interior designers, photographers, homeowners, bloggers, brands and most importantly you guys via your comments and mails (even if you're a 'silent' participant, I see you!). It's meant that I have never felt alone - despite tapping away at my laptop solo! Thank you!
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting photographer
Karen Hilmersson who reached out via Instagram. Karen is French and lives in Belgium with her Swedish husband Pelle and their teenage children Lilly (15) and Eliott (soon 18). The family frequently visit Malmö and recently bought a charming summer cottage in nearby Österlen. We discussed the project over a coffee recently and their holiday home is every bit as lovely as Karen described. Read on to discover more!
Where is your summer cottage located?
The house is situated near
Sandhammaren in Österlen. We love the South and this part of Sweden as we always spend days here before going back to Brussels, and we have friends in Malmö and Lund which are very close. I also like the proximity to Copenhagen. I love Sweden and am so happy to finally have a place here we can call ours.
Österlen is popular among Swedes especially in summer thanks to the beautiful nature, is this one of the reasons you picked this location?
Absolutely. Our cottage is close to marshland... we have fields on the one side with the sunset in front of the terrace and woods on the other side. The beach is only a ten minute bike ride.
I'm excited to see inside! First, let's take a look at the floorplan.
Glossary: Vardagsrum (sitting room), Kök (kitchen), Sovrum (bedroom).
Can you describe the layout? It's a summer house that originally had three separate units from the 50s, and the previous owners turned into a whole house (keeping one unit separate - not featured here as we have yet to renovate it!). The former owners lived here year-round and the house was in good condition, which meant we could focus on more cosmetic updates.
I love the kitchen! Did it look like this when you moved in?
We kept the kitchen that was already in place and painted the cabinets in
French Gray from Farrow & Ball. The vintage dining table is from AB Småland in Malmö.
What do your days look like when you are at your cottage?
We enjoy this house in every season. In the summer, we love to make meals and invite friends over on one of our long tables inside or out and watch the sunset from the terrace. We also enjoy the fireplace and watching movies on the big sofa (from Meli Meli) in the autumn and winter. The surroundings are also very important to us, the beach at Sandhammaren and the hills of Kåseberga are amongst our favourite and Kivik is a short 40 minute drive. There are also some nice restaurants nearby and we love
Orum117 bakery and pizzeria!
Decorative bedspreads can really lift a room! I love the ones you have in your bedrooms, where are they from?
We found them both in AB Småland in Malmö, I think they are from the Danish brand
Masala.
I like simplicity of this bedroom. Can you tell us about the details?
I understand the bathroom was one of the bigger renovation projects?
Yes, it was a total renovation. The floor tiles are from
Marrakesh Design and the subway oat milk wall tiles are from
Dekora (although they looked verrrrrry different in the shop!). The sink is called SVEDBERGS MYRE from Bauhaus and the shower and taps are both from
Tapwell.
What a wonderful getaway you have created! Thank you so much for giving us a tour!
***
You can see more snapshots from Karen's home as well as her beautiful portrait, lifestyle and travel photography at
@karenhilmersson or on
her website where she also sells a selection of her prints.
I hope you enjoyed the tour of her home as much as I did! I am looking forward to meeting Karen next Friday along with the Australian lifestyle and travel photographer
Lean Timms here in Malmö. So exciting! My job is to find the best coffee and cinnamon buns in town for our 'fika'! Tough but someone's got to do it!
Would you like to see a few other beautiful Österlen homes today? Don't miss:
Planning to visit Österlen?
This house belonging to an architect is available to rent via Airbnb!
Happy mid-week friends!
Niki
Photography: Karen Hilmersson, shared with kind permission. 
1
styled and written by 
' last year and I can safely say she is as lovely as she is talented. Here's a sneak peek of Beautifully Small.
