A Swedish Apartment with a Mid-Century Vibe

It's so important to decorate your home in a way that feels just right for you (and your family). However, if you get stuck on something - like which dining chairs or overhead light to choose, it's helpful to look at the architecture and the period in which your dwelling was built. Case in point: my Mother lives in a house that was built in the 1960s and designed by a well-known architect and struggled to find a light to hang over the dining table. So I suggested the Gubi semi-pendant which was also designed in the 60s. And we were thrilled to find it worked perfectly! 

This Stockholm apartment is situated on the 3rd floor of a block that was originally built in the late 19th century. However, it went through a major renovation in 1939 - during the posgt first world war I 'funkis' period. A Swedish abbreviation for 'functionalism', 'funkis' architecture is designed purely for purpose and function.  The owners have stayed loyal to the funkis style and given the interior a mid-century vibe. The kitchen is also in the origional 'funkis' style (save for the range oven of course!). 

I love that this home is a little different from the ones I've been showing lately, I hope it fills you with inspiration! 

It's nice to see a children's desk with a monitor (usually this angle is skipped out!). It looks as though the entire desk set-up (tabletop, drawers and trolley) are all from IKEA. I love the box at the end of the bid which is used to store games. 

When was your home built and have you decorated it according to this period? Our house was built in 2001 so there wasn't so much to go on! 

See other funkis style homes here. 

Have a happy Friday and great weekend! 

Niki

PS written slightly in haste since I got almost zero hours sleep in the night, do you ever have nights like that? You feel like you're the only one in the world awake! Gaaaah! 

Photography courtesy of Historiska Hem with thanks. 

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Sara's fabulous 'funkis' house in Malmö, Sweden

A few Friday's ago I packed up my photography equipment and nipped over to the other side of Malmö to spend the day with Sara Hallin Sandström. Sara is a Master of CMF (Colour Material/ Finish) at Electrolux and co-producer of Colour Therapy (along with Tina - who's beautiful home I featured here) and lives with her husband Nicklas - an Art Director (and ex colleague of mine - it's a small world!) and their gorgeous sausage dog Kakan in a funkis house from the 1930's. We had a brilliant day, including chats and laughter over a fika (coffee and a small treat) and capturing the details from Sara's wonderful home. I hope you enjoy the tour! 

Tell me about your beautiful house:
Our house was built in 1934 for families working at the nearby airport (Bulltofta, closed in the 1970’s). At that time, it was made up of two apartments with a shared bathroom, laundry room (in the basement) and garden.

What drew you to the house?  

We really love the architecture and the structure. It was made in the early days of the “funkis” (functionalist design) era and this is visible in the details of the house. The very rational structure and the big windows are very “funkis”, while the decorative details inside are more inspired by the 1920’s style. We liked that the house was left in its original state with a lot of original details. We also love the location of our house, it is a cosy, bohemian neighbourhood within walking distance of the city center. And of course, that we have our own garden with several fruit trees (original from 1934) and space to grow our own vegetables.

Have you carried out any major renovations? Yes, we re-made the kitchen and built a modern bathroom next to our master bedroom. But we have also kept the original bathroom with a tub in the basement. When we made the new kitchen, we removed a wall to open up the kitchen towards the entrance of the house, we hired carpenter Christer Bentmon to build a custom-made kitchen inspired by the original but with modern functionality. I painted the kitchen in a traditional, ecological paint made of eggs, linseed oil and pigment. We want this kitchen to live as long as the previous one, for more than 80 years!

How would you describe your interior style?
Eclectic, I like to mix new with old things and things from home with things from other cultures.

How would you describe your colour palette?
Colourful Scandinavian - we have lots of colours in our house but they are all quite muted and not too loud (very Scandinavian!) and work well in combination with other colours.

What tips do you have for anyone looking to introduce colour into their home?  
Dare to be personal. Go for what you like and don’t care too much about trends. But it's always a good idea to try the colour on a small part of the wall before you buy a big bucket. Colours change a lot depending on the light in the room, but that's also the beauty with it! Our grey colour in the living room is shifting from warm to cold depending on the time of the day and the season.

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Thank you so much Sara, Nicklas and Kakan for inviting me into your home - what a fun and truly inspiring day. I think I need to go and fix a walk-in-wardrobe for myself now - how much would you love a room like this in your house?!

Get the look from Sara's home:

Kitchen - cabinets painted in Ovolin (code 5-632), Sara made the pendant lamp using the
HÖLJES Pendant lamp from IKEA, gold electric cable from a local store and this brass vase which she drilled a hole in.

Dining room - the Olle Alberius for Orrefors lamp was a wedding gift to Sara's parents from her grandparents

Sitting room - the round mirror is an antique (from Bukowskis) - this one is similar (see our mirror round-up here!). Sofa from Bolia, Isamu Noguchi coffee table. Book shelves from IKEA (painted the same colour as the wall: Lin from Alcro). Vase on shelf from Stilleben, Copenhagen.

Walk-in-wardrobe - storage baskets from H&M home, Ilva rug, clothes rails from Vore. This, this and this stand are ideal for jewellery.

For more inspiration check-out Sara's blog and instagram feed!

....And that's me done for the week here on the blog! We're enjoying our last couple of days in Spain before I head to London to celebrate the new limited edition Nespresso Variations Confetto collection in collaboration with artists Craig and Karl (candy inspired coffee blends - What's not to love?!) at the Regent Street boutique on Monday night (keep an eye on Instagram Stories!).

I hope you've got some fun plans over the next couple of days?

Have a wonderful weekend and see you Monday!


Photography - Niki Brantmark / My Scandinavian Home. Design / home-owner: Sara Hallin. Styling support from Tina Lekeberg.

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A cool Funkis style apartment in Gothenburg

Hello Monday! I hope you had a great weekend?! Mine was the perfect mix of wine with friends, a day out in the Skåne nature and Sunday tinkering around the home so now I'm ready and raring to go! As opposed to Friday's dramatic home tour, I feel the start of the week calls for something fresh and light, don't you agree?! I love this recently renovated Funkis style apartment for sale in Gothenburg. The mid century tables, string shelving system and black leather sofa are in keeping with the year the apartment block was built in 1947.

Stadshem

What do you love most about this space?

Other beautiful apartments with great mid-century inspiration can be found here, here and here. And of course, in my own sitting room here and here (as you can see I'm a big fan!).

Two of my favourite places to find mid-century furniture are the Malmö based second hand store Nirvana (if you find yourself in Southern Sweden!) and online auction house Lauritz (if you don't find yourself in Southern Sweden!). Do you have any other tips?

Have a lovely Monday! 

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A cool vintage industrial style Stockholm pad

Oh hello Friday, how lovely to see you! And you brought the sunshine with you - you make my heart sing....! Today's industrial functionalist (or 'funkis' as the Swedes like to call it) apartment belongs to Hannah and Christopher Bastin and daughters Irma and Klara. Located in Vasastan, Stockholm, it's been artfully decorated with a cool industrial bistro style kitchen and a fab dose of mid-century throughout. I'm loving the plants, vintage furniture and pops of hot pink.  What a perfect pad for the weekend, don't you think?!  I've got my eye on those wine glasses....

Photography: Johan Sellén (shared with kind permission). Featured in Elle Decoration.se

Lovely, right?

Most importantly that wine glass storage: to get the look you can find a similar rack here. Or buy stainless steel prongs in a local hardware store and fix them to the wall like the owners have. On it!

Another nice detail (shown in the set of pictures over at Elle Decoration) is how Hannah has made a montage using menus from her favourite restaurant. Wat a great idea on so many levels?!

Many of the other items seen in the home have been found at flee markets all over the world - inspiration to go get hunting?! My favourite places online to find vintage / industrial items are Etsy, Ebay and Lauritz.

I love industrial style bathrooms with this one being one of my all time favourites, and I could soak for hours in this bath, beautiful right? I'm also a huge fan of outdoor baths and showers - part of the plan for my dream summer cottage....one day! What does your dream cottage include?

Have a really fabulous weekend (I hope the sun's shining where you are too!). See you Monday!

PS A Dutch guy is selling his house and has found this entirely unique way of showing people around....genius?!!

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Peek Inside Swedish Homes In My Home Viewing Exhibition

My Scandinavian Home Partnership*: One of the things I love the most about Swedish architecture and design is that it's made for the many - and designed to be used, day in day out, time and time again. When I first moved to this Scandinavian country many moons ago, I was mesmerised by people's homes - and as you very well know, I still am! Swedes take so much pride in creating a practical home that's also a feast for the eyes. In essence, every house and apartment in Sweden is like visiting a wonderful exhibition!

Photo: Mattias Vogel / Skeppsholmen Sotheby's

That's why I was really excited when the Swedish Design Museum invited me to curate The Home Viewing Exhibitions last year. The curation resulted in a series of public open home viewings in regular Swedish homes across the country. 

And now, we invite you to virtually discover the wide variety of handpicked homes - from country houses to city apartments - online. Head on over to the Home Viewing Exhibitions to take the tour and read about a Falu red summer cottage on its own island, a 'funkis' (functionalist) townhouse from the early 30s and a show stopping property packed with Swedish design classics - and many others!   

Oh, and there's more. 

Photo: Tim Bohman / Fastighetsbyrån

Add a touch of Swedish Design to your home:

This year it's all about video conference calls, and I'm sure I'm not the only one fussing over the background before each call (and selecting a great top to match my pyjama bottoms!). 

How about creating a Swedish design backdrop for your calls? Pick from one of three beautiful Swedish rooms and instantly transform your home into a light and airy living space, a villa overlooking the archipelago or a cosy log cabin - no tidying required! 

Background photo: Tina Stafrén / imagebank.sweden.se 

Background photo: Patrik Svedberg/ imagebank.sweden.se

Photo: Patrik Svedberg / imagebank.sweden.se

So fun! Loving the roaring fire! 

Here's how to create a virtual Swedish design background on Zoom:

1. Select your favourite room from this image bank and save it to your desktop 

2. Open your meeting in Zoom and click on the arrow beside the video icon. Select 'choose virtual background' from the drop-down menu. 

3. Click the plus icon and choose 'add image' from the drop-down menu

4. Select the image you would like to use for your backdrop. 

And that's it! 

I look forward to seeing you over at The Home Viewing Exhibitions at the Swedish Design Museum! 

Niki

*It was an honour to be curate this exhibition and promote it as part of a paid partnership with Visit Sweden. 

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