A Swedish Apartment with a Mid-Century Vibe
Friday 19 January 2024
Sara's fabulous 'funkis' house in Malmö, Sweden
Friday 3 November 2017
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.
***
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.
A cool Funkis style apartment in Gothenburg
Monday 24 March 2014
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!
A cool vintage industrial style Stockholm pad
Friday 17 April 2015
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?!!
Peek Inside Swedish Homes In My Home Viewing Exhibition
Friday 23 October 2020
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 |
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 |
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.