Mindful Decorating: Tips and A Tour of a Cosy Swedish Home in Holland

This grey, rainy Tuesday in Malmö calls for a day indoors - preferably in 'mysbyxor' (comfy track pants) and some very chunky knit socks (although these days I swear by my Swedish Shephard slippers!). Slightly further South, founder of Hemma Interiors Matilda Kristoffersson, a Swede living in Amersfoort, The Netherlands is cosying up at home with her Dutch husband Thijs and their three children Luuk (2.5 years) and newborn twins Joep and Lill. Matilda is an interior stylist who prides herself on a 'feeling first' approach. The mindful home has become a hot topic in recent times, especially as we find ourselves spending a copious amount of time indoors. I caught up with Matilda to find out a more about what it means and garner a few tips. 

Can you tell us a little about your house? 

We live in a terraced house measuring 135 square meters, divided over three floors. On the ground floor, we have our kitchen, dining, and living room as one open space with warm oak floors throughout. On the first floor we have our bedroom, family bathroom and our children's bedrooms  (Joep and Lill share a room). On the third floor, we have an attic space with high ceilings which serves as my workspace as well as a guest room for when my family comes over from Sweden. Both the first and second floor has white stained pine wood floors. I am very traditional Swedish in that I love white walls and light wooden floors. The house is situated on a quiet street in a newly built area with a canal just in front which we can see from our large windows in the kitchen and our bedroom. It is a great place for children to grow up and our son often plays with his friends out on the street in front of our house. 

How has being Scandinavian influenced your style and work? 

Being Swedish I think home is something really important. It gets pretty dark and cold during a big part of the year, so we tend to spend a lot of time in our homes, and that of our friends. I am very passionate about helping and inspiring others to create a home that truly makes them feel good and “at home” via my company Hemma Interiors (hemma means "home" in Swedish). I do this via my Instagram, my Online Course in Mindful Interior, and a new Guided Room Meditation that I am about to release. 

That sound really exciting, I'll be keeping a look out for your course! How has your interest in mindfulness and your Swedish background contributed to your home decorating? 

I take a mindful and “feeling first”  approach to how I decorate our home. This means that I think about how I want to feel in a space, and then connect this to design and style choices. So there is quite a mix of styles in our home with a more rustic kitchen, minimalistic bedroom, eclectic and classic look in the living room. But our entire home is still very Scandinavian I would say. In order to have a peaceful flow in the house, each space still has a similar color palette and materials; I’m very traditional Swedish in that I love a white wall and natural wood. We buy most of our furniture second hand as I believe that it is the best for our environment and it gives a very personal feeling to a home. I also buy a lot from IKEA (also second hand often) which I hack and upgrade to make my own. This really gives an outlet for my creativity.

Mindful decorating has become a big topic lately, can you tell us more about it?

When people hear I combine mindfulness and interior, they assume that it must mean minimalism and light colors, kind of like walking into a yoga studio. But in reality, a mindful interior does not necessarily mean that it looks in a certain type of way, but rather it is about the power of really tuning into our own personal style and focusing on how you really want to feel in your home, rather than how it looks from an outside perspective. Something I call “Feeling First” interior.

I think how we feel in our homes have become even more important over the last few months as we spend so much time in them now. Our homes are, and can be, so much more than just a place where we eat, sleep and watch TV. It is truly a space that we can use to relax, spend loving time with family and friends, and fully be ourselves in. 

  

How does mindful decorating differ from the usual way you might approach decorating a home? 

Decorating your home in a mindful way, 'Feeling First' instead of 'Design First', flips around the traditional decorating and interior process. You start off by exploring how you want to feel in your home, and then think about what type of colors, materials, designs and styles fit with this feeling. It is about starting from who you are and realizing your own personal style in your home, rather than trying to recreate that of someone else. And by doing so, empowering yourself to be and show who you really are in your home. Because if we are not able to celebrate our true selves in our own homes, then where else?

Do you have any tips for anyone looking to try a mindful approach to decorating? 

To me, the core of mindfulness is to embrace what is and be grateful for what you have in the now - because at the end of the day that is all we ever have - this moment now. By embracing what our homes are right now we can decorate from a place of gratitude and start to truly connect to how we want to live in them. I believe that we all have something that I call “Interior Intuition”, a sort of powerful guiding gut feeling of how we want our homes to look and feel. The trick is just to learn how to connect to it, and trust it. 

Here are three tips to get your started: 

1. Dare to listen to, and trust, your own interior intuition
2. Start with gratitude. Embrace what is already there rather than get caught up in the things you don’t like 
3. Think about how you want to feel in your space rather than how you want it to look

***

Thank you so much to Matilda for sharing her home tour and mindful interior tips. Oh - and a big congratulations are in order on little Joep and Lill! 

You can find out more about Matilda's online courses here.

I hope you found this topic as interesting as I did - do share your thoughts below, I'd love to hear them! 

Niki

Photography: Matilda Kristofferson 

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Choosing a Wood Floor For our Tiny Cabin, From Light to Dark

Disclosure: Norrlands Trä have kindly agreed to collaborate with us on this project

Hejsan! A cabin update is long overdue! We're still nutting out the interior details and lately we've been focused on the floor. Living in Scandinavia, it was a no brainer to go for a wood floor - I love the warmth, the softness underfoot and how it ages over time. We were specifically looking for a wood floor with a simple and traditional look and that comes from a sustainable source. We headed to Norrlands Trä - the Swedish company from whom we got our wall panelling (and only use FSC certifiable wood from the forests of North Sweden) to pick up some samples from dark to light. Here are some of the variations we considered - and the wood floor we eventually chose.

Blond tones

Nothing says Scandinavian like 'blond' wood, don't you think? The light touch is great for brightening up a space, while still adding warmth. But there can be massive variations in light wood - from almost white to dark blond (it's starting to sound like a trip to the hairdressers!), and don't get me started on the subtle nuances: from cold to warm tones, and how the colour changes over time. It's a minefield! 

Lightest shade

Save from painting the floor white, the brushed pine (Borstat Furugolv) in 'ultra protect white' is the lightest in the Norrlands Trä range. It's close to white and has a wonderful, ridged patina with the grain showing through. Pine can be incredibly soft, and so I like that the surface has been gently teased away with a brush, making it a more durable choice. 

Light pine

We were also drawn to the pine floor (Putsat furugolv) in ultra protect white which has been primed and then sandpapered giving a soft, smooth result (a treat for the feet!). We love that it has a traditional and rustic feel which is so synonymous with the Swedish summer cottage. One thing to be mindful of - the softer finish does require some extra work over the years to maintain it. However, it is made from solid wood so you can sand it down as often as you like - or leave it as it is and appreciate the patina as it ages.  I'm guessing we'd do the latter!

Darker wood floor tones

You might have noticed that darker wood floors have been making a comeback lately. The deep hue is great for adding contrast, grounding a space and creating a cosy ambience. 

Grey finish

This brushed pine floor (Borstat Furugolv) has a lovely rustic feel - and we liked the stone grey finish. Given all the windows in our cabin we could definitely get away with a darker floor like this one too. 

Dark finish

And finally, we looked at going completely over to the dark side with a brushed pine floor ((Borstat Furugolv) in ultra protect brown. The rich tone gives a wonderful atmospheric feel and adds a whole level of cosiness. It's perfect for creating that dark cabin feel. 

A note on wood ageing over time

Wood is a natural substance that darkens over time - especially when exposed to lots of light. Some wood gets more of a grey tint, whereas others can appear more yellow. Check with your wood floor supplier before purchasing to find out about each individual wood floor. Also, be mindful that rugs block the sunlight which can leave permanent marks on your wood floor. If the room gets a lot of light, think about removing them periodically.  

Our choice of floor

Edited: originally I wrote that we went for the primed pine floor in ultra protect white but this was an error - we actually chose the primed parquet pine floor in ultra protect white. This has an extremely similar look and feel, but the parquet is a more practical choice for us since it simply clicks into place making it easier to install, where as the solid wood needs to be nailed into place. Also, it's thinner which works better with the lower ceiling height in the loft. Overall, it has a lovely summery feel and during the winter it will help to brighten up the darkness! 

We tested the sample up at the cabin. 

Welcome inside my humble home! 

The panelling on the walls and ceiling is now in place and looks so beautiful! And the wood floor is a perfect fit! 

Below is the simple material and colour mood board we have decided to work with. The stone and white tile will be installed in the bathroom and the dark sand is for the kitchen cabinets. It feels like it reflects the surrounding coast and forest in a beautiful way - what do you think?  

It feels like things are really starting to happen now and it's the cabin is moving from an empty shell into a home! Exciting! 

What type of floor do you have in your home? Do you have a favourite out of these different looks? or perhaps you have gone for tiles, like my sister who has a dog. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below! 

Niki

Credits: 1. Lifestyle photo courtesy of Norrlands Trä, styled by Lotta Agaton. 2 - 6 Lifestyle photos courtesy of Norrlands Trä. 7+ photos snapped with my iPhone by Per and myself this weekend! 

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A Norwegian Bedroom Gets a Budget Make-over

Welcome to the second post in the before and after mini make-over series in association with Builders Bay (a builder's little black book for all things needed to renovate your home). In the first we looked at the fabulous transformation of a Miami penthouse (I'm still dreaming, are you?!).  But of course not all renovations need to be on this scale, sometimes you simply want to pep up a room without investing too much time and money, right? So today, I thought we'd go a little closer to home: and take a look at the beautiful bedroom of  blogger, photographer and visual storyteller Katerina Dima in Oslo, Norway. Katerina was looking to add warmth to a fresh white room and allow the history of the 1850 building to sing - all on a shoe string budget. I caught up with her to get the low down!





Who lives in your home?
Me (Katerina Dima), my husband and our cat Milo (who is largely undocumented on my social media because she sleeps and rests in the most ridiculous and unflattering positions. If I was running a comedy instagram account I think she would be a total hit.



Sounds to me like he could be a #CatsofInstagram star?! The  interiors you show in your blog are simply stunning, do you work in the world of interior design?
I am a trained architect with a masters in renovation and restoration, although now I work full time as a freelance photographer / visual storyteller for brands in association with my blog Only Deco Love and instagram. 



Ah, what great skills - do you find that you're constantly updating your home as a result?
We are renting but have carte blanche on any renovations. This was the reason I was allowed to completely change the look of the bedroom and skirting boards plus paint the windows.



I see you have great bones to work with?
If I am not mistaken, the building was built around 1850. It's a really funny story, one of the most convenient things is a small and remarkably beautiful storage room right by our stairs (our apartment is the only one on the floor), and I thought, I was really lucky to have it. It turns out that in the 19th century these buildings had no toilet (our floor was made up of many smaller apartments) and the 'storage under the stairs' was the common bathroom. There's no evidence now this was a bathroom but I have the most elegant storage ever - I really shoot in it but it is super cold!

What were you looking to achieve with your bedroom renovation?
When we moved in, the owner had painted the entire apartment white. It is a beautiful old apartment with ceiling rosettes, very high ceilings, big windows and original floors that were painted grey - and I guess white made perfect sense as a neutral palette. However, no matter how I tried to style the bedroom specifically, it always felt unfinished. Really tall ceilings can have that effect. I didn't want to overwhelm it with furniture and decorations in order to impart some life into it, I prefer my living space minimal and clean, yet welcoming and warm. The solutions was to create layers with paint and skirting boards.




How did you envisage the paint to make a difference to the space?
The layers of paint would provide interesting transitions that would fit the old apartment and define the space between the floors and ceiling, but without making it too heavy.

How did you choose the colour?
I knew I needed to offset the grey-blue floors with beige, this way the resulting tone would be warm (blue hues give cooler results and I'm not a fan of cold hues in the bedroom). I am a big fan of the Jotun Lady beige palette, especially the darker colours.

What other renovations did you need to carry out to create your vision?
I installed new skirting boards.  

Did you have any challenges with these?
I knew I would have to do everything on my own (with my husbands help), or else it would be too expensive, and our budget was in fact our biggest challenge. Buying the big pieces for the new skirting boards/panels I needed was not an option after all due to the enormous price, so instead we opted for DIY. In Oslo we don't have the equipment to create our own panels (another obstacle), and this is where the idea came to me to buy simple small and relatively cheap skirting boards, and create the panels I wanted by means of an illusion. I  added the small boards 30cm above the previous one, nailed them to the wall and painted the old skirting boards on the floor the new board and the wall in between the same color . This creates the illusion of a single but quite bigger panel which gives the room an added desired layer while it brings a palatial feel, exactly the result I wanted! And honestly you can barely tell even when looking at it up and close. We painted 5 times over and over again so the wall looked exactly like the wooden boards, and that was the only difficulty. We used a saw to cut the boards in the length we needed and a plastic guide that we found in the same hardware store in order to cut the corners of the boards in a 45 degree angle. 

FYI - you can source different size skirting boards on Builders Bay here. 

 It looks beautiful! So calm! What colours did you use? 
I painted the skirting boards and the windows the same colour (Space 10678 from Jotun Lady in Supreme Finish Matt for wood panels) to give a sense of community, but also because darker windows appeal a lot to me lately. I painted the walls in a light beige / grey colour (Sommersne 1928 Jotun lady, super mat). The colour is described as not quite grey, it was exactly what i was looking for. I debated whether to paint the whole space the same colour along with windows and skirting boards but decided against it. I wanted to add layers and introduce interesting transitions. This is also why I didn't paint the wall all the way up to the ceiling, leaving a ribbon on the top in the previous color that matched the ceiling (white).






I love the effect of not painting the walls all the way up to the ceiling, can you tell us more?
Because the ceilings are so high I wanted to create layers so there would be interesting transitions making the room feel warmer.  I decided to create a bottom layer with the panels/skirting boards, a middle layer with the wall painted in a different colour, and finally an upper layer that stayed the same colour as the ceiling. This way there would be a natural transition from the white ceiling to the wall as there is no decorative ribbon, making the design feel deliberate rather than incidental.

 How long did the renovation take?
The whole room took us two days from start to finish after we had decided on the plan ( the boards took us about two hours to cut and nail to the wall, then filled any holes with a special white glue that gives a smooth finish ), and this was mostly waiting for the paint to dry. The costs were very minimal, and I feel if we did it, anyone can!



How would you describe the final look?
The style is very minimal and combines early century with contemporary Scandinavian accents. The building was built in the Neo classic era with modernist yet romanticism architectural influences, I wanted to keep the feel of it but also bring it into this century. I think the colours helped me achieve that, but also the details I chose to use in the form of art and furnishings.

And finally, do you have any tips for anyone looking to do the same?
If you want to lightly renovate a room on a budget, painting and creating “faux” panels is a great way (if it matches your spaces original architecture), and it can completely transform a room beyond your imagination. Come up with a plan and create a moodboard to help you out, but I would say my key learning  to be able to adapt your plan on the go while trying not to stray too far away from it. Also if I learned anything from this is that these things are much easier than they look , you will be surprised by how much you can achieve on your own and in a short time! So go for it :)

What a beautiful space. I love how the clean, calm look allows the period features of the building to stand out, how about you?

In case you're curious about any of Katerina's carefully curated pieces - here's a quick guide:

Get The Look

1. April 02 Poster
2. Skagerak - Georg Desk
3. Skagerak - Edge Pot
4. Mobil 100 pendant - Monika Mulder 2016
5. Spade Stool Black
6. Snowball Floor Lamp
7. Skagerak - Reflect Wall Hooks
8. FRAMA Adam Stools


Thank you so much for sharing your renovation with us Katerina!

You can follow all of Katerina's latest projects over on her beautiful blog Only Deco Love and instagram. 

Have a lovely day!

CREDITS: Photography and Styling: Katerina Dima / Only Deco Love. 

 

 * All words are my own, and I only ever work with brands and services I feel are of interest to my readers. Thank you for supporting the businesses that make My Scandinavian Home possible.

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6

A happy Swedish home with black floors and bright colours

As I finally complete my off white floor  - this Swedish home comes along and throws everything up in the air! GRRR! Will you take a look at those glossy black floors?! What a striking backdrop the black and white makes for all those bright splashes of colour and lush plants?  Owners Hannah and Don Billberg are an impressive duo. Using a shoe string budget they set about building the home and then furnishing it with flea market finds and items bought second hand online -  and a bucket load of imagination. The result is a truly inspiring, vibrant family home. What a perfect tour for the weekend, let's take a tour....

Homeowner: Hannah Billberg Stylist: Anna Mård. Photographer: Karin Foberg - shared with kind permission.
/ Hus o Hem. Post inspired by inspired by Desire to Inspire with thanks. 

Wow, I love this home. It's so refreshing! I love the creativity with which it's been put together. How about you?

I first visited Sweden when I was around seven years old to visit Ullis and her family (who are still great friends today). Her mother Yvonne, has a loom and she'd make these wonderful rag rugs. I've been a huge fan of them ever since - they're just so simple and such a great way of brightening up a space. I love how the colourful rag rugs in Hannah's home pop against the black floor too. Try Etsy for similar.

Other simple ideas to steal from this lovely home:
- Create moodboards using colourful pictures to brighten up a hallway, or delicious looking recipes cut out from magazines in the kitchen.
- Add a touch of comfort to bent wood chairs with fluffy, bright colour seat cushions.
- Adding a splash of paint to a simple box makes a fab wall-mounted bed side table.

Is there anything that stands out to you?

You can see more of Hannah's charming home on Instagram. 

For more inspiration this weekend I'm loving this cheerful Swedish home with bright splashes of colour and another home with black floors but in a whole different style. Or perhaps you're inspired by green floors or even red floors?!

Have a wonderful weekend and see you Monday! 

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