A White Swedish Home with an Angled Kitchen

Such is my work as a writer, that I'm sitting at my desk on a warm, summer's day - without a cloud in the sky - in Malmö writing an article about Christmas for a UK magazine. Needless to say, I don't think I've quite got into the festive spirit yet! Lost for yuletide words, I thought I'd take a break and share this bright and airy apartment in Södermalm, Stockholm with you instead. It's just the breather I needed! The 51 m2 / 548 f2 space is perfect inspiration for anyone dealing with awkward angles, an IKEA kitchen that needs a design facelift or a cramped bathroom. Read on to discover why! 

In the kitchen, an Ikea kitchen carcass hugs the angled wall, while Superfront cabinet doors add a design touch. 

Some of the lost upper cabinet space is replaced by metal shelving beneath the window (also from Ikea). 

Right now, it's all about combining different style and eras. I love how contemporary kitchen cabinets stand beside an early 20th century cabinet - part of the original kitchen. 

A second room doubles up as an open-plan dining room and sitting room, with an eclectic blend of furniture. 

Glass doors ensure a flow of light between the rooms - a vital factor come winter! 

A slim vintage filing cabinet doubles up as a cute bedside table in the bedroom. 

Some old Stockholm apartments were built without private bathrooms - with residents sharing communal ones instead. These days, residents have carved out whatever space they can to create a bathroom, often using a wardrobe. I am not sure if that is the case with this small, L-shaped room. Even so, a narrow basin and loo in the shower area have solved the issue here. The white tiles and patterned tiles ensure it feels light and airy and also stylish! 

I thought it might also be useful to share the floorplan: 

Sovrum - bedroom, Vardagsrum - sitting room, Kök - kitchen

Such a lovely apartment with some great solutions (it's available to buy here).  

I particularly like the kitchen and dining area! And of course, the floor! Is there anything that caught your eye?

I am expecting a flurry of thoughts about the loo / shower combination! For example - won't the loo roll get wet? It reminds me very much of our boat loo / shower (we need to remove pretty much everything in the bathroom before we use the shower!). I think I'd try to fit a circular shower curtain or fold in semi-circular shower wall here (if there's room for it!). Do you have any ideas on how to solve this? 

Discover more beautiful Stockholm home tours here. 

Trevlig helg!  Have a great weekend! See you Monday! 

Niki

Photography Elin Sylwan, Styling: Petra Yngfalk for Historiska Hem. 

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An Idyllic Swedish Country Home in a Former Mission House

We arrived back in the Malmö metropolis last night, but my soul is still in the Swedish countryside where wildflowers grow along the roadside and the meadows and woodland are a vibrant green. That's what drew me to Maja Olausson's beautiful house deep in the heart of the countryside of North Skåne, a mere hour or two from here. 

A former mission house, the property was built in 1922 - and is steeped in history. When Maja took over the reins in 2019 along with her husband Johan, two daughters Majken and Juni, three cats and a rabbit, she was careful to respect the heritage of the house while adding modern comforts as well as kitting it out with beautiful vintage finds, some fabulous New Nordic lighting and plenty of patterned wallpaper against an earthy backdrop. The garden has also sprung to life in her care - with each season erupting into a colourful display of blooms including roses, dahlia and other delights. Välkommen in! 

The large hallway is all original except for the floor - giving a wonderful glimpse into its former life as a former mission house. 

Last summer, Jonas Lundberg and Anna Truelsen stopped by to capture the house for magazine Lantliv - the shoot included this glimpse into the kitchen dining area where Lilla Dockekulla wallpaper from Duro Sweden draws nature indoors. 

The above picture is another one for the series captured by Jonas and Anna. It was following a budget-friendly 'mini' renovation which included repainting the kitchen cabinets (NCS S2005-Y10R) and swapping out the floor, giving the kitchen a much-needed refresh. 

The eclectic array of pieces such as a Smeg fridge / freezer and Tropez light (one of my favourites!) are typical of the type of different styles and eras you will find throughout the house. 

You might recognise the large dining room as I featured a wonderful picture of it at Christmas time on my instagram last winter. It's fun to see the same space in summertime!

The large sitting room is dominated by brown suede sofas and a chaise longue from Sweef furniture, as well as a shaggy rug (which are having a moment!) and two poufs which Maja designed as part of a collaboration with online Swedish store Ellos.

A platform at the back of the sitting room serves as a reminder of the past. 

Juni's room is like a fairytale - as well as super cosy! I think one of the take-homes from this lovely scene is the red toadstool lamp - I love how it pops against everything else in the room adding a visual element of surprise. Something to think about when decorating / furnishing a room.  

The feather lamp is available here. 

Outside, Maja has created a wonderful oasis with several seating areas where you can eat, socialise, relax or simply reflect, surrounded by flowers and homegrown herbs and vegetables. 

How utterly charming! 

I particularly love how Maja and Jonas have transformed this space into a home, while still respecting the historical heritage. So inspirational! 

All in all, it's a magical indoors and out. 

Is there anything that stood out to you? I love your observations as they really add so much to each post, thank you! 

See more of Maja's house over at @majasmissionshus

Would you like to take a tour of a few other Swedish country homes today? Here are three you'll love: 

A cosy country home in North Sweden 

An idyllic red and white Swedish farmhouse

A cosy living space in a Swedish country home

Have a lovely day friends! 

Niki

Photography courtesy of @majasmissionshus 

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Perfectly Imperfect, This Paris Loft is a Breath of Fresh Air!

I was Scrolling through instagram yesterday over a cup of tea and this lovely Parisian apartment popped up in my feed. Owner Anne Montecer is founder of sustainable fashion brand Les Sublimes and author of Le Dressing Ideal (The Ideal Dressing?) and lives in this charming loft in Montmartre in Paris's 18th arrondissement. In the summer, Anne and her family head out of town while giving others the opportunity to use their home as a base to explore the French capital via HomeExchange. The whitewashed floors and walls, vintage furniture, books and pretty tiles have come together beautifully to offer a perfect oasis from which to gather your thoughts and rest, before heading out into the 'city of love'! 

I'd be so happy to have this as my base for a weekend in Paris, how about you? It has a perfectly imperfect relaxed vibe. 

See more pictures and get some fab Paris dress code inspiration over on Anne's instagram and also visit her fab sustainable store Les Sublimes to pick up a few staples! Mais oui! 

Have you ever participated in a house swap? Whenever I watch 'The Holiday' (basically, every Christmas!!) I think about signing our house up! I haven't got round to it yet, but maybe one day we will. I'd love to hear about your experiences! 

Also, thank you for all your messages letting me know you are no longer receiving my newsletter / daily post alert - sorry about that! Good news: I've solved it (not easy for a total technophobe like me, I can tell you!). You should now receive a notification each time I post! Hurrah! If you're not currently subscribed and would like to get my posts straight to your inbox, please sign up at the bottom of this page! Thank you SO much for following My Scandinavian Home. 

Have a great start to the week friends! 

Niki

Photography courtesy of Anne Montecer, shared with kind permission. 

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Bringing the Hygge: A New Danish Armchair in Our Little Cabin

Kindly sponsored by Carl Hansen & Søn, all words and pictures are my own.

When you only have a small living space, like our 30 m2 / 322 f2 cabin, every single item needs to be carefully selected. If it takes up too much space or proves to be impractical you've just lost an entire section of your home! It was in this vein I set out to find the perfect armchair!

The answer came in the form of the foldable FK10 Plico Chair. A little background: designed by Jørgen Kastholm in 1963 and relaunched in 2021 by Carl Hansen & Søn, the Plico chair takes up as little space as possible when not in use, while offering supreme comfort thanks to the ergonomic shape, soft upholstery and adjustable neck rest! 

It's one of those items that fell immediately into place and felt like it was meant to be! Not only is it undeniably beautiful, it's also incredibly sturdy and comfortable too! In fact, when Per sat down for the first time he exclaimed: ''Finally, a comfortable armchair in the house!'' And of course, being slim and foldable it's really practical for a small space too. 

It takes its name from the Latin word 'to fold', and true to all good Danish design, it has been carefully crafted with honest materials that will only get better with age, including a certified solid oak frame, leather armrests, brass fittings and a stitched linen canvas seat. 

Needless to say, we absolutely love it -  it's our new favourite piece of furniture. Although, I also am aware that we are not so much as 'owning' it, we are merely taking care of for the next generation!  

While you're here, I am also keen to share a couple of snaps of another lovely Carl Hansen & Søn piece: the RF200 Table Lamp. 

Also known as the petal lamp, it's designed by Rikke Frost and combines warm wood with metal and emits a lovely, mood enhancing ambience. I felt this combination worked best for our cabin, but it's also available in eight other versions! 

All that's missing now is a lit candle and a glass of wine and we're ready for a 'hyggelig' weekend! 

Are you also a fan of iconic Danish design?

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I have been receiving so many messages about issues with the My Scandinavian Home email subscription. Thank you so much for alerting me to this, I apologise for the issue. Blogger has stopped offering the service (very annoying!) so I am now looking into replacing it with something else and hope to launch a new newsletter as early as Monday. I'll come back to you as soon as it is set up so that you can subscribe and receive email post notifications once again. Thank you so much for your support and stopping by to read my posts, I appreciate it so much!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Niki

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