my scandinavian home

A Cosy Country Home in Snowy North Sweden

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Here in Malmö in southern of Sweden, it's been unseasonably mild - so much so that it's still considered to be summer meteorologically. But Sweden is one looooong country, and in the far North they've already had their first flurry of snow.

Frida Lindgren shares snapshots from her everyday life in Tvärålund Northern Sweden - including glimpses inside her cosy country home, which she shares with her husband Anders, two sons Axel and Viktor as well as a host of pets! If you've been following my blog since 2018, you might recognise Frida's house - but as someone who loves to tinker with interior design, it's being constantly updated, so I felt it was time for a new feature!

Think maximalist rather than minimalist, lots of pattern and prints, vintage finds and layers of texture to keep the cold at bay. Oh, and I love the swing and star lanterns - keep your eyes peeled!

We had jars exactly like this in our kitchen growing up. I remember there was a really long one for spaghetti! They create such a nice display and are really practical too!

According to reports, the more you have your food on display and can see what you have, the less you are likely to waste food. Do you organise your food into jars or keep it in its original packaging? We're kind of a mix but I'd love to be better! I love these labelled spice jars*.

Side cabinets like these are massively popular right now. The good news is, you can easily find simple inexpensive ones second hand and then give them a new lease of life with a lick of paint!

Checks and gingham patterns are also having a moment - and tablecloths* and bedding* are a perfect way to bring your home up to date. I'm really happy with my gingham ironing board cover too (something I never thought I'd hear myself say - although it still doesn't actually prompt me to do any ironing ). Since then, I've found a whole market out there for them like this one for autumn and one for spring - who knew?

How pretty is this peacock chair? Such a great find!

The sitting room area is layered with texture including a large rug, blankets and sheepskins for a cosy feel.

Now that I've just updated my laundry room (thank you. so much for all your lovely comments non Friday!), I have a new found love for the room. Frida has gone for a traditional look with wallpaper, a chequered floor and plenty of baskets.

The swing I was talking about. What a perfect way to sit and look out over the wintery landscape at the end of the day.

Ever since moving to Sweden, I've loved these Christmas paper star lanterns* that hang in the windows, they look so pretty in the winter darkness.

How cosy! And such beautiful surroundings too. It's really got me in the mood for winter and the holiday season ahead, how about you?

See more of Frida's lovely home over at @froken.frida.

Are you in the mood for more snowy pictures today? Grab a coffee and blanket and check these homes out:

A lakeside Swedish log house in the snow

A stunning white farmhouse in the snow

Simple Christmas touches in a Norwegian by a snow-covered fjord

Have a cosy start to the week!

Niki

Photography: Frida Lundgren / @froken.frida, shared with kind permission.

Before and After: Our Laundry Room Make-over

Paid partnership with Elfa, all words and pictures are my own and I only ever work with brands I love and think you will too.

Do you have a neglected room in your home? Despite living in our house for almost fifteen years (wow, has it been that long?), we've never touched our laundry room (except of course, to do our laundry!).

It's situated on the middle floor beside the bathroom and bedrooms and is a small, windowless room - even so it's an absolute godsend!

At the beginning of the year, I declared that this would be the year we'd finally organise our home, and so far, we've created a new wardrobe and sorted Allie's bedroom. And now it's time to give our laundry room some tender loving care, with a little help from Elfa, who make super smart storage solutions.

Here's how we transformed the room from an unloved space to a fresh, beautifully smelling and practical laundry room.

Before

'Don't air your dirty laundry in public' - so the saying goes. Thankfully, everything in these pictures is clean. Even so, it doesn't make it any less embarrassing!

A narrow space, our laundry room has bright blue tiles on the floor, a row of simple hooks along the wall, and a drying rack hanging from the ceiling. The latter was probably our biggest bug bear as it swings around when you try to hang clothes on it, and Per constantly bangs his head on it while ironing his shirts.

Stowed against the wall, the ironing board (which is desperately in need of a new cover - cringe!) often slides down in the night making an alarming clang.

On the opposite side is the washer and dryer as well as shelves where we keep bedlinen and towels (and the odd rogue item such as er, sunhats!). There's also a handy sink and cupboards which we rarely use as they're quite hard to get to beside the hanging dryer.

OK, embarrassing moment over. Time for the fun bit: the transformation!

The plan

Wall mounted storage

In a small space like this, wall mounted, flexible storage is key. Elfa helped to design this highly functional formation for us. The beauty of this system is that it's centred around wall hung tracks to which you can click-in all kinds of units and accessories such as shelves, drawers, hooks etc. You can also add to the arrangement over time.

The wide section on the left is for two wall mounted clothes dryers and on the right, we'll have space for wall mounted shelves and hooks.

We actually opted for one central bar in the end - but if you're inspired to do something similar and would like to make your space even more practical, you could opt for two central brackets to make your drying shelves even more adaptable to the space.

On door storage

I've had my eye on the on door storage ever since my first post about Elfa. Centred around a central bracket, the baskets can be moved up and down. You can also add hooks. It's perfect place for all our laundry soap as well as other accessories.

Prepping the room

We wanted the space to be more in keeping with the rest of the home. It can be really costly to re-tile, so instead we bought a special V33 tile paint which is especially designed for bathrooms. Per and I applied several layers to the wall (white) and floor (light grey). I've actually never tried a tile paint before and I'm amazed at the results!

The next step was to lighten the shelves and worktop. To do this, we sanded down the oak before applying a special white oil wood treatment and finish by Osmo.

And finally, we painted the rest of the room white before the ELFA units were installed.

After

Tadaaaa! Can you believe this is the same laundry room?

To the right of the room is the Elfa storage. We added two drying shelves, a wire shelf, a wire shelf basket, a storage track, storage track hooks and a clothing accessories kit.

Collapsible drying shelves

Above you can see how the drying shelves collapse against the wall to make room for other things like sorting clothes and ironing. We can also change the height or remove them entirely.

Shelves and hooks

The high shelves are ideal for extra storage (the storage boxes are part of a set from the Marie Kondo collection from Studio Elfa in Malmö).

One of my favourite things is that now we can hang the iron from hooks. Oh, and did you notice I changed that gross ironing board cover to a new gingham one (from IKEA)?

I also swapped out the old laundry baskets for a pretty rattan one (there's another laundry basket in the cupboard opposite for 'overflow' - we're a family of five, after all!).

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room...

The lighter wood, white tiles and light grey floor have really helped to freshen up the space.

I also changed the door handles (it's all in the details friends!) - these are called Knob Helix, you might recognise them, as I have the same ones in our cabin kitchen. And I picked up the baskets in town to store our bed linen and towels - so much neater!

Door storage

Last but not least, the wonderful door storage is made up of a series of wire baskets which click into place. It's made space for all our laundry soap (I love Humdakin), cloths and other items - leaving the area around the sink clear.

And there you have it, our new laundry room!

Who would have thought that a room like this could bring so much joy (never thought I'd say something like that)?

I hope you like the transformation as much as we do!

Next step... the attic (gaaaah!).

In the meantime, if you're in need of more storage at home, have a play arounds with the Elfa online 3D planning tool, or seek help from Elfa professionals (available pretty much worldwide) - you'll have your home organised in no time!

If anyone's looking for me this weekend... I won't be hanging out here in the laundry room, hopefully, but I am thrilled with it!

Have a great couple of days and see you Monday!

Niki

Photography: Niki Brantmark / My Scandinavian Home

Styling: Helen Sturesson

Sanne's Cosy Country Home with Vintage & Antique Finds

I'm really on a roll with Swedish country homes right now, aren't I? I hope you don't mind, it's just that I keep discovering rural properties that are just too charming not to share! This beautiful late 19th century / early 20th century farmhouse in Dalarna belongs to Sanne and her family.

It's a part of Sweden I've been to a few times and I love the forests, lakes and quintessentially Swedish red and white cottages. Sadly, I've never been to visit Sanne (and her wonderful store) though.

Apart from having an eye for beautiful interior design, Sanne also has a gift for finding beautiful vintage and antique pieces which she sells through her store Kollgården, in a converted barn. Needless to say, I'll be stopping by next time in the area. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the tour of Sanne's beautiful home as much as I have!

So beautiful and homely! I particularly loved the tiled masonry oven, kitchen (that table!), wreath and layers of cosy sheepskins, blankets and cushions in the sitting room - so cosy!

Is there anything that stood out to you about Sanne's lovely home?

Are you also tempted to swing by her store? it looks like a trip to Dalarna might be in order!

See more from Santa's home over at @sannaprepuk and keep an eye on the latest items in her store over at @kollgardens.

Thanks for dropping by.

I'll be back on Friday with probably the most embarrassing picture I've shown on the blog: the before picture of our little laundry room. Thankfully it's been through a major DIY makeover, and I can't wait to show you the after pictures too! Vi ses!

Niki

Photography: @sannaprepuk shared with kind permission

FILED UNDER: country style living swedish home VIntage inspired homes

A Dated House Transformed Into an Idyllic Swedish Country Home

Are you ready to kick off the week in the Swedish countryside? This lovely farm just outside Karlskrona and her family dates back to 1880 - and Maria and her family have been renovating it with all the care and attention it deserves. From the hand-built kitchen, to wood panel walls, and pretty wallpaper, it's been transformed into a beautiful home full of beautiful old pieces and soft, earthy tones. Here are the before and after pictures:

Kitchen before