Budget Makeover: A Boiler Room Becomes a Lovely Guest Bedroom

At the cottage we have a garage with concrete walls and lots of spiders and I sometimes look at it wistfully, wondering if it could be transformed into a guest room. Have you got a basement, unused, neglected garage or other room that's currently uninhabitable but has potential? if so, like me, you might feel incredibly inspired by Anna Truelsen's latest budget DIY make-over! 

I've featured Anna's home several times before on My Scandinavian Home, and now the Swedish interior stylist has turned her hand to the boiler room. Formerly a dumping ground (just like me attic!), Anna could see the potential in her boiler room as a guest room. Read on to see how it looked before and how they revamped it by hand on a budget. 

Before

The boiler room is in the basement of Anna's home. Despite being relatively large, the concrete shell is a dumping ground for building materials, household items and other bits and bobs. 

The first step was to clear out the room and then Anna set to work removing the crumbling plaster. They then removed a couple of pipes and re-plastered the walls and ceilings. Once dry they painted the walls, ceilings and exposed pipes with a fresh lick of white paint. 

After

What a transformation! 

They washed the original concrete floor before adding a series of fluffy rugs for a cosy touch and to dampen sound. A simple linen curtain was installed to hide the boiler system. 

A small amount of light slips in through a window on the left, simple touches like mirrors, candles and a light (all vintage) help to supplement the natural light, while cushions (which Anna made from an old rug that she bought in Marrakesh many years ago) add a homely feel. 

I also love the natural linen bed spread (source a similar natural linen one here*).  

An old Thonet chair* serves as a bedside table. 

A classic Swedish candle (source similar vintage brass candleholders*) adds a warm touch to the room.

***

Truly inspiring, and evidence that our cottage garage could become a wonderful guest bedroom after all. We just need to find somewhere for all the clobber first! 

I hope you've felt inspired by Anna's boiler room makeover too!

If so, you might also like to checkout: 

A rundown cabin becomes a vibrant Danish summer cottage (that outdoor bath!)

A dated house becomes a dream Swedish country home

A traditional Norwegian cabin gets a beautiful colour update

My home - what it looked like when we bought it, compared to how it looks now!

Stor kram! 

Niki

Photography: Anna Truelsen, shared with kind permission

*this post includes affiliate links which means that if you click on the link and buy something I will receive a small amount of money. 

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A Beautiful Swedish Country Home with Layers of Cosy Textures

Hej vänner! I hope you had a fabulous weekend! I have to confess, I'm feeling slightly worse for wear today after a conference in Ischgl, Austria! What a crazy place! So much fun. It was a lot of work, but it was great to get a little skiing in and enjoy the mountains too. 

We landed back in Sweden late last night, and today I'm thinking I'd much rather be in the beautiful, serene home of Emily Slotte than at my desk!

If you don't already follow Emily on instagram, it's a must! The Swede shares daily snapshots from her beautiful home in the countryside near Norrtälje, Northeast of Stockholm. Think warm, off-white shades, a blend of texture including stone, wood and rattan and layers of textiles - from shag-pile rugs to sheer curtains for a cosy, soft touch. In the winter, the family gathers around a roaring fire in an upstairs living room, in summer, life moves outdoors! 

Welcome to Emily's world!  

Can you see why I'd rather be rocking about here this Monday morning? So lovely!  

I particularly love the upstairs sitting room with its towering ceiling, cosy fire and TMBO lounge chair - but there are lots of other lovely, simple details too. 

Is there anything that caught your eye? 

See more of Emily's home here. 

And for more Scandinavian country homes today have a delve in this archive - it's full of inspiring spaces including Magda's beautiful home which I shared on Friday! 

I'm still really enjoying reading your comments about my attic make-over too - thank you for sharing your thoughts! 

Have a great start to the week! 

Niki

Credits: Emily Slotte, shared with kind permission. 

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Magda's Beautiful 17th Century Swedish Country Home

Tjena! I thought I'd round off the week with a tour of the Swedish log house of fashion and interior designer Magda Marnell, Alexander  and their three children; dash, Milada and baby Lev. Nestled in the woods in eastern Uppland, the house was in total disrepair without running water or sewage when they bought it at the start of the pandemic. but they fell in love with the 17th century former iron smith's home. 

Magda and Alexander set about drilling a well and installing an ecological sewer before combining three properties to form one larger house, building an extension and renovating the interior. Everything has been done with a careful hand, as to not disturb the historical soul of the space. Exposed beams, stone walls in earthy tones serve as a rustic backdrop for libraries of books, vintage and antique furniture and beautiful, unique touches (keep a look out for the mural by Czech Republic artist Jindra Skrivankova - inspired by murals commonly found in 18th century log houses - and representing the family of five - beautiful!).

The property was recently captured by Michael Lundblad for linen company Midnatt. Enjoy the tour!  

So beautiful, I love the rawness of it and how the history of the house shines through. 

Is there anything that caught your eye? 

See more of Magda's home over at @magdamarnell and read the full interview here. You can also explore other Scandinavian country homes here if you're on a roll! 

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Kram!

Niki

PS Thank you for all your kind words and comments about my attic make-over! 

Credits: Styling: Magda Marnell, Photography: Mikael Lundblad

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Before and after: Our Attic Make-over

Sponsored by Elfa, all words and photos are my own. I only ever work with brands I love. 

Last January, I announced it was finally time to organise our home - having lived in our house for 15 years, it was well overdue! I'm proud to say, I stuck to my word and 2022 made-over our laundry room, created a new wardrobe in the bedroom and installed wall to wall shelving and a desk in Allie's 'tween' room. But there was one space which needed the biggest overhaul of all: our attic. 

Located off our bedroom at the top of the house, our attic has been a dumping ground for just about anything and everything. Christmas decorations, yoga gear, frames, camera equipment, and all my styling props are part of the jumbled mess. To retrieve something is like a scene from Mission Impossible: climbing over and under things, searching for a needle in a haystack! Here's how it looked before (embarrassingly): 

Despite the mess and low ceiling, there were a couple of things in our favour (every cloud, right?) - good solid walls, and a nice wood floor. So, I turned to the Elfa online planning tool and design team and we got to work planning the space! 

This is one of two storage rooms that we have at home and I was keen to make this feel accessible so that styling props and other items were in easy reach. I sometimes need to work with mood boards and comparing items them side-by-side, so I was also keen to ensure a comfortable open-space in the centre of the room! 

Design 

Having had plenty of experience with Elfa for theist part of a year. I was keen to use the storage system init this space too. If you're not familiar with the Swedish storage system, it's centred around a series of vertical rods to which you can click in an array of units such as shelves, drawers, hooks, mirrors, peg boards and more - making it completely flexible and suitable for any space. 

It made sense to make full use of the width and height of the walls in the attic and I was keen for everything to be on display to make it as easy as possible to find things, so we opted for open shelves and see-through mesh drawers. 

For the wall to the right, the plan included storage for creative items (far right), as well as space for tools, nails and other small objects. 

The ceiling height is really low at the back of the room. We therefore felt it would be an excellent place to install long items such as rugs, a tent, yoga equipment and other large items. 

The wall on the left is reserved for styling props including cushion covers, blankets, vases, clothes, and picture frames. I changed the section to the left to include a clothes rail 

With the plans in place, the next step was to clear out the room and have a really good declutter! There were quite a few trips to the second-hand store and our bedroom looked like this for a few days:

But it was well worth the effort. 

Ready to see the results? 

After - wall to right

Fun is not usually a word I would associate with tidying up, but I can't tell you how much I enjoyed putting everything in its place. 

The open melamine shelf has proven really handy for files and small storage boxes and I've used mesh drawers underneath for ribbons, cards, stationary, photography equipment, cables and Christmas decorations. 

Craft section

One of my favourite areas is the craft / DIY section which includes a storing board with hooks and hoops for tools, small trays for nails and other small items and metal rings (book ends) and a reversible tray to suspend rolls of paper. 

After - end wall 

A wire shelf with valet rods suspended underneath provides space for longer items. I also like that there's floor space underneath for furniture. 

After - wall to the left

The above picture gives you an idea of just how low the ceiling is. Since I'm often kneeling down, I added a rug for comfort! 

This side of the room has open shelving (including melamine shelves and wire shelf baskets) to display all my textiles and books. I also installed a clothes rod, the area underneath of which doubles up as an area to store larger prints and frames.  

We're so thrilled with the results. Rather than scrambling around searching for things, it's actually a joy to retrieve stuff and put it back in its place again afterwards! 

I hope you like our new highly organised attic space as much as we do! Do you think it will stay this tidy? Knowing my family, it could be a battle, but we'll give it a shot! 

In case you're feeling inspired to organise your attic space, I can highly recommend the Elfa planning tool or asking for help from Elfa professionals (available pretty much worldwide). The Elfa storage system offers a solution for just about anything - no matter how big or awkwardly shaped so you'll have your space organised in now time. 

Do you have any rooms or areas in your home you're hoping to organise in 2023? If so, I'd love to hear more about your plans! 

Niki

A special thank you to Christine Dahlman, Storage Expert at Elfa, who has been so helpful and instrumental to the results! 

Photography: Niki Brantmark

Styling: Helen Sturesson 

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