Eclectic Country Style Relaxes in a Swedish Home
This beautifully lived-in family home proves that Scandinavian design doesn't have to be picture perfect
Houzz Contributor. I am a former magazine editor specializing in travel and design. I just completed my first remodel, turning my crumbling 1941 kitchen into a beauty of grays, whites and natural wood. If I could, I'd sleep on the countertop. That's how much I love it.
You can also read my parenting blog on Baby Center http://blogs.babycenter.com/author/sschoech/
Houzz Contributor. I am a former magazine editor specializing in travel... More »
In the U.S., "country style" usually means cozy and close, with lots of dark colors and fabrics. I envision little wooden farm animal figurines and rusty metal signs for eggs or milk.
But this house, in rural Sweden outside Malmo, illustrates a very different kind of country charm: spare, lived in, open and relaxed. It has very definite Scandinavian bones, but it is not a design showroom; it's a real household for a family of five with flourishes of design know-how.
It's country cute translated into Swedish — lantligt gulligt.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Helene and Peter; their 10-year-old twins, August and Siri; and their youngest daughter, Vera. There are 5 cats, a dog and two adorable hedgehogs who call the yard home.
Location: Near Malmo, Sweden
Size: 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
That's interesting: The house is a converted country schoolhouse built in the early 1900s. It's surrounded by wheat and rye fields and horses, but a mile away is the largest Ikea in the world.
But this house, in rural Sweden outside Malmo, illustrates a very different kind of country charm: spare, lived in, open and relaxed. It has very definite Scandinavian bones, but it is not a design showroom; it's a real household for a family of five with flourishes of design know-how.
It's country cute translated into Swedish — lantligt gulligt.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Helene and Peter; their 10-year-old twins, August and Siri; and their youngest daughter, Vera. There are 5 cats, a dog and two adorable hedgehogs who call the yard home.
Location: Near Malmo, Sweden
Size: 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
That's interesting: The house is a converted country schoolhouse built in the early 1900s. It's surrounded by wheat and rye fields and horses, but a mile away is the largest Ikea in the world.
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| White, white everywhere. As in many Scandinavian houses, all the walls in this large home are bright white. There's a white grand piano (with the ever-present sheepskin throw) in the formal living room. Orchids bloom everywhere. |
This is the other end of the living room. All the art in the room is clustered around the French doors, which open into the backyard. A mix of modern pieces, mass-market pieces, design icons and antiques can be seen throughout the house.
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| Another anchor of the Swedish home: the woodstove. This sits opposite a simple white Ikea sofa and brings coziness to an otherwise very spare room. |
All the floors in the home are either wood or slate with throw rugs (you never see wall-to-wall carpeting in Scandinavia). These stairs lead to the second-story converted attic, home to a large, bright media room and the master bed and bath.
The mudroom, at the entrance to the house, is organized but homey. Swedes never wear shoes inside the home, and this is the catchall place for those, along with jackets, sports equipment and shopping bags.
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| The dining room is the colorful heart of the home, once again mixing the old and the new. An Adventures of Tintin poster and a chartreuse Ikea tablecloth work perfectly well with modern Eames chairs, a crystal chandelier and the home's original stained glass windows. |
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| A detail of the display on the dining room's sideboard: a mishmash that works. |
Children's art and an Eames rocker (with the ubiquitous sheepskin throw) occupy a corner of the dining room.
The family room is nearly empty but for a small Ikea sofa, a few movable chairs and a round pedestal table. It's a bit stark, but it does make for a clutter-free kids' hangout zone.
A corner in the family room. All the windows in the house are uncovered, taking advantage of the amazing Scandinavian light. (But sleeping past 4 a.m. can be difficult during the long days of summer.)
An ivy-covered archway leads into a huge backyard.
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| The backyard. The windows on the roof keep the converted attic space light and bright. |
Ideabook published on Oct. 1, 2012.
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Marie Meko
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sgmercer and coppertops: these are clearly not pictures taken by a professional so they make one of the common mistakes enthusiasts make: they lack the continuity that gives you a sense of the space. You can see it if you look at the three pictures starting with the one with the yellow tablecloth. It's the same room but you don't really feel it. They are not bad but when you strip away the stylist, professional lighting and other dodas then pictures look like this.