Wednesday 2 July 2014

A Spacious Swedish Apartment


Sweden is well known for great design especially when it comes to space saving furniture as most inhabitants live in small to medium size apartments. When it comes to style, most of the Swedish interiors I have featured on the blog, look as if they have just been plucked off the pages of Vogue magazine. Today's home tour is an apartment in Vaasa, not the norm as far as space is concerned as it is large with a spacious living area, three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The owners have been able to be generous with their furniture and have turned this apartment into a relaxed home with a definite Scandinavian feel.


The original architecture has been retained such as the ornate, ceiling cornice and original window shutters. A mix of furniture and accessories give it a modern, eclectic feel.

 World globes hang suspended above the desk for a unique touch and juxtapose the circular mirror

The dining area is typical Scandi design. A contemporary bank of lights hangs above the dining table. The cupboard is possibly original as it is set into the wall, a great place to display china and glassware.

View from dining room through to the office area

The kitchen is fairly compact, lots of storage space, design wise probably lacking a little style compared with the rest of this home but I have found most Swedish apartment kitchens, to be fairly basic.


Swedish apartments rarely have built in cupboards and usually the clothes are hung on rails, but somehow in Scandinavian homes, they always seem to look so trendy.

A typical Swedish, apartment bathroom, tiled with plumbing normally on the outside of the walls


I hope you have enjoyed the tour, white interior spaces that are well balanced, always makes me smile.

I have an exciting day meeting Annie Sloan shortly and some 'one on one' tuition with her, I will be sharing this experience with you next week. If you are in the Auckland vicinity, Annie will be signing her books at Le Monde, from 1pm - 2.30pm, July 2nd (today) and you are most welcome to join us at Le Monde and share a glass of bubbly.


Lee oxo

7 comments:

  1. Your home is so refreshing. May I please inquire as to the living room wall paint color and brand? I find whites to be so tricky, they are either blue, or gray. You have such a good eye and talent for photography, that your walls appear to be white, like paper white, on my computer screen anyway. I thank you in advance. Enjoy what remains of spring!
    living-room

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Laura,

      This particular post is not my home, it is an apartment in Sweden. If you need some help with whites I may be able to advise depending on what country you are in. I am in NZ and familiar with Dulux and Resene paints. Whites are not as simple as people may think, are you wanting a 'pure' white? Resene have some great whites in their 'whites and neutral range'. Dulux also have some lovely whites. Most definitely try your colour in two parts of the room, a darker corner and where you get a lot of light and watch the colour under day light and artificial light at night, you will see changes that you may or may not like in your white. I have most of my house in Resene 'Ricecake' which is a white that can look a little yellow or green depending on the artificial light. However, it is a great neutral and shows off artwork really well.

      Hope this is helpful, if you need more advice, please feel free to email me.

      Lee :)

      Delete
  2. Wow, first scandinavian apartment which is not completly white or black and white. Love the wood and some colourful arts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Anna, I think that's why I picked this one out, it had some interesting pattern to it. Like you, I agree black and white interiors are a popular trend in Scandinavia.

      Lee :)

      Delete
  3. Hi Lee, i really love the light airiness of it, the high ceilings and the quality of the light is lovely, though the design/decoration isn't my style.

    Jane

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jane, it does have some lovely original features which I love. For me too, the design is not my personal style, however there are aspects of it that I would quite happily have in my home.

      Lee :)

      Delete

Thank you for your time to leave a comment, I ♥ to read your comments and try to reply to them all.