25 Beautiful Homes – July 2019

| 25bh

for stockistsgo to where to buy

stockhol m detached

E

linandCarl

Christensson’s

Tw e n t i e s

Stockholm

suburbanhomehasbeen

nothingif notflexible.

Followinga fewyears

workinginLondonto

launchtheircareersafter

university,theyreturned

toSwedenin 1997 forthe

birthoftheirfirstchild,

Wilhelm,andchosea home

thathadplentyofscope.‘I

wasraisedina housewhere

everythingwaspractical–

thebed,deskanddrawers

werebuilt-in,’saysElin.‘I

wasdesperatetorearrange

thefurniture,butit just

wasn’tpossible.Sowhenit

cametobuyingmyown

house,I wasdetermined

tofindonethatcould

easilybeadapted.’

Elinwasinstantly

attracted to a property

inDanderyd,datingback

to1924.‘Manyoldhouses

inSwedenareredoryellow,

butthisonewasa lovely

Tuscanorangecolour,

withsmall-panedwindows,’

saysElin.‘Originallyit

wouldhavehada small

north-facingkitchen

anda roomnexttoit for

themaids.Theprevious

ownershadmodernised

it a little,butwhenwe

boughtit,therewasstill

plentylefttodo.’

Theresulting

renovationwasgradualas

Elin,aninteriordesigner,

andCarltookonone

projectata time,andhad

theirsecondson,Hugo.

‘Wedideverythingstepby

step,’saysElin,‘including

thefaçade,theroof,and

all of the interior decor,

untilit wasa suitablehome

forthefourofus.’

Havingachievedtheir

goal,thefamilypromptly

movedtoShanghaiand

thentoHongKong.‘We

spent 10 yearslivinginAsia

andwhilewewerethere,

wewerespoiltbythehuge

bedrooms,en-suite

bathrooms,andwalk-in

wardrobes,whichveryfew

Swedishhouseshave,’says

Elin.‘Sowhenweknewwe

wouldbemovingbackto

ourhomeinStockholm,

wedecidedtoextendthe

firstfloorovera disused

balconytocreatea large

masterbedroom,facing

westtocatchthesun.’

ElinandCarl’s

furniturehastravelled

aroundtheworldwith

them.‘Someofit hasstood

thetestoftime,’saysElin.

‘We bought our sofa in

1997,tookit withusto

China,andthenbrought

it backandre-coveredit.

‘I believethatif you

chooseeverythingyoulike,

itwillallgowelltogether.

Webroughtbacksome

itemsfromChina,which

sitnexttoclassicSwedish

pieces.I feelthata home

shouldnotlooktoomuch

asif it hasbeenplanned

byaninteriordesigner.’

Thecouple’sdaysof

travellingareonholdand

theysaytherearemore

homealterationsinthe

pipeline.‘We’rereplacing

theparquetflooringwith

oakasit hadbecome

squeakyanddraughty,’

saysElin.‘It’sa bigproject,

butweenjoyit.A home

developsovertimeand

is never truly finished.’

HugO’SBEDrOOM

Sophisticatedgreysmakethe

acidlemonaccentspop.

tryMefloorlamp,£304,Nest,to

getthislook.Artemidetolomeo

walllight,£214,MadeinDesign.

egartonPlaidwallpaperinblack/

grey, £57 a roll, Designers guild

MASTEr

BEDrOOM

Therestfulmonochrome

spaceisenlivenedwith

vibrantburstsofcolour.

LittlehomeJasmin

throw,£30,JohnLewis&

Partners,hasthislook.

Checkkilimrug,from£92,

CarpetVista, is similar

design tip ‘I thinka home

shouldreflectthepersonalityof

theowner,andshouldn’tjustbea

slave to the latest trend or concept’

25bhJ u Ly 20 19| 23