Stockholm Style Revisited

Posted by Mia on Nov 10, 2009 in scandinavian |

The prevailing style of decor in the capital of Sweden has been a topic in this blog several times. My apology and explanation is that I – during my four months long search and hunt for an apartment to buy – glanced through countless real estate ads and visited numerous styled Stockholm homes. It has been summed up in Scandinavian style and the “colour” Stockholm-White (its definition and colour code is disputed, some holds it’s S 0502-Y). Now, I stumbled across the (very fine) blog Splendid Willow, written by Monika, who is a native Swede living in the US. She has recently listed the design elements you can be sure to find in a Stockholm apartment:

* White. Swedes embrace gallons and gallons of white paint.
* Hardwood floors with individual rugs (Swedes stopped using wall to wall carpeting decades ago).
* State of the art kitchens.
* State of the art bathrooms.
* Books! Books are prominent, we surround ourselves with books and display them with pride.
* A great mix of old and new. A true Swede will rather have no furniture at all than to get rid of historical elements such as old wood burning stoves and the old beams.

I endorse all the points and add to the list:

* Naked windows. A fear of curtains lives inside the city homes.
* Stylish lighting. Lighting is a crucial point. Right now, two trends stand out: large round lights hanging from the ceiling (the IKEA Maskros lamp probably sell like crazy) and chandeliers, preferably crystal.
* Well-arranged wardrobes. Again, you’ll never escape IKEA, that company has distorted our brains showing their shelving systems with thousands of practical options. (The dream of a walk-in closet is intrinsic but not always pronounced.)

Proof. (Exhibit A to F)

stockholm_style_A