Todd Selby has visited the New York City home of Colin Tunstall, co owner & creative director Saturdays NYC, and I cherish the laid-backness! A melodic and interesting tune is what I hear. Detailwise, I Iove it that he’s got a beautiful Dala horse in the window (actually there are more Swedish details if you look further at the Selby – e.g. some bottles of fine Swedish snaps. Good choices).

Lived-in and hodgy-podgy. On the verge of messy, yet I still hear a good tune, fine lyrics. Love this display below.

To me, this apartment is very much contemporary Swedish interior style. Not necessarily the most trendy style, but a great representation of what constitutes Swedish (city) style today.

The white walls (of course), the wide-plank pine floors, the stillness and the subdued. Clean, pretty and light with modest details. Warming elements such as the candles and sheep skins and some energizing fresh flowers.

The books, the occasional Josef Frank or Estric Ericson textile and the naked windows… Kitchen below, modern slightly industrial vibe and: the beloved old wood stove.

| all photos via SvD Bostad |

Discuss!

Every now and then, I slip into the subject ‘Prevailing trends in styling and decor in Stockholm’. I find it interesting and therefore we certainly have *quite a few* mentions of “Stockholm-White” and entries on this city’s homogen real estate ads here at Trendey. Then again, we are 50 % Stockholm-based.

A very welcome feature in the Stockholm home style department is Fantastic Frank – a new real estate agent. Fantastic Frank deals with homes with character, in a new way. Fantastic Frank looks at the character of the home or house in question, and takes that as a starting point. Only then you can see who will stay there next. Therefore, their aim in managing property sales is to reach the few who loves the place, rather than to reach the very many who likes it.

Fantastic Frank works with renowned fashion photographer Anders Lindén and stylists in their concept and offers the seller six different themed packages to choose from (i.e. including styling, brochures, ads, etc). Emma’s design blog featured one of these themes the other day, Fantastic Frank’s first object on the market which was Wallstreet – themed: quiet, elitist and designed. Another theme or interior design profile is Scandinavia; below is a few photos from the very first apartment for sale within this theme.

I love the carrots and the dala horse! Other themes are the Newyorkish and sleek The Loft, the traditional and academic Boston, the classic noble Gustaf - think period features and herringbone parquet – and lastly the creative and warm Boheme. Oh, and did I mention Fantastic Frank also has a blog.

Now why is Frank Fantastic? I think these (freely translated) words from Founder and Creative Director Tomas Backman says it all:

I have always admired my grandparents for their careful concerns of their homes. A curtain change to cooling white for the summer, or bright red for Christmas changed the mood of the whole apartment and made the home change character several times a year. A home is more than the size and space between the apartment walls. Our minds are more affected by the light and colours, the sounds and structures, than of a design chair.

We feel good when we are inspired, when we know that there is a purpose with what we surround ourselves with. Once a home has character we can have a relationship to it.

You might have seen the Dalecarlian Horse or Dala Horse, a famous symbol of Sweden and Swedish handicraft. It’s a traditional wooden statuette of a horse, originating in the Swedish province of Dalarna. They say the long winter evenings, wood scraps from the local furniture-making trade and paint-pigment from nearby copper mines bred the development of the Dala Horse. It is today one of few living folk traditions: skills for creating the horse have been, and still is, passed from generation to generation.

Now, did you know that there are several different designs available of the wooden horse? Here’s the finest piece, called “Ludvikahästen”. It has Little Western Flowers painted on it. Or Heartsease (Viola tricolor).