Åsa Nordlöf and her partner Ludvig Svartz live in Skåne, Sweden with their two children. Åsa and Ludvig each work at advertising agencies — she as a production manager, and he as an art director. Åsa also loves photography and jokingly refers to herself as a “professional amateur photographer.” Before the couple began to look for houses that would one day accommodate a family, they lived in a stunning apartment they were in love with. “We rented a fantastic apartment in Malmö. A beautiful, centuries-old apartment with high ceilings and stucco. We probably had a little separation anxiety to move. But living in a rental apartment had its limitations — we did not dare to paint or renovate. We could not make the apartment fully our own style and design. As well as the fact that there [were] three long levels up without an elevator, I did not see any future for baby prams and heavy food bags. We dreamed of something special with a garden, something we owned, something we could decorate, something we could form a family in. We wanted to take the step to a family life.”
Åsa and Ludvig found just what they had been dreaming of with their home in Skåne, “Our little village is close to the sea but also close to the train and the highway, which makes it easy to travel to larger cities, like Helsingborg, Malmö or Copenhagen. The village is both cute, old and scenic,” they share. The home was a charming brick house from the 30s (which Åsa instantly felt was theirs upon walking in the door), but it was a little small. When the couple bought the house six years ago, they were beginning to plan their future and thinking about a home for children — but little did they know, their daughter was already in attendance. In fact, after their daughter was born they actually debated buying a larger home, and toured 76 other homes, to be exact. None gave them the feeling their own home did, so they decided to build an addition to give them some more room to expand. It took a year just to get the permits and finalize the house plans. When the building began, their goal was first for the children to have bedrooms and more room to play, then to incorporate a more natural integration of the garden with the house for better entertaining options, and lastly to meld the new addition with the original house structure. “The architect borrowed lines from the brick house. Raw, natural materials, stone and brick, met with the wood. Vertical and thinner width on the boards would provide a tight and elegant line play,” Åsa notes.
Their original home was built in 1935, and their major addition began in 2015. Much like the home itself, Åsa and Ludvig each join classic and modern with retro and color-filled details with their personal style. “It makes the home exciting and something else,” Åsa says. “Perhaps a bit unpredictable and fun? In our home you can find many styles, from minimalist, industrial, modern, retro, stylish, colorful and calm. We have the new, the old and the something in between, but we work hard toward keeping it cohesive.” Åsa is also a firm believer in going deeper and not adopting a style just because it’s a trend. “I feel it’s important to go into oneself and find your own style. There is a lot of inspiration out there, but the fun is finding yourself and not picking one style straight away.”
Six years after Åsa and Ludvig bought their home, three years after their renovation, and two kids later, their home is so much of what they dreamed about living in their old apartment in Malmö. And while there are still a number of projects they’re looking forward to completing when budgets allow, it is a home with endless love, where they laugh, play, and enjoy “the couch potato life” — when they’re not running around their beautiful garden! —Rebekah
Photography by Åsa Nordlöf
Image above: “This is the lounge part of the room. The table and chairs are from Johanson Design, 60s. Could be one of our favorite pieces of furniture. It has a long history from when we wanted to buy them in an antique shop in Sweden but they were only a display, not for sale. We, however, got to sign an interest list along with a thousand other people,” Åsa explains. “Some years later [a woman called us and asked if we] wanted to buy it. We drove directly from Skåne to Stockholm with a trailer. Love at first sight. Here we enjoy drinks, ‘fikar,’ and the kids draw and play games. Round tables are amazingly sociable.”
from Design*Sponge http://www.designsponge.com/2018/01/a-colorful-house-in-sweden-that-grew-to-welcome-family.html
from Home Improvment http://notelocreesnitu.tumblr.com/post/169853691244
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