Patrik and Carolina bought a run-down old house and transformed
it into a stylish minimalist haven. See the results and how they
gave a cosy, traditional kitchen a sleek, user-friendly update.
Meet Patrik and Carolina
”We’re complete design nerds: Patrik studied
furniture design and I am a jewellery designer.
We wanted to work together on a project once
we’d graduated, but we couldn’t decide what.
Then I found this house in the west of
Gothenburg, near the area where I grew up. It
was a rat hole! But it had lots of potential. We
spent two years doing it up.”
Our style
”We mix flea-market finds with pieces we’ve
inherited from our grandparents and more
modern, almost industrial items. We’ve tried to
find a minimalist style that is still comfortable.”
Our home room by room
”Leave breathing space”
”We like an open, airy feeling so we kept the
living room floor as uncluttered as possible.
We picked a few key pieces – a quality sofa,
good lights, statement chairs – and left space
around them so they can breathe.”
”Room for entertaining”
”Patrik’s grandfather designed and made the
table and chairs. It’s great having a big table
so we can have dinner parties. When we
renovated, we had a lot of help decorating
from our friends, and cooked a lot of dinners
in return.”
”Cook with friends”
”We redid the whole kitchen, as it was so
old-fashioned before. We wanted an extra-long
work surface so friends could cook with us, an
integrated fridge and two sinks – one for
washing plates and another for cleaning
vegetables. My family runs a restaurant, so we
were influenced by an industrial aesthetic.”
”Keep it bright and simple”
”We had to dig out the cellar to create the
bedroom – that was absolutely the worst part!
It took two months of digging and it was really
hard to see the potential. We’ve kept it light,
bright and simple to help erase the memory of
what was here before!”
”Make items to measure”
”Patrik’s office makes the most of the dead
space at the end of the hallway. Instead of
putting a bulky desk in there, we attached
a made-to-measure wooden board to the
walls, and put filing cabinets beneath it.”
”Use the garden shed”
”My studio is in a shed in the garden. I’m glad
that now we’ve finished renovating I’ve got
time to get back to making jewellery.”
”A nod to the past”
”The house has such a lovely old-fashioned
garden, with lots of apple trees. The house
was built in the 1920s, and we wanted to keep
the original feeling of the property while
making it a great space for us to live in.”
Our tips and ideas
Challenge expectations
”We wanted to keep the floor space open, so
we use a small side table as a coffee table.
Think about what works for you: you shouldn’t
have a big coffee table just because that’s
what’s expected or usual.”
Add details in new ways
”We like to see out, so we’ve chosen to not
have curtains or blinds on our windows. That
means we can burn candles on the
windowsills, and create little “still-life” displays
on them.”
Fresh touches
”In summer I always lay the table with flowers,
as it feels fresh. I tend to just stack the
crockery and cutlery in the middle of the table
so people can help themselves. It makes life
so much easier for me!”
Stylish storage
”We don’t have built-in storage or cupboards,
so our storage containers are also decor items.
Everything has its place, like cotton-wool pads
that are kept in a beautiful glass jar.”
Use textiles
”It’s easy to update treasured old things with
new textiles. We simply covered the seats of
Patrik’s grandfather’s chairs with new fabric,
which completely changed their appearance.”
Our kitchen makeover story
Before
”The kitchen has seen the biggest
transformation. It had some old charm hidden
under the dirt, but it was really outdated and
in a terrible state of disrepair.”
After
”We ripped the whole kitchen out and started
again, aiming for an industrial look. The
cupboards are in basically the same position,
but we extended the work surface. We felt wall
cupboards would intrude on the room, so
instead we have open shelves to display our
cookery books and vases.”
”The new kitchen has its own cooking area,
where we keep pots, pans and knives. We
choose a series of pendant lights to hang in a
row above the work surface as a more stylish
alternative to integrated lighting. They provide
direct light for food preparation.”
”We wanted the kitchen to be a really nice
place to hang out. Patrik’s grandmother’s
antique table softens the sleek feel of the rest
of the kitchen, and makes for a lovely place to
sit and have breakfast.”
”We agonised over the details. We even
painted the walls three times – white is not
just white! It was so important to get the
kitchen right, because it is the hardest room to
change later. We’re really enjoying life here!”
