A countryside home in the woods
Two years ago, Gina and Nils built their own nature-inspired house deep in the Norwegian woods. They kept to classic Scandinavian style – clean lines, natural materials and colours. Their home life centres around their big open-plan kitchen-dining area where there’s often winter stew on the table and a wood-burning fire to greet guests.
A kitchen split into stations
“I used to have a small kitchen, but it’s much easier here – I have different “stations” for making drinks, preparing lunch, baking and chopping meat - and the breakfast bar which has so many uses! We eat most of our meals there when it’s just the two of us, and when my friends come round, they sit on the stools drinking wine while I cook. For dinner parties, it can turn into a buffet bar, and I can also hide dirty dishes behind it when we’re finished with them.”
Nils and I built this house in the village where we both grew up. It’s good to be near our family again.”
Gina
A relaxed place to entertain
When Gina has guests for dinner, she likes to make the most of her kitchen’s open-plan dining area. “We’ve managed to get 12 people round the table – by having a bench on one side, you can always fit a few more people than if we had chairs there. Sometimes, I like to serve everything at the table but other times, we just put tapas dishes on the kitchen breakfast bar. Then everyone can go and help themselves and bring their food back to the table.”
Nils is a carpenter, so being surrounded by wood – and the woods – says something about who we are, and creates a warm atmosphere in the winter months.”
Gina
“Nils spends most winter weekends hunting. I prefer to be indoors with a book, tucked up in a sheepskin in one of my reading spots by the fire.”
Change with the seasons
“A new season is a chance to change things around. I find textiles are a quick way to give our rooms a new look. In the colder months, I love to make up the bed with layers so I bring out the throws that I put away in the wardrobe in spring. It’s like rediscovering old friends!”
Step inside Gina’s rustic interior in Norway.
Room to grow
“We built a big house, so we won’t need to expand if our family grows! There are bedrooms for one or two kids, and an upstairs living area for them to play in. Most of the houses in this area are a similar size, because there’s so much land to build on.”
Made by
Photography: Adrian Briscoe
Styling: Johanna Flyckt Gashi
