Home For Christmas

On a beautiful winters day, we visited Anna and Bo’s home in Saltsjöbaden. The house is an old turn-of-the-century house in National Romantic style and is situated in the picturesque village by the sea. The family moved here about 25 years ago and are just as happy now as they were then with the house, although the facade was pink and the garden was overgrown and neglected. There was a lot to do, including building a garage and rebuilding a garden shed in to a guesthouse/greenery.

They have carefully tackled one project at a time, slowly restoring the house and garden. After a number of years of the facade being yellow, a couple of years ago they decided to paint it pearl grey instead. The window and door frames and other wooden details are painted white with 10% green umber. Now the house blends into both the greenery and the archipelago environment in a natural way. Details around the beautiful stone foundation such as the door and windows to the basement level have been painted a beautiful dark green.

The living area of the house is about 250 sqm plus attic. The basement floor, which has deep windows and whitewashed walls, has a laundry room, hobby workshop, food cellar and a room for music, exercise and cinema.

The ground floor is the social area of the house with dining room, sitting room, kitchen and hallway. A lot of beautiful windows, generous ceiling height and open spaces separated by sliding and paired doors, provide light and space.

Upstairs, the family has their private area with bedrooms, guest room, study and bathroom. From the upper hallway, a staircase leads up to the beautiful attic room where the grandchildren finds it exciting to play hide & seek.

The previous owners had fortunately kept the floors, doors and other woodwork, so when Anna and Bo moved in, they could easily just make it their own by doing some painting. Now the bathroom has been completely renovated with new French tiles and gorgeous bathtub.

The old kitchen was in to bad condition to keep so they had a new one built on site by local carpenters. The kitchen is painted in off-white and the walls in light grey. The old worktop was replaced with Carrara marble and a French bistro tile with beveled edge was installed.
When the family moved in, there was a huge wood-burning stove with a hot water boiler in the kitchen. This was removed and replaced by a neat 1880s tiled stove with a beautiful crown. It burns from morning to night during the winter months, not only for practical and cost-effective reasons, but also for the pleasant sound and smell to house. When the fireplaces were replaced, a new floor was put in with sturdy pine planks.

The beautiful dining room, added in 1920, is the only addition to the otherwise intact house from the year of construction. There was too little light in here, so Anna and Bo had additional windows installed in the same style as in the rest of the house. It’s hard to believe that the room wasn’t there in the first place, as it blends in so well both inside and out with the rest of the house.

The couple have been consistent throughout, respecting the house and its history when renovating. They have preserved and brought out details that have been there since the year of construction and chosen to decorate walls and treat floors in a timelessly beautiful way. Both Anna and Bo have always been interested in interior design, with the motto “less is more”. They don’t care about trends that come and go.

Bo is interested in chairs from different eras, so over the years there have been a number in the house. Beautiful chandeliers, mirrors and other items from the Jewish era adorn the house and add original character. Music and art are among the family’s interests as one can see. It is a home decorated with a mix of treasured items, old and new, giving a cosy and personal atmosphere.