Houzz Tour: Retired Soldier Creates Her Dream Home in Sweden
A Swedish family's fantasy of a rural retreat becomes a reality after years of renovations
A
November 9, 2015
In the small village of Svanvik on the western coast of Sweden, a family’s dream country home is finally nearing completion. The house, once a bit run-down, has been carefully restored by former cavalry officer Anna Stenberg, who served in the Swedish Armed Forces for 20 years, and her husband, Patric. After her military service, Anna, who had a strong interest in interiors and garden architecture, found the idea of taking a new direction in life increasingly appealing. She started to consider transforming her interest into something more than a hobby.
“I have always helped friends plan bathroom renovations and new kitchens and redecorated at home all the time, ever since I was young,” Anna says. “It was only when I dared to really think about the idea of changing profession and working with this on a daily basis that it became real. It was very difficult. I did not know if I could handle such a big leap or change workwise, although I knew that I wanted to.” And so her journey began.
“I have always helped friends plan bathroom renovations and new kitchens and redecorated at home all the time, ever since I was young,” Anna says. “It was only when I dared to really think about the idea of changing profession and working with this on a daily basis that it became real. It was very difficult. I did not know if I could handle such a big leap or change workwise, although I knew that I wanted to.” And so her journey began.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Anna and Patric Stenberg and their daughters, Emma, 6, and Julia, 5
Location: Svanvik, north of Karlsborg near Lake Vättern, Sweden
Size: 1,937 square feet (180 square meters)
The way Anna and Patric Stenberg found their dream home is somewhat unusual. “I was a captain in the cavalry and was away for training in the southern parts of Sweden for a few weeks,” Anna says. “One day, as I lay there in a ditch, in the middle of our fictitious battle, I got a crazy impulse and just had to flick through properties for sale on my phone. And there it was, the dream house for sale.”
The property is a farmhouse with attached stables, with neighbors on one side and meadows on the other. “The house had been built in 1939 and renovated twice, in the ’70s and the ’90s,” Anna says. Once the couple closed on the property, a huge renovation project began.
“The first two years we sorted out the water and sanitation and dealt with the geothermal heating, as well as the kitchen and bathroom,” Anna says.
The updated kitchen is from Ikea, with modifications by Anna and Patric. “We bought all the wood from a small local sawmill and replaced moldings, sockets, sides and handles,” she says. The counter looks like marble but is actually granite. “We managed to get our dream kitchen without a huge budget. I’m very pleased — the kitchen still feels modern, even though we built it nearly 10 years ago.”
Who lives here: Anna and Patric Stenberg and their daughters, Emma, 6, and Julia, 5
Location: Svanvik, north of Karlsborg near Lake Vättern, Sweden
Size: 1,937 square feet (180 square meters)
The way Anna and Patric Stenberg found their dream home is somewhat unusual. “I was a captain in the cavalry and was away for training in the southern parts of Sweden for a few weeks,” Anna says. “One day, as I lay there in a ditch, in the middle of our fictitious battle, I got a crazy impulse and just had to flick through properties for sale on my phone. And there it was, the dream house for sale.”
The property is a farmhouse with attached stables, with neighbors on one side and meadows on the other. “The house had been built in 1939 and renovated twice, in the ’70s and the ’90s,” Anna says. Once the couple closed on the property, a huge renovation project began.
“The first two years we sorted out the water and sanitation and dealt with the geothermal heating, as well as the kitchen and bathroom,” Anna says.
The updated kitchen is from Ikea, with modifications by Anna and Patric. “We bought all the wood from a small local sawmill and replaced moldings, sockets, sides and handles,” she says. The counter looks like marble but is actually granite. “We managed to get our dream kitchen without a huge budget. I’m very pleased — the kitchen still feels modern, even though we built it nearly 10 years ago.”
Anna drew, planned, painted and managed the budget while Patric, who knows a few things about carpentry, got to work building several things they needed for their new home. Now, eight years later, the family has grown to include the couple’s daughters, Emma and Julia, and the house has grown with it.
“When we moved in, basically everything in the house was left behind by the previous owners,” Anna says. “We cleaned for weeks, and made several trips to the dump, but also found a lot of bargains. There are many beautiful old furniture pieces, which I have still not found the perfect place for.”
In the dining room is a picture wall with a mirror and frames that Anna found in some of the house’s nooks and crannies. The floor lamp is a secondhand bargain, the crystal chandelier is vintage, and the light bulb is from PR Home. The framed picture of the bird is by Emma von Brömssen.
“When we moved in, basically everything in the house was left behind by the previous owners,” Anna says. “We cleaned for weeks, and made several trips to the dump, but also found a lot of bargains. There are many beautiful old furniture pieces, which I have still not found the perfect place for.”
In the dining room is a picture wall with a mirror and frames that Anna found in some of the house’s nooks and crannies. The floor lamp is a secondhand bargain, the crystal chandelier is vintage, and the light bulb is from PR Home. The framed picture of the bird is by Emma von Brömssen.
“I do not remember where, but in some cranny we found two old marble slabs that I’ve been waiting to use,” Anna says. “In the end they found their place as a bedside table on the wardrobe doors!”
The ornate timber headboard is Patric’s from a previous home, and the paisley bedding is from Ellos.
Basket: Afroart
The ornate timber headboard is Patric’s from a previous home, and the paisley bedding is from Ellos.
Basket: Afroart
The wood-paneled walls surrounding the entrance to the kitchen were painted a soft gray, complemented by shades of cream in the rest of the house. “We have tried to create a consistent feel throughout the house,” Anna says.
“The guiding principles have been natural materials, rustic, sustainable…. But I do not feel locked to a particular style. I mix styles as I go along,” she says. “I’m just too interested in interior design and gardening to limit myself.”
The light fixture in the kitchen is an old lamp from Fagerhult. The table was bought at a secondhand market, and the kitchen floor is tiled in stone.
“The guiding principles have been natural materials, rustic, sustainable…. But I do not feel locked to a particular style. I mix styles as I go along,” she says. “I’m just too interested in interior design and gardening to limit myself.”
The light fixture in the kitchen is an old lamp from Fagerhult. The table was bought at a secondhand market, and the kitchen floor is tiled in stone.
On the second floor, a study looks out on the neighboring meadow. “It is peaceful to take your eyes off the laptop and look out over the meadows when you have been sitting with sketches and counting in millimeters,” Anna says.
The trunk beside the desk belonged to Patric’s mother’s uncle. “Uncle Henning was a real adventurer,” he says. “He traveled around Russia and panned for gold in the U.S. So that trunk is said to have seen quite a bit.”
Wallpaper: Borastapeter; plaid fabric: Modesto.se
The trunk beside the desk belonged to Patric’s mother’s uncle. “Uncle Henning was a real adventurer,” he says. “He traveled around Russia and panned for gold in the U.S. So that trunk is said to have seen quite a bit.”
Wallpaper: Borastapeter; plaid fabric: Modesto.se
The home has an attached barn that housed horses until the 1970s, and part of the dining room has a niche that Patric and Anna built of old doors found in the barn. “I think it’s OK that it takes time to create a home, especially one that will last over time,” Anna says. “Having too much furniture is not for me, so I tend to think a while before I decide how I want it.”
Chairs: Tre Sekel
Chairs: Tre Sekel
The kitchen has subway tile in crisp white, as well as an old wood stove that still works. “I think it’s important to be able to live without electricity and running water,” Anna says. “During two recent disastrous storms we had in Sweden, I was working in the worst-affected areas and saw how bad things can be if you are not prepared. We have our own well as well as a wood stove. It feels secure to have that where we live here in the countryside.“
The couple designed and built much of the house themselves. Out in the barn, Patric has a workshop space for carpentry and building, while Anna plans and makes sketches.
“The projects have come one after another,” she says of their various renovations. “Last year we began to rebuild the barn into a garage, and it will be finished in the next couple of days. So now it feels like things are finally coming to an end. Next summer will be the first holiday without any work to do on the house, and I almost feel a bit jittery about it. But I’m sure we’ll find something new to do.”
“The projects have come one after another,” she says of their various renovations. “Last year we began to rebuild the barn into a garage, and it will be finished in the next couple of days. So now it feels like things are finally coming to an end. Next summer will be the first holiday without any work to do on the house, and I almost feel a bit jittery about it. But I’m sure we’ll find something new to do.”
The gradual renovation took nearly eight years. “I think the key is to focus on one thing at a time and make it clear what you want — and then getting through that inevitable slump in the middle of the project,” Anna says. “After the dip, you can see the light at the end of the tunnel and get it all together in the end. Patric and I are very similar there — we’re both disciplined.”
“The shelves were made by me,” Anna says, “by attaching pieces of wood with a leather strap that I ordered from a company in Lapland,” a region in northern Sweden.
“We wanted to bring out the original features and create a feeling that matched somewhat with the age of the house,” Anna says.
Display cabinet: Vita Ranunkler; light bulb: PR Home
Display cabinet: Vita Ranunkler; light bulb: PR Home
This living room rug was a gift, and the armchair is a sustainable, eco-friendly piece designed for Ire Mobel, a Swedish furniture company. The vintage table in the background belonged to Anna’s grandfather.
“I rode in my childhood; now we have an old horse stable on the property,” Anna says. “My grandfather had a horse stable, and in his stables stood this table, which he had received from his grandmother.” And so the piece’s story continues.
Hanna armchair: Emma Olbers
“I rode in my childhood; now we have an old horse stable on the property,” Anna says. “My grandfather had a horse stable, and in his stables stood this table, which he had received from his grandmother.” And so the piece’s story continues.
Hanna armchair: Emma Olbers
The couple’s daughters sit in front of the combined playhouse-gardening shed. After Anna left the military, she began training as a landscape designer.
“When I work with gardens, I always document and draw detailed plans. I’m probably quite influenced by my previous job and like to have everything in order and planned,” she says. “In the interior, however, I keep the target image in my head and then, to style it, I just go with the flow and with my feelings.”
“When I work with gardens, I always document and draw detailed plans. I’m probably quite influenced by my previous job and like to have everything in order and planned,” she says. “In the interior, however, I keep the target image in my head and then, to style it, I just go with the flow and with my feelings.”
“I was given this chair by my grandfather,” Anna says. “He was a minister for many years, and was at one point in the ’70s given a lot of chairs as gifts by the president of Mexico!”
Marmoleum Click flooring: Forbo
Marmoleum Click flooring: Forbo
“In retrospect, it was absolutely the right decision for me to try out this job with garden and interiors with my company,” Anna says happily. “I have now come to the conclusion that our homes are among the most important things we have in life.
“It means so much to be in an environment that makes us feel good and where we have a chance to express ourselves. And I have been able to do so, through the change in my profession, but also thanks to that house-buying impulse in the ditch in southern Sweden nine years ago. Now I will finally settle down and try to enjoy it — before my fingers start itching and a new project begins.”
House Doctor brass pots: Modesto.se
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“It means so much to be in an environment that makes us feel good and where we have a chance to express ourselves. And I have been able to do so, through the change in my profession, but also thanks to that house-buying impulse in the ditch in southern Sweden nine years ago. Now I will finally settle down and try to enjoy it — before my fingers start itching and a new project begins.”
House Doctor brass pots: Modesto.se
Browse more homes by style:
Small Homes | Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
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