A Dreamy, Light-Filled Home in Stockholm
Creating a warm, vintage-inspired space requires planning. These Swedish creatives got it right in their cozy apartment
Entering Elsa Billgren and Pontus de Wolfe’s apartment is a lot like walking into a warm embrace. The large, open-plan living-dining area and kitchen feature wide windows that overlook green trees, letting in dazzling light that plays on the wood finishes inside. Billgren and de Wolfe have lived in the apartment, in the quaint area of Södermalm in southern Stockholm, just since 2014, but its atmosphere and decor make it feel like it’s been theirs much longer.
“Yes, like 20 years or so,” Billgren says. “We want it to feel warm and welcoming for everyone we love, with the windows flung open and jazz playing in the background. We love things, but it’s a creative mess — so we actually know where everything is.” Her rule for what can enter the home is simple: The items should be colorful, and they have to come with a story. “The fact that we choose to fill our home with secondhand market finds that become valuable possessions is probably a way for us to relive our childhoods,” Billgren says. “The two of us grew up in arty homes, so for us this is completely natural.”
“Yes, like 20 years or so,” Billgren says. “We want it to feel warm and welcoming for everyone we love, with the windows flung open and jazz playing in the background. We love things, but it’s a creative mess — so we actually know where everything is.” Her rule for what can enter the home is simple: The items should be colorful, and they have to come with a story. “The fact that we choose to fill our home with secondhand market finds that become valuable possessions is probably a way for us to relive our childhoods,” Billgren says. “The two of us grew up in arty homes, so for us this is completely natural.”
When Elsa Billgren and Pontus de Wolfe moved into their new home, they furnished it quickly and with confidence. “I was shopping like crazy and had a big truck that came the day after we moved here, with vintage stuff from Olsson & Jensen,” Billgren says. But how did she get such a homey feeling so quickly? All the furniture feels like it’s been here for years, making for a warm and familiar environment.
“It’s all about good planning,” Billgren says. “I always draw up a plan and know exactly what I want, and in what dimensions, before I start buying.” So what seems like a spontaneously beautiful home actually has plenty of thought behind it. “To just go with your gut feeling rarely works,” Billgren says. “It needs a plan to create harmony. In fact, it also helps when you’re out looking for bargains at garage sales and secondhand shops.”
“It’s all about good planning,” Billgren says. “I always draw up a plan and know exactly what I want, and in what dimensions, before I start buying.” So what seems like a spontaneously beautiful home actually has plenty of thought behind it. “To just go with your gut feeling rarely works,” Billgren says. “It needs a plan to create harmony. In fact, it also helps when you’re out looking for bargains at garage sales and secondhand shops.”
Although Billgren loves classic Swedish design, her ideal style is more 1950s American, with a little bit of fairy tale thrown in. “Romantic interiors seduce me totally,” she says. “Powder, gold, faded pink — I grew up in the ’90s, when it was all about large TV cabinets, plastic and sporty. While everyone wanted a single, rigid gerbera stem in a vase, I dreamed about half-overblown roses. Fragile and delicate.”
Billgren spent her early years in Gothenburg, in western Sweden, but moved to Stockholm when she was 10. She loves the Södermalm area, especially the hidden green nook that makes up her neighborhood.
“These houses were built around 1928 with large families in mind and a neoclassical style,” she says. “They face a large courtyard, full of chestnut, elderberry and other trees, where the kids could play freely. I do not know exactly how many kids they had in our apartment, but it was not unusual that they had six in this little one-bedroom flat.
“The apartments in the houses have no fancy stucco or stoves, but huge windows and plenty of clever storage — there are seven built-in wardrobes and cupboards here!”
“These houses were built around 1928 with large families in mind and a neoclassical style,” she says. “They face a large courtyard, full of chestnut, elderberry and other trees, where the kids could play freely. I do not know exactly how many kids they had in our apartment, but it was not unusual that they had six in this little one-bedroom flat.
“The apartments in the houses have no fancy stucco or stoves, but huge windows and plenty of clever storage — there are seven built-in wardrobes and cupboards here!”
The neighborhood retains quite a few Söder-born people, Billgren says, even though it’s been completely transformed in the last few decades. “It reminds me of Gothenburg,” she says, “with bistros where people are warm and happy.” Is there a place she would absolutely not be willing to live? “In something newly built, I just couldn’t. I am addicted to old materials!”
It was this strong painting by de Wolfe’s father, artist Ronald de Wolfe, that helped the couple decorate the apartment. Its greens are echoed in the velvet sofa from Ikea, and its orange elements on the Smeg refrigerator and vintage Hermés gift boxes in the bedroom.
Having such a clear picture in terms of colors helped bring a cohesive look to the home. Billgren notes that inspiration can come from anywhere. “It can be dreams, images, films,” she says. “If you like something, then show it. Do not be like everyone else — it just makes people happy if you are a bit different.”
Having such a clear picture in terms of colors helped bring a cohesive look to the home. Billgren notes that inspiration can come from anywhere. “It can be dreams, images, films,” she says. “If you like something, then show it. Do not be like everyone else — it just makes people happy if you are a bit different.”
The carefully chosen black Bakelite light switches are from Byggfabriken. “There is no better sound than the click when you light a lamp like this,” Billgren says.
The 8-foot-long dining table is made of old planks and can easily seat 10 people. “It’s damaged and dented, perfect to spill red wine on. And steady enough to dance on,” Billgren says with a laugh.
The vase was bought by de Wolfe at Brandstationen as a consolation gift. “I had found an amazing big vase in Östersund in [central] Sweden, and flew home with it in my arms on the plane,” Billgren says. “Then my husband managed to slam a wine bottle into it, so it broke and seven liters of water gushed out.… But this one is also nice!”
The vase was bought by de Wolfe at Brandstationen as a consolation gift. “I had found an amazing big vase in Östersund in [central] Sweden, and flew home with it in my arms on the plane,” Billgren says. “Then my husband managed to slam a wine bottle into it, so it broke and seven liters of water gushed out.… But this one is also nice!”
The orange refrigerator was actually already in the apartment when Billgren and de Wolfe moved in. Not only does it fit perfectly with the painting by de Wolfe’s father, it acts as a counterweight to the green sofa sitting opposite. The glass chandelier was picked up at a secondhand market for about $16.50.
There are a few modern and newly bought items around the house, but they’re mostly technology devices, and they’re mostly hidden inside old bakery boxes — except for these speakers from People Products. The small brass pyramids are souvenirs from Egypt, an antiques trend that Billgren believes is on the rise.
Behind the couch is an artwork by Billgren’s mother, artist Helene Billgren, titled Familjen Byxa (The Family Trousers). “This is cardboard dressed in velvet,” Billgren says, “and we in the family are the trousers — I’m the little one. It was in the basement at home and I thought it would work here.”
The cushions on the couch were hand decorated by Billgren with wooden beads and tassels to make them unique.
The cushions on the couch were hand decorated by Billgren with wooden beads and tassels to make them unique.
The “culture room,” a small alcove with doors that can be closed, houses books, music, games and the piano that Swedish legend Hans “Hasse” Alfredson used to record several favorite songs. Billgren and de Wolfe got it from one of Alfredson’s sons, film director Tomas Alfredson (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), and brought it home when de Wolfe won a Grammy for the music for a stage version of The Wizard of Oz.
“This mirror is almost my favorite thing at home,” Billgren says. “I found it at Metropol auctions. I find bidding a little bit scary. If I have fallen in love with something, I get super stressed by the thought of not getting it.” Billgren’s love of vintage doesn’t extend to bed linens —she always buys those new.
Billgren’s obsession with American dresses, or Italian Americana, as she calls the style, has historical connotations. “After World War II, a lot of relief consignments were shipped to Europe from America, and especially in Italy, this thing with flirty skirts and the whole New Look became very big,” she says. “There are not that many clothes left over from other countries at the vintage market any longer. You don’t see any Chanel dresses in circulation, for example, and almost nothing from Russia.”
What makes the old garments so special? “How they are made, how they fit. That the buttons are covered, how nicely the lace is created. A craft that is almost forgotten today,” Billgren says.
What makes the old garments so special? “How they are made, how they fit. That the buttons are covered, how nicely the lace is created. A craft that is almost forgotten today,” Billgren says.
Much of Billgren’s time is taken up with her business of hiring out vintage wedding dresses. Her showroom holds about 200 dresses that are rented by women from all over Sweden.
“I just love when a bride comes by bus from Sala [a small town in the middle of the country] for a fitting. They actively choose vintage and appreciate the fact that many brides have used the dress before them — you become a part of a tradition,” Billgren says. “And also, that well-made vintage dress does what few wedding outfits manage: makes the bride feel beautiful. When they see themselves in the mirror … then I know why I’m a vintage missionary.”
“I just love when a bride comes by bus from Sala [a small town in the middle of the country] for a fitting. They actively choose vintage and appreciate the fact that many brides have used the dress before them — you become a part of a tradition,” Billgren says. “And also, that well-made vintage dress does what few wedding outfits manage: makes the bride feel beautiful. When they see themselves in the mirror … then I know why I’m a vintage missionary.”
The love of vintage dresses permeates Billgren’s life, and has since she was a child joining her mom on vintage hunts. She likes the smell of the clothes, which reminds her of when the two of them “were digging in old containers and shops for bargains — that childhood memory feels reassuring.”
She says it’s the well-tailored dresses created with so much care that would be her savior if life suddenly turned upside down. “If no one reads the blog, if TV stops my programs and if Instagram breaks down, then I have the dresses. Then I go back to working in a store again.”
She says it’s the well-tailored dresses created with so much care that would be her savior if life suddenly turned upside down. “If no one reads the blog, if TV stops my programs and if Instagram breaks down, then I have the dresses. Then I go back to working in a store again.”
Elsa Billgren’s top tips for finding gems at a market or garage sale:
- Write a list. If you need a teapot, towels and a bedside lamp, focus on that, and don’t stop by the old vinyl records or kitchen chairs.
- Learn to recognize if something is really old, from the ’40s and earlier. If it is, the object will probably never lose its value.
- Estimate quality by weight and proportions. Ask questions if the object can’t manage to tell you its story on its own. Lift it up from the muddle of things, isolate it, and then see if it’s still beautiful. If it is, buy it!
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Who lives here: Elsa Billgren, a TV presenter, blogger and vintage entrepreneur; her husband, Pontus de Wolfe, a musician; and their cat, Mira
Location: Södermalm area of Stockholm, Sweden
Size: 678 square feet (63 square meters); one bedroom