Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
HOMES

HOME

In pictures: Recreating your own Nordic style in 8 steps

Ex-broker-turned-interior-designer Jesper Laursen shares his best tips for creaing your own Scandinavian-style home.

Published: 1 September 2016 08:00 CEST
In pictures: Recreating your own Nordic style in 8 steps
How to decorate in Swedish style. Photo: Scandinavian Homes

Laursen left his job as a broker and founded Scandinavian Homes. Here the interior design expert tells us how he helps property agents decorate a home to attract as many viewers and buyers as possible. 

The concept of Scandinavian design is characterized by functionality, aesthetics and nature-oriented materials. In recent years the Scandinavian interior trend has gone global and the dream of the “Nordic Light” is shared by more and more people. 

The style emerged in the 1950s and the idea was that interior design would be mass-produced at a low price so that everyone could enjoy it. Since then, the core of the Scandinavian style has changed and today it is more about environmentally friendly production methods and organic materials. To succeed with the Scandinavian style, which I call complex simplicity, there are some basic things to consider. Laursen lists the eight most important ones below.

1. Low-key colour palette

The basics of the Scandinavian interior style are its pared-down colour selection. The style focuses on creating airy rooms with generous light flow, and therefore white or grey walls are a good place to start. Generally you should use earthy colours with light shades of blue, brown and green. These can be varied and together with the white or grey walls it creates a harmonious and pleasant room. Black often works well as a contrast colour and helps with darkness and attitude in the form of still lifes and picture frames.

Kungsholm Kyrkoplan 6
Photo: Fastighetsbyrån – Sök designinspiration för skandinaviska vardagsrum

2. Close to nature materials

Leather, wood and stone are all natural materials that form an integral part of the Scandinavian interior style. The focus is on sustainability and quality, and what is better than the material that gets patina and becomes even more beautiful by each passing year? Here, they mix wood with leather and concrete. A classic wall with tiles and white walls create a perfect base.

Alexander White
Photo: Alexander White – Bläddra igenom bilder av skandinaviska kök

3. Picture walls with a limited colour scheme

Beautiful and inspiring picture walls can successfully replace a feature wall of a home. Try to gather your favourite pictures in one place instead of spreading them out throughout the home. The latter can often be perceived as messy while the former creates a clear sense of harmony and awareness. Do not be afraid to mix paintings of various sizes, nor to keep it static and stylish. Why not put the picture wall in a corner rather than directly above the sofa?

Ernst Ahlgrens Väg
Photo: Scandinavian Homes – Upptäcka idéer för skandinaviska vardagsrum

4. Still lifes throughout the home

To avoid an overly minimalist home it is important to focus on the details. This is an opportunity to use personal items to create a sense of coziness and warmth. Do not be afraid to mix the new with the old, but try to work with a low-key colour palette and materials with roots in nature here as well.

Badrum - retro
Photo: Perfection Makes Me Yawn – Upptäcka idéer för heminredning

5. Plants as part of the decor

Use green plants to create a fresh and vibrant feel at home. Cypress Asparagus Fern and Monstera are plants that fit in perfectly with the Scandinavian style. Don't be afraid to use large plants, they add character and create a cool feeling in the home. A slightly carelessly made bed and a pile of magazines on the floor de-dramatize and contribute to a more personal home.

Emelie
Photo: Nadja Endler | Photography – Upptäcka idéer för nyklassiska allrum

Ernst Ahlgrens Väg

6. Relaxed nonchalance

Even if the ambition is that the home should feel conscious and arranged, it mustn’t be perceived as too tight or too structured. Therefore it might be nice to, through textiles or art, dare to be a little flippant. Throw a blanket over the edge of the sofa, make the bed in sloppy manner and place a painting on the floor. That way, you avoid too-perfect a result, and instead create a sense of conscious relaxation.

Tomtebogatan
Photo: Scandinavian Homes – Hitta foton av skandinaviska sovrum

7. Design classics

The cheapest is not always the most affordable, especially not in the long run. If you have the opportunity, invest in quality products. Design classics have a long shelf life and are not influenced by fashion and trends. They live their own lives, age with dignity, and usually retain their value.

VILLA MÖRTNÄS
Photo: Fredric Boukari Photography – Hitta bilder av skandinaviska vardagsrum

8. Brass details

Perhaps the popularity of this shining metal has grown in the past few years because it fits so well into minimal environments. From bowls to candlesticks, brass is lighting up our homes, preferably together with some Nordic dirty pastels.

Emelie
Photo: Nadja Endler | Photography – Sök designinspiration för klassiska vardagsrum

The whole concept in one image: The room below contains all the ingredients needed to get the Scandinavian interior recipe just right. A sleek black-and-white picture wall, designer chairs, large green plants, wooden floors, curtain-free windows and plenty of light – they’re simple things in themselves, but with a sense of fashion and trend that is irresistible.

Tomtebogatan
Photo: Scandinavian Homes – Bläddra igenom bilder av skandinaviska matplatser

Get more inspiration in The Local's Homes section

Come see more Nordic lifestyle, design and architecture over at houzz.dk and houzz.se.

For members

PROPERTY

INTERVIEW: ‘Most foreigners in Sweden don’t know they can get back excess rent’

In Sweden, people subletting apartments are not allowed to charge more in rent than they themselves pay. But foreign subtenants don't always know this. We asked Roland Sjölin, lawyer at the Swedish Tenants' Association, about how to get back excess rent.

Published: 18 April 2024 15:19 CEST
Updated: 21 April 2024 08:12 CEST
INTERVIEW: 'Most foreigners in Sweden don't know they can get back excess rent'

More and more of the people asking the Swedish Tenants’ Association, Hyresgästföreningen in Swedish, for help with excess rent are foreigners, Sjölin told The Local in an interview.

“The problem is that if you’re coming from another country, and you’re subletting an apartment, you’re probably not familiar with the rules in Sweden, because in other countries, it might be okay to overcharge your tenants.” 

He said that clients from India in particular seeking help from the association were now “very common”. 

“Many people come here to work as engineers in the IT sector and then have to rent somewhere,” he said, adding that as a group Indians appeared to be “very aware of their rights.”

Sweden’s rental sector is heavily regulated, with first hand contracts negotiated between landlords and the Tenants’ Association, and the rent that can be charged for second-hand contracts limited to only a small fraction above what the first-hand renter pays. 

“You’re not allowed to make any profit subletting an apartment in Sweden,” Sjölin explains. “You can only charge the subletting tenant the same rent as you [the first-hand tenant] are paying to your landlord, and then you can add the costs for internet and electricity, and perhaps a parking lot, if that is included.” 

Tenants’ Association lawyer Roland Sjölin. Photo: supplied.

You can also add a påslag or “markup”, if you are renting out the apartment fully furnished, but this cannot exceed more than 15 percent of the rent. 

That doesn’t mean that most landlords follow the law. The competition for rental apartments, especially in Stockholm, is so intense, that unscrupulous sublet landlords often try to get away with charging well over the legal amount, charging what is known in Sweden as ockerhyra, or “excess rent” and hoping that their tenants are too desperate to complain.  

What many foreigners do not realise is that even after the rental period is over, they can still get back any excess rent they have paid by applying to the Rental Board or Hyresnämnden, which functions like a court judging rental disputes. 

“If you have the evidence then it’s fairly easy,” Sjölin said. “I get a new case every second week on repayment of unfair rent, and I think that I win most of them.” 

“Nowadays, you can get paid back excess rent up to 24 months back in time, so people tend to get more money,” he added. “In some cases, they can get 200,000 kronor. In other cases, perhaps it’s only 30,000 kronor or 60,000 kronor. It depends on how long you have rented the apartment, and how excessive the rent you’ve been paying has been.”

The first step is to establish what would have been a fair rent, either by asking your landlord what they themselves pay directly or by checking with the Tenants’ Association.

“Because we negotiate most rents in Sweden, we normally know what the firsthand rent is,” Sjölin explained.

Then you need to collect together your evidence.

“It’s a good thing to have a written contract and also papers from your bank showing that you paid rent every month, and perhaps photographs of the apartment, so the rental board can get an idea of the apartment you were renting and what would be a fair rent, and also the termination for the contract so you can show the court how long you’ve been living in the apartment.” 

But Sjölin underlined that since Sweden has free burden of evidence, none of this is essential. 

“Even if you’ve been paying in cash, if you have witnesses who can testify what you were paying each month, you still have a chance of getting your money back. It’s a bit more tricky, but I’ve won two cases like that this year.” 

People in Sweden, he explained, tend to wait until the rental period is over before seeking to get paid back excess rent rather than challenging their landlord while they are still living in the apartment. 

“You don’t have any legal protection for your home for the first two years, so if you bring the matter up with the person you’re renting the apartment from you risk losing your contract and having to move out, so most people wait until they’re supposed to move anyway,” he said.

If you apply to the rental board for a refund close to the day you move out, you can then make your landlord pay back all excess rent paid in the 24 months leading up to the date you contacted the rental board.

If you are a member of the Tenants’ Association, you can contact them and ask for help with your application, but there are also specialist companies, like Orimlig Hyra AB who will buy your case off you and give you a refund within 48 hours, saving you a long wait in exchange for a cut of the money reclaimed. 

Sjölin said that the rental board normally took about 8 months to come to a judgement, but that if the person with the first hand contract appeals, that could extend the waiting time by between six months and a year.

SHOW COMMENTS