The detailed interior lines of an old Stockholm apartment building serve as the perfect backdrop for the homeowners’ antiques and the new design and objet brought in by designer Sofi Arnholm. The homeowners loved the existing dark walnut ceiling and marble-like treatment of the hallway walls and decided to keep them as they were.
When Lisen Båge and her husband moved into a grand apartment in an old building in Stockholm, they turned to their longtime friend, designer Sofi Arnholm to transform the space into an exploration of interests and personality. With certain rooms needing just some final touches and others complete renovation, the designer and owner of So Fine Design set out on a mission to blend existing pieces with newer ones to create a home that is “personal, interesting, and reflective of its owners.”
Moving through the home reveals an amazing mix of color, pattern, and texture, with clean modern lines giving way to softer forms. Every piece creates an individual moment yet, taken together, they tell a carefully collected story. It’s a design practice Arnholm believes to be pertinent. “I think a home should be discovered gradually,” the designer explains. “An interior that reveals everything at the first glance is not a very interesting one. I love when you can wander around a home and discover new things, little details that connect but not always in an obvious way.”
As the homeowners already possessed the antiques peppered throughout the home, Arnholm’s task was to add contemporary pieces and details to create the versatile mix they desired. In the living room, richly-patterned sofas add a bold statement and are held up by textiles in saturated hues and furnishings from a variety of eras.
“If you buy all your furniture from one single store or brand, you get a nice looking showroom, not a personal home that reflects who you really are.”
— Sofi Arnholm
The Northern Lights clock from Båge & Söner rests upon a Swedish-designed table from Svenskt Tenn.
The homeowner and the designer share a love of color and story that is evident at every turn. “Sofi is daring, she loves color, and I love how she puts it all together,” notes Båge, herself the CEO and Founder of Båge & Söner, designers and makers of fine, handcrafted alarm clocks. “I love color and character in a home. And I love how things come together in a new light when you move a piece and it shines in a new way.”
The homeowners fell in love with the de Gournay wallpaper while in London and were determined that it should play the leading role in their dining room. Bold blue dining chairs add fresh energy to the antique dining table and OCHRE chandelier overhead. “ I think we found a very good balance creating both elegance and coziness,” Arnholm says of the space.
The designer complements her friend’s sense of design and style, noting Båge’s “knowledge of art and ability to source extraordinary pieces played a great part in making this home truly exceptional.” Arnholm points to the richly appointed dining room as “a good example of Lisen’s vision and eye for details.” It’s among the rooms that are fully wrapped in sumptuous wall coverings, an element Arnholm loves to include in projects. And the designer stresses she always opts to cover all the walls in a room, never just one. “This gives the room such a tailored feeling, creating a coherent space,” she says.
The walls in the primary bedroom are upholstered with a Pierre Frey fabric in a classic chinoiserie pattern. The bed is dressed in tones borrowed from the walls, with a few contemporary cushions added to stand out from the classic backdrop.
Throughout the apartment, the homeowners’ existing collection of antiques and objet live in harmony with bold hues and textiles and more modern finds for a result that simply cannot be repeated. “The mix is so important—new and old, subtle and bold,” Arnholm explains. “To me, the details really are everything and I put a lot of effort into getting them right. It could be a trim on a curtain that connects with colors in a painting or the piping on a chair… and I like creating vignettes with various pieces to create a sort of imaginary story, getting your mind to wonder, awakening the curiosity, adding something unexpected. The wittiness is important!”
(Left) The maximalist dining room leads into a minimal modern kitchen. (Right) The designer notes that in a more traditional setting, the side tables in the dining room could have been a bit much but, here “they add a beautiful flair of historical sumptuousness.”
“Sofi has a unique touch and a special eye for unique details,” Båge shares, noting the primary bedroom and dining room among her favorite spaces. “The bedroom is so peaceful to rest in and this flat is also a dream to entertain in. I love being in our dining room, with the wallpaper telling tales of India, while we sit with friends and family for a long, fun meal. This flat is quite big, but Sofi made it a home for us.”
Photography by Anne Nyblaeus.
See more from Båge & Söner here.
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