Did you have a good weekend? We sure did. We spent Midsummer's Eve with this guy. His name is Carl Michael Bellman and he was born in 1740. We didn't actually spend it with him (duh) but we did spend it in the very place where he used to spend a lot of time back in the days.
My friend Sanna's mom and partner live in the second floor apartment in the yellow building above. It's right in the center of Stockholm at "Söder" in a much coveted area to live in as you can imagine. There are four apartments in this building and it used to be a tavern where Bellman who was a singer songwriter of his time used to hang out.
It's so picturesque and while spending time there passers by are constantly sneaking a peek of what's going on because if you didn't know better you'd think it was an open air museum.
Just check out the entry to Birgitta and Tomas's apartment. I've posted about Birgitta's store Lin & Fin before and as you can see her style extends from her home to her store. All beautiful!
I made the rhubarb bird bath in the photo above. It looks so great in this court yard garden.
The inside is as beautiful as the outside. It's a listed building inside and out and no changes to the decor are allowed whatsoever.
Birgitta's pieces all go perfectly in there.
I love the feeling in this home. I would have a problem with not being able to put my own stamp on the walls though. The wall cladding and colors are all set throughout but I guess it's the same for a lot of renters in spaces less spectacular than this one.
In a few weeks time Wille and I are going to see Sanna and the rest of her family in Småland. I can't wait. Sanna and I have a floral wall paper project to tackle which will be so much fun.
Toady's Swedish words:
apartment = lägenhet
tavern = krog
bird bath = fågelbad
24 Comments
Oh Benita—this looks so lovely!
I am originally from Minnesota but now in Boston for graduate school, where the most Swedish thing here is Ikea! It’s crushing, especially since I spent Midsommar in Gotland with my family that still lives there a few years back…nothing can measure up to smultron and cream with sill and beet salad and delicious bread and butter—sigh. I’ll have to settle for lingonberry jam on my pancakes. (and plan better for Midsommar next year!)
Gu va fint! Han har det fint hemma den Bellman.
Glad midssommar i efteskott! towe.
Charming!
I want that stove. Now.(At least it looks lika a stove!!) What a fantastic apartment. Obviously a woman with a lot of style and taste. Thanks to her, and you, for sharing it.
Very pretty and quaint. Reminds me very much of traditional farm houses here in the US.
That dinning area makes me wish I was just getting out of bed and able to eat breakfast there.
As an architect, I find it very interesting that the interiors of the building are listed as well as the exteriors. I only know of a few cases where that has occurred here, and all were public buildings. The rationale is that the interiors of private buildings don’t benefit the public. Do you know if the residents have any obligations to show their houses?
It is extremely rare over here too. I don’t think that they need to give tours of their apartment but I’ll be sure to ask next time I see them. When they had renovated Faggens krog in the late 90’s they were quite particular of which resisents they would allow to be sure they would care for the interiors.
oh wow – my husband works right in that area and I have often wondered the same thing. Thanks for the peek!!
Great weekend 🙂
Herregud så fint! Vad kul att få fira midsommar på ett sådant ställe 🙂 Fina foton också!
Håller tummarna att du får komma till Rusta du också! Där finns såklart mycket skräp också men ett o annat guldkorn.
Ha en bra vecka!
Kram Jenny
a really nice place! Really soon we’ll go to Sverige! Jippeeeh! I’m really looking forward to it.
That is so beautiful. I really enjoy learning about Sweden through you.
How did you make the rhubarb leaf bird bath? It’s wonderful. I have rhubarb and I have birds who like to bathe – I’d like to make one.
It is a traditional Swedish fire place called “kakelugn”. It’s lovely 🙂
It’s much easier than it sounds. Basically you just pick a nice rhubarb leaf. Then you use a small part of another leaf to patch where the stem is (so water can stay inside). You then make a sand pit for your leaf so it can hold it’s shape. The cement mixture is made using “fine” cement so there are no big stones in it. You place your leaf in the sand pit and then you cover your leaf with the cement, about 1/2 inch thick but thinner at the edges. After the cement has set you’ll want to peel off the leaf fairly quicky or it will stick too well to the cement. This it she trickiest part actually, getting the veins out of the cement. I used pointy tweezers for that. Good Luck!
You are right; this is really easy and fun. My neighbor and I did a set a couple of years ago–mine is still going strong.
Thanks for the instructions – I’m going to try it this weekend.
Early this morning I realised I explained it wrong! Hope you haven’t started yet… You don’t make a sand pit, you make a sand pile! I made those cement leaves a number of years ago so I forgot… So you place your leaf, front side down on the pile of sand and put the cement onto the back of the leaf. That way you will get the pretty leaf print on the front of the bird bath! Sorry to mislead you. It’s still just as easy though! 🙂
I have inherited a small set of that ivory handled silverware that is sitting on the white sideboard from my husband’s farmor. I would love more of it or some information about it. Is it easy to find in Sweden? When was it made?
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~ Benita
CHEZ LARSSON
Sorry about the jibberish below, I was testing to see whether they fixed the e-mail commenting. They didn’t…
Anyway, I’m not at all sure about the ivory handles I’m afraid. I know that the ones in the photo are not real ivory though, I bought the same ones at a flea market a couple of years ago and I think Birgitta might have done too. I will ask her if she knows more when I go to see her and Sanna & co in a couple of weeks.
Thanks for the thoughtful blog
Thanks! I’m sure mine aren’t real ivory either, but they sure are cool.
I never make it to Sweden, but my in-laws spend half the year there. I’m not sure they frequent flea markets though. 🙂 What a find.
I’d appreciate any info you find out about them. I’ve been unsuccessful on the internet, and I’ve never seen anything like them here in CA at any antique/vintage shops.
I asked Birgitta while in Småland and she says they are common in many European countries, like France and Sweden. The ones she has are in a material similar to Bakelite, a hard vintage plastic.