One Swedish Sitting Room, Two Cosy Winter ways!
My Scandinavian home partnership*
Last week I ventured across town on my bike to visit my friend Helen Sturesson, a talented interior designer who lives in Davidshallstorg, a charming square in the centre of Malmö. Helen has one of those apartments in which you feel instantly at home. Dating back to the 1930s, the rental has staggeringly high ceilings, large spacious rooms and a wonderful relaxed style - with a perfect mix of vintage, new Nordic design and locally made items. And there's always a pot of fresh coffee simmering on the stove. The reason for my visit? With the harsh Southern Sweden winter looming, her Stockholm 3.5 seater sofa had seen better days - just when the family need it most! So I arrived armed with samples from Bemz!
You might be familiar with the Swedish company as I'm a huge fan. Bemz sells custom covers for IKEA sofas and armchairs as well as accessories such as legs, cushions and curtains to match. With over 100 fabrics to choose from, you can always find the exact colour and material you're looking for! It's a genius concept, allowing you to give your IKEA furniture a whole new lease of life (look out for the 20% discount code at the end).
Helen worked with the fabrics to create two new, beautiful looks - a cosy winter white and a darker Christmas vibe with a touch of cool corduroy! I returned with my camera to capture them both (over a cup of coffee or two!):
For the lighter look, Helen worked with linens - centred around a cover in Chalk Simply Linen for the IKEA Stockholm 3.5 Seater Sofa and cushions in lovely warm tones including Acorn Simply Linen, Taupe Conscious Pinstripe, and Natural and Cocoa Brera Lino.
Look One: Cosy Winter Whites
For the lighter look, Helen worked with linens - centred around a cover in Chalk Simply Linen for the IKEA Stockholm 3.5 Seater Sofa and cushions in lovely warm tones including Acorn Simply Linen, Taupe Conscious Pinstripe, and Natural and Cocoa Brera Lino.
The striped Conscious Pinstripe in Taupe is part of the new Bemz Conscious Collection. If you have a moment, you must check out the range! It's made up of pinstripe and herringbone patterns created from 100% recycled material and inspired by the sharp tailoring of menswear. The sofa covers are awesome!
The lighter cover totally brightened Helen's sitting room - especially in these darker days! The traditional style also worked beautifully beside her vintage cabinet (how cool is that cabinet? Helen bought it at auction from Bukowskis a while back).
If you look closely, you'll see a variety of textures - including soft linen, knotted wool and stoneware - which, when combined with the plants, breathe life into the space (especially when the trees lie dormant outside).
Green marble windowsills are a classic 1930s feature in Swedish homes and make a perfect spot for Helen's collection of ceramics, plants and other treasured items.
I love the way the brushed, peach-skin of the linen and cotton blend catches the light - it makes it look so inviting! Anyone else feel like they could pour a coffee, curl up in this corner and stay a while?
Helen completed the look with a Bemz cover also in Chalk Simply Linen for her IKEA Karlstad Armchair - to match the sofa.
Love this light winter look? Here's a little about Helen's haul:
Get the look
14. Chalk Flower Pot
Look two: Cosy Winter Moss
For the second look, Helen was keen to add a touch of Jul (Christmas) inspired by the nearby Beech forest in wintertime.
To create the look, Helen chose the fabulous Corduroy cover in Winter Moss for her IKEA Stockholm 3.5 seater sofa. You probably won't have seen this before since it's part of the new Bemz Corduroy Collection, designed in collaboration with Maxwell Ryan of Apartment Therapy. If you love a little corduroy, check out the entire collection in all its super soft, wide 'wales' (ribbed) glory here.
Helen combined the Winter Moss cover with cushions in Rose Simply Linen and Natural Brera Lino - and some very lovely Swedish Christmas touches!
How cosy is this look? There's something about the deep green corduroy fabric that amps up the hygge. Add a little candlelight, a book and a steaming mug of glögg (spiced mulled wine) and you're good to go for the entire winter!
I particularly love how the corduroy catches the light - and the contrast between the velvet and linen. Beautiful!
Pale pink with moss green has to be one of my favourite colour combinations for years, are you a fan too? The touch of pink maybe subtle, but it makes all the difference to the look - something to think about if you're selecting cushions for your sofa.
True to Swedish style, Helen's Christmas decorations are super simple yet so pretty. A star here, and a bauble there. The candleholders are handmade by local designer Karolina Brobeck.
If anyone's looking for me, I'll be curled up right here - chatting to Helen until the kids come home!
If you love the 'Winter Moss' corduroy look as much as I do, here's the low down:
Get the look
Get The Look
What did you think? Do you have a favourite?
I hope I can show more of Helen's home moving forwards, it's so inspiring!
Oh, and the important bit. As a special, early Christmas present, the amazing team at Bemz are offering My Scandinavian Home readers a 20% off the entire range with promo code MSHwinter - valid until November 24th, 2020.
If you have an old IKEA sofa or armchair knocking about and would like to freshen it up in time for the new season - now's your chance! Don't have an IKEA sofa but in need of a new place to curl up this winter? You can find a load of secondhand IKEA sofas online - throw on a Bemz cover, and it will look as good as new! Oh, and they ship pretty much worldwide.
Get ready to order your free samples!
Thank you Bemz for collaborating with Helen and I on this - and thank you so much to Helen for inviting me over! I really enjoyed capturing these two looks in the fading winter light!
Niki
Photos by me / styling by Helen Sturesson
This post is brought to you in paid collaboration with Bemz and contains affiliate links. However, all words are my own and I only ever work with brands I absolutely love and think you will too. Thank you for supporting the businesses that help bring fresh content to your mailbox.