An 81sqm historic apartment where the bold color scheme is a real success
This 81sqm historic apartment in Sweden is decorated with bold colors that highlight its moldings and tiled stoves
This 81sqm historic apartment is located on the top floor of a building dating from 1898, in the Linné neighborhood of Gothenburg. It is a spacious three-room apartment featuring striking old-style high ceilings. Stucco moldings are still visible thanks to a careful renovation and the colors that highlight them.
The apartment features two of these Swedish tiled stoves, which are one of the most distinctive elements of 19th-century Scandinavian domestic architecture. Their operating principle is simple. The wood-fired ceramic mass accumulates heat, which is then released for hours. In Sweden, tens of thousands of these stoves can still be found in older apartments in major cities. Unfortunately, many were condemned or converted into purely decorative elements during renovations in the 1970s through the 1990s.
The one in the living room is spectacular. It is a cylinder of dark green tiles with embossed patterns, featuring gold accents on the firebox door. It still works, undoubtedly a stroke of luck and a real asset. The room boasts generous proportions. Light streams in through two tall mullioned windows, whose white voile curtains filter the light without blocking it.
The second stove, in the master bedroom, is entirely white, with an intricately detailed floral relief, crowned by a stucco frieze that exactly matches the pattern of the ceiling cornice. The owners consider it as much a sculpture as a heating appliance.
The choice of colors is the boldest and most successful decision in this interior. The living room is painted in a dark terracotta shade that covers all four walls. Paired with the unpainted wide-plank hardwood floor, the sage-green sofa, and the geometric kilim rug, this creates a warm and relaxed atmosphere. Groups of antique paintings in gilded frames adorn the walls.
The master bedroom, on the other hand, features a soft color, a gentle blue-gray, a shade the Scandinavians call “dove blue.” Paired with white moldings, natural linen curtains, and small framed landscape paintings on the wall, this color creates an elegant space. The bed is centered facing the white stove, showcasing its vintage beauty.
The entryway stands in stark contrast to the rest of the space. Its walls are covered with botanical-patterned wallpaper in shades of ochre and mustard. It’s the “Under the Elder Tree” pattern by Boråstapeter, a wallpaper inspired by medieval tapestries and the Arts and Crafts movement. The built-in coat closet, painted in the same sulfur-yellow shade, is both beautiful and practical.
The wide-plank hardwood floors run throughout the apartment, sometimes left in their natural blond hue, sometimes repainted white in the kitchen and hallways. This contrast highlights the different areas. The living room and bedrooms retain their authenticity, while the kitchen and hallways have a more contemporary feel.
The furnishings are a mix of modern pieces and antique furniture. A walnut upright piano takes pride of place in the living room, a 1950s-style cherry wood wardrobe occupies a corner of the master bedroom, and a String desk from the 1960s is set up in the hallway. The vintage pieces coexist with Hans Wegner’s Wishbone chairs in the kitchen and a few contemporary armchairs.
At first glance, the kitchen seems rather ordinary with its slate-gray cabinet fronts and dark marble countertop. But a country-style pine sideboard, repainted in Falun red and sitting in a corner, changes the perception of the room. Sometimes, all it takes is a single unique piece to give a space personality. In front of the French doors leading to the balcony, the Wishbone chairs and round table are arranged in a practical way.
From the kitchen, you step out onto the balcony, which overlooks a quiet inner courtyard. Its red folding table, flower pots, and wooden storage bench add a charming touch. The view of Gothenburg’s red-copper rooftops is quintessential and authentic.
Its second bedroom, used as a child’s room, is a showcase of Pinterest trends. You may or may not like the sage-green bed, the pink-and-white checkered rug, the pleated cotton pendant light, and the garland of small wooden animals. It’s very pretty, but it lacks a bit of imagination.
The bathroom is functional and clean, with no particular decorative appeal. The glass brick wall cleverly separates the shower area.
This type of apartment with character, featuring preserved original architectural elements and a decor that embraces bold colors, is reminiscent of what you find in beautiful historic Haussmann-style apartments in France and across Europe.
Approach is exactly the same: not to erase the building’s history, but to renovate it skillfully. The marble fireplaces of 19th-century Parisian buildings are replaced with tiled stoves. The built-in bookshelf in the living room, the stucco moldings, the high ceilings, the tall windows with small panes, all of this feels familiar to us.
Its color palette is more Nordic, but there is a certain similarity to the lifestyle found in classic, bourgeois European apartments.
Linné neighborhood takes its name from the botanist Carl von Linné. The Långgatorna, the long streets that run through it, were once the domain of sailors and dockworkers. Its proximity to the harbor shaped daily life. Today, trendy cafés and galleries where young artists exhibit their work have taken the place of warehouses.
It is this contrast between the historic architecture and the contemporary lifestyle that gives the neighborhood its unique character.
81sqm
This 81sqm historic apartment is for sale at Alvhem
Two tiled stoves in a single apartment
The apartment features two of these Swedish tiled stoves, which are one of the most distinctive elements of 19th-century Scandinavian domestic architecture. Their operating principle is simple. The wood-fired ceramic mass accumulates heat, which is then released for hours. In Sweden, tens of thousands of these stoves can still be found in older apartments in major cities. Unfortunately, many were condemned or converted into purely decorative elements during renovations in the 1970s through the 1990s.
The one in the living room is spectacular. It is a cylinder of dark green tiles with embossed patterns, featuring gold accents on the firebox door. It still works, undoubtedly a stroke of luck and a real asset. The room boasts generous proportions. Light streams in through two tall mullioned windows, whose white voile curtains filter the light without blocking it.
The second stove, in the master bedroom, is entirely white, with an intricately detailed floral relief, crowned by a stucco frieze that exactly matches the pattern of the ceiling cornice. The owners consider it as much a sculpture as a heating appliance.
Color in the rooms
The choice of colors is the boldest and most successful decision in this interior. The living room is painted in a dark terracotta shade that covers all four walls. Paired with the unpainted wide-plank hardwood floor, the sage-green sofa, and the geometric kilim rug, this creates a warm and relaxed atmosphere. Groups of antique paintings in gilded frames adorn the walls.
The master bedroom, on the other hand, features a soft color, a gentle blue-gray, a shade the Scandinavians call “dove blue.” Paired with white moldings, natural linen curtains, and small framed landscape paintings on the wall, this color creates an elegant space. The bed is centered facing the white stove, showcasing its vintage beauty.
The entryway stands in stark contrast to the rest of the space. Its walls are covered with botanical-patterned wallpaper in shades of ochre and mustard. It’s the “Under the Elder Tree” pattern by Boråstapeter, a wallpaper inspired by medieval tapestries and the Arts and Crafts movement. The built-in coat closet, painted in the same sulfur-yellow shade, is both beautiful and practical.
Original hardwood floors and vintage finds
The wide-plank hardwood floors run throughout the apartment, sometimes left in their natural blond hue, sometimes repainted white in the kitchen and hallways. This contrast highlights the different areas. The living room and bedrooms retain their authenticity, while the kitchen and hallways have a more contemporary feel.
The furnishings are a mix of modern pieces and antique furniture. A walnut upright piano takes pride of place in the living room, a 1950s-style cherry wood wardrobe occupies a corner of the master bedroom, and a String desk from the 1960s is set up in the hallway. The vintage pieces coexist with Hans Wegner’s Wishbone chairs in the kitchen and a few contemporary armchairs.
At first glance, the kitchen seems rather ordinary with its slate-gray cabinet fronts and dark marble countertop. But a country-style pine sideboard, repainted in Falun red and sitting in a corner, changes the perception of the room. Sometimes, all it takes is a single unique piece to give a space personality. In front of the French doors leading to the balcony, the Wishbone chairs and round table are arranged in a practical way.
From the kitchen, you step out onto the balcony, which overlooks a quiet inner courtyard. Its red folding table, flower pots, and wooden storage bench add a charming touch. The view of Gothenburg’s red-copper rooftops is quintessential and authentic.
The other rooms
Its second bedroom, used as a child’s room, is a showcase of Pinterest trends. You may or may not like the sage-green bed, the pink-and-white checkered rug, the pleated cotton pendant light, and the garland of small wooden animals. It’s very pretty, but it lacks a bit of imagination.
The bathroom is functional and clean, with no particular decorative appeal. The glass brick wall cleverly separates the shower area.
An apartment with character
This type of apartment with character, featuring preserved original architectural elements and a decor that embraces bold colors, is reminiscent of what you find in beautiful historic Haussmann-style apartments in France and across Europe.
Approach is exactly the same: not to erase the building’s history, but to renovate it skillfully. The marble fireplaces of 19th-century Parisian buildings are replaced with tiled stoves. The built-in bookshelf in the living room, the stucco moldings, the high ceilings, the tall windows with small panes, all of this feels familiar to us.
Its color palette is more Nordic, but there is a certain similarity to the lifestyle found in classic, bourgeois European apartments.
Linnéstaden, a lively residential neighborhood
Linné neighborhood takes its name from the botanist Carl von Linné. The Långgatorna, the long streets that run through it, were once the domain of sailors and dockworkers. Its proximity to the harbor shaped daily life. Today, trendy cafés and galleries where young artists exhibit their work have taken the place of warehouses.
It is this contrast between the historic architecture and the contemporary lifestyle that gives the neighborhood its unique character.
81sqm
This 81sqm historic apartment is for sale at Alvhem
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