A Cottage In Karlshamn, Sweden
It was on a southern archipelago in Sweden, in the small town of Karlshamn, where magazine editor Ulrica Wihlborg found a cottage for her family.
Magazine Editor Ulrica Wihlborg:
They moved from Los Angeles in 2012 to a traditional two-story home built by a working-class family. The house was built in 1929 and had been well-maintained.
Ulrica is an award-winning journalist who founded the lifestyle site “Sweden With Love.”
The 1200 square foot cottage was decorated while she still lived in Los Angeles with the help from former Kathryn M. Ireland staffer Carol Ross.
The Custom Made Couch:
She had a 12-foot custom sofa built in LA and shipped to Sweden along with other furniture in a container.
Wihlberg, who is also an accomplished photographer, took the black and white image on the left at the 13th-century Chateau St. Julien in France.
The set of eight antique Scandinavian botanical prints were found at a local shop.
The vintage typewriter was a gift from her husband early in their relationship.
The Kitchen:
Her mother gave her a 19th century Swedish merchant hutch that was repurposed as a kitchen island.
A few coats of Farrow & Ball’s paint was added as well as an IKEA butcher-block countertop. The bar stools are from Calypso Home.
The Dining Table:
The dining table is made from white-oak and is from Rachel Ashwell’s “Shabby Chic Couture” in Santa Monica, CA.
Carol, the former staffer, advised her to oil it with natural beeswax so that it would be kid-proof.
The French cafe chairs from HD Buttercup were upholstered with Raul Textiles’ Dominic fabric.
The Little Girl’s Bedroom:
This is 3-year-old Liv’s bedroom. The headboard was upholstered in Raoul Textile’s Jaipur. The company made the fabric for the Roman shade as well.
And the mirror, side table and armchair were antique finds.
Wihlborg sorted her three children’s toys by type and put them in baskets. Once the baskets are full, they donate some of the older toys to charity.
Here is Liv with her books and a doll that once belonged to her mother when she was a child.
The Boys’ Bedroom:
Eight-year-old Axel and five-year-old Gustav share a room with a white bunk bed.
The pillows on the bed were made from seed sacks that their mother also mounted on canvas for wall art.
Toys, a book collection, the children’s artwork, as well as vintage finds make up this space.
This desk was found at a flea market. The vintage Swedish school poster feature a pair of turtles.
The Wihlborg Family Outside Their Home:
Wihlborg says that being able to have this time with her children is a wonderful gift. And she’s happy they went on this adventure.
(All photos are from the Lonny website)
(Note: I will be taking tomorrow off to work on Saturday’s post)
I admire people who can pick up and move overseas! Beautiful cottage!
Ohhhhh just love their sweet cottage. The whites and neutrals are beautiful. Happy Weekend.
I love this☀️ Beautiful post.
Very beautiful home and family!
Beautiful! But not in my house, too much white! Isn’t it funny though that I like in other peoples home.
A lovely cottage and a lovely yard as well. The family looks very comfortable there. It is a beautiful part of the world. I have visited Finland my Father’s family home – he also lived there as a child. If you visit Finland between May-June there is almost no darkness – there is about 20 hours of daylight and a few hours of twilight (the darkest it gets is nautical twilight). That almost flips in the deep winter months so everyone welcomes the daylight and warmer weather! The quality of life is very high in the Nordic countries and they frequently top the lists of the “happiest countries in the world”.
Beautiful cottage…but I bet right now tis very cold there? Heh, if you want wonderful summers, ya gotta put up with COLD winters I think…
More “everything white” with 3 kids. While it’s pretty, it’s an eye roll. Sorry, Brenda. Not rude to you.
This small house is so cute. And it does indeed look bigger than the square footage says it is. Very comfy for a really cute family.
I love that 12 foot long sofa with the wall sconces on either side and the round bolsters. So cozy, perfect for stretching out and getting lost in a good book for hours.
This cottage is beautiful! It’s so nicely decorated and spacious looking. It definately looks bigger than 1200 square feet. I’m interested in learning more about the natural beeswax she was told to oil her table with, to make it kid proof. Maybe I’ll do a quick Amazon search to see if I can find it. I love when people display their own photos for their artwork. It’s beautiful and so unique and personal. This really is a lovely home.
She’s very creative! Her kids are adorable too!
Hopefully I can send this message off before it disappears like all the other ones I send daily! Crossing fingers
Beautiful home!