RESHAPING THE PAST
Surrounded by family heirlooms, Björn Larsson has mixed past and present to create a look with timeless appeal
Björn Larsson has a simple mantra: buy with your heart. It’s a policy he has followed rigorously for many years and as a consequence he’s managed to fill several outbuildings on his property with these heartfelt purchases. There are so many, in fact, that he’s even turned one building into a shop, not that this is much help. ‘ Very often I don’t know if what I buy should be sold in the shop or should come home with me,’ laughs Björn, who admits that he regularly switches out pieces to keep his home looking fresh.
Björn’s passion for antiques can be traced back to his childhood. As a young boy, he frequently attended auctions with his parents and their home was also furnished with family heirlooms from his mother’s side. Many of these pieces remain in Björn’s possession and are in evidence in the house that he shares with his partner Marcus Adolfsson: a pair of oval tables that once belonged to his great-great-grandmother grace the dining room, while a large, mirror-fronted cabinet in the living room can be traced back to his mother’s great-aunt.
Just like its contents, Björn’s home has strong family ties: although this house isn’t where he grew up, it is on farmland his parents bought in the 1980s. It became their home for some years in the Nineties, but when Björn’s mother died, his father decided to downsize to a more manageable apartment. Keen to keep the house in the family, Björn and Marcus moved in and swiftly set
about making it their own. Björn was in charge of the interior decor and Marcus, who isn’t as passionate about antiques and interior design, oversaw the garden, which is as old as the house and was in need of attention. ‘It’s the perfect partnership,’ says Björn, and this division of labour has served them well.
The interior has changed a lot since the couple moved in. ‘The ground floor had been redecorated in the 1980s,’ explains Björn, ‘and the upstairs, which was a separate apartment, had been done in the 1950s, which was when all traces of the 1840s were wiped out.’ His vision was to restore the house to its former glory, and he likes it when what you see from the exterior is what you find inside, he says. ‘This is an old house in the country, so that’s what I wanted to create.’
Original features such as the ceilings, doors and kitchen range were restored, and the floor, which had been updated in the 1980s, was replaced with beautiful wooden planks that are in keeping with the property.
The house could now easily double as Björn’s résumé. As a store designer for fashion and