SOULFUL SCANDI

Cheery colours, bold pa erns and quirky collections ensure that Carolina Hodanek’s 1930s railway co age is big on character

This bold 1930s railway cottage shouts festive cheer and celebrates riotous colour and fabulously quirky collectables

Carolina Hodanek has been interested in interiors since she was a young girl. As a child, she would spend her weekends visiting museums and galleries with her father, who introduced her to art, and her pocket money was saved for ‘ beautiful things’. Her ! rst job couldn’t have been more !"ing – ‘I was the one who held up the items at the local auction house,’ she says. Today, she runs a home and garden shop, Apotekarns in southern Sweden, and it would be fair to say that she lives and breathes interiors. ‘ If I’m watching a thriller, I’m looking at the set design – what furniture do they have? What wallpaper?’ she laughs.

However, the moody backdrops of Scandi noir are far removed from Carolina’s own decorating aesthetic, which is all reds and greens with touches of blue and yellow. But, despite the strong, primary colours, there’s plenty of atmosphere, too, thanks to her collections of vintage glassware, painted furniture and bold artworks. ‘I’m drawn to brave prints and strong colour – I like to use all of the colours in the rainbow and I’m very eclectic in my tastes, mixing soulful handcra !ed pieces with vintage,’ she says. ‘ I love the character of old things – how they tell a story. And reusing things is be"er for the environment, too.’ Pieces gleaned from Morocco, Hungary and India add richness and visual interest. These are places that she usually

‘I’m very eclectic in my tastes, mixing soulful handcrafted pieces with vintage,’ says Carolina

visits regularly on buying trips to seek out the beautiful and unusual for her shop as well as her home.

Carolina moved here with her two children, Vincent (11) and Simone (six), four years ago. It was an easy sell. A 1930s railway co!age in the pre!y coastal town of Simrishamn, with a stream running through the garden. Inside was a blank canvas, ideal for Carolina, who has clear ideas about interiors. ‘ It’s such a beautiful house,’ she says. ‘ It’s old and a li!le bit quirky and it has an incredible garden. I just fell in love with it.’ On moving in, she painted walls and hung a striking vintage wallpaper. The plaster e"ect in the living room was achieved with a Li!le Greene shade of pink.

When asked if she collects anything, Carolina laughs. ‘ It’s too easy for me to # nd beautiful things. If I buy one thing, then I’ve invariably started a new collection. Luckily, I have the shop so I don’t have to keep everything in my home when I run out of space.’

Favourites include coloured Art Deco and 1950s glass and, at this time of year, vintage German ceramic Santa Claus !gures. ‘ They’re hard to come across now – I mostly ! nd them at auction, but I’m only interested in the bigger ones,’ she says. Her favourite possession though, is the 1920s portrait of her great-great-grandmother that hangs in the dining room. ‘I don’t know much about her except that she was strong-willed. She was an artist and she travelled to America on her own as a young woman – at a time when it was highly unusual to do so. The painting doesn’t go so well with the rainbow colours in my home but she’s a non-negotiable when we move.’

The warm colours of Carolina’s home lend themselves well to the season, with Carolina amping things up with decorations, candles and foliage. ‘Christmas means that I have an excuse to add a li"le bit more,’ she

Her favourite possession is the 1920s portrait of her great-great-grandmother that hangs in the dining room

says. ‘ I think I’m a maximalist.’ As is traditional in Sweden, Santa Claus comes on the 24th and, a erwards, as night falls, the grown-ups look forward to the present exchange game. ‘ Everyone buys one present for the same amount of money. We put it on the table and play for it with a dice – one person could get one gi and one could get six – then you unwrap,’ she explains. ‘A er that you play for the gi s again, but this time against the clock. It can get quite loud and comical.’ Which, really, sounds just perfect to us.

The 1940s green and cream glazed cabinet in the dining room came from Hungary, and Carolina picked up the 18th-century painted dining table from an antiques dealer in Denmark. Together they set the tone for the primary colour scheme. The green lace is a festive addition and comes out every year. A portrait of Carolina’s great-greatgrandmother dominates one wall and watches over the family’s Christmas celebrations.

The wallpaper in the kitchen is a midcentury design found online and is the perfect foil for the emerald-green 1950s breakfast table. The glazed cabinet is from India and Carolina sells similar designs in her shop, Apotekarns.

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE Carolina collects gnome-like German Father Christmas figures dating from the 1950s and they come out every year as part of her decorations. ‘I think they’re so cool,’ she says. ‘I have about 15 but am on the lookout for more’; the tall set of drawers that stand in the dining room came from Sankt Olof, a local dairy, famous for producing the best butter in Sweden; the table is set for Christmas with little gifts for each guest; the kitchen opens onto the sitting room, and Carolina uses a collection of vintage tins for storing kitchen utensils.

ABOVE A woodburner provides heat throughout the winter. RIGHT Carolina bought the vibrant Bedouin rug on the sitting room floor on a trip to Egypt 15 years ago. A large sofa is filled with cushions covered in vintage fabrics. The paintings on the wall are a mixture of reproduction images and lithographs that Carolina has picked up from various flea markets and had framed. A vintage-style lamp on a tripod stand provides reading light in the evenings, and the round table is antique.

The rug in the bedroom is from Moldova and is known as a Rose Kilim in Sweden. Carolina found most of the 1940s and 1950s bedroom furniture in local secondhand shops.

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE When the garden is hidden under a blanket of snow, Carolina still makes use of the small verandah, covering an impressive carved bench from Indonesia with soft furs and cushions for comfort and warmth. She bought the bench on one of her first buying trips when she started her importing business; she adds a few festive touches in the form of a small tree and a wreath; candles hang in the windows to welcome visitors. The log store is well stocked for the season.