monochrome moment
An interior stylist and her architect partner combine their talents to create a layered family home in Stockholm featuring a smart monochromatic palette
True collaboration between a home’s owner and its designer almost always leads to great results, so when the owners of this Stockholm apartment - one of Sweden’s leading stylists and her architect partner – are also the designers, all the signs point to a successful renovation. When Lotta Agaton and Fredrik Wallner first saw the 200-square-metre apartment, it was the high ceilings and period details they were drawn to. “It was an old apartment with a traditional floorplan,” says Lotta. Now, she says, her home has a “more practical floorplan that fits a family of six, with five bedrooms and a big open space for living and eating.”
A total rethink of the floorplan was necessary to accommodate busy family life, with Fredrik moving the kitchen, refurbishing all the bathrooms and designing separate bedrooms for all four of the couple’s then teenage children. “We entertain a lot, plus all the children have friends over, so most of the time the apartment is full of people and life,” says Lotta. The generous living and dining areas are divided by a wide opening, and both benefit from an abundance of natural light from traditional tall windows across the front of the apartment, with a calming view of lush treetops outside. Double doors lead from the dining room to the all-white kitchen, which is finished simply with plain white cabinetry and a wall of white tiles.
When it comes to the interiors, Lotta’s years of styling experience have refined her taste, although she doesn’t like to be pigeonholed. “My style is modern and monochromatic,” she says. “I don’t have a favourite style; rather, I like well-designed furniture in good materials that age beautifully.” She favours natural materials such as timber, leather and stone, which also work as a neutral base for her work. “I use the apartment as a location for my Instagram and blog images,” she says. “I treat it as a work in progress where I can try different things.”
Throughout the elegant home, the walls are white and the scheme monochromatic, with a charcoal rug and low-slung B&B Italia sofa in the living space teamed with two vintage
Børge Mogensen ‘Spanish’ chairs in leather. Comforting touches add a layer of warmth with squashy Moroccan ottomans and rustic timber stools dotted around, as well as beautifully realised vignettes sitting on windowsills, side tables and atop cabinets. These styling moments are also used to great effect by Lotta, to break up a library wall of open shelving in the living area, adding artful pockets of character. “Rearranging things in my home is my favourite waste of time, but I think that the decoration is what makes a home personal,” she says.
The crisp dark timber dining table is matched with timeless Le Corbusier Thonet wicker seats and illuminated by a large paper lantern, forming a clever contrast of light and dark, hard and soft. “My furniture is a mix of things collected through work, life and over many different homes,” says Lotta. Her annual trip to the south of France yields vintage treasures, which she effortlessly blends with designer pieces and punctuates with vibrant greenery courtesy of sculptural potted plants. But above all, she stays true to her heritage. “The Scandinavian style has always been my own,” she says. “It’s light, fresh and practical.”