All is calm
A restored Swedish summer home turns into a winter wonderland when Kim Månsson fills it with sparkling candles, natural greenery and festive cheer
Full of antiques and a festive glow, Kim Månsson’s Swedish cottage exudes cosy Hygge charm
Christmas in the country is always special, but Kim Månsson’s pretty weekend home in southern Sweden is even more appealing when it’s decorated with bright ribbons, foliage, moss and fresh flowers. A dusting of snow would be the perfect finishing touch, but outside the ground is bare and the stark branches shiver in the cold while the snow has moved further north. ‘One Christmas I was completely snowed in and didn’t come out for a whole week,’ says Kim. ‘But with two freezers full of food and plenty of books to read, it wasn’t a problem. In fact, it was wonderful.’
Even without being cut off by snow, Kim’s small, white farmhouse is fairly remote, on a large plot with wide views across the fields. Inside, though, the atmosphere is convivial and the antique furniture that Kim has collected at auctions and fleamarkets since she was 20 complements the old house. ‘My friends couldn’t understand why I was so interested in antiques,’ adds Kim. ‘They said it was junk and didn’t see the beauty in things that I did. I served up food on my East Indian plates from 1790 and they thought it was unhealthy to eat from such old china. Personally, I thought it was amazing that the plates were still holding together!’
Her interest became a passion and Kim signed up for antiques courses and spent whole days at auctions, learning as much as possible about the items up for sale. She learned how to make her own tapestries and how to paint and renovate the furniture she picked up. ‘I’m fascinated by the fact that people had these things before me and always wonder how they used them, how they lived, and what my things looked like in their homes back then.’ It was her love of antiques that led Kim to Nilstorp in the late 1990s. An advert for ‘a summer house, complete with antique furniture’ sparked her curiosity and she viewed it as soon as she could.
There was no hot water, and the bathroom was an outhouse, but Kim had fallen in love with it and bought it on the spot. She saw past the damp walls and floors, leaky roofs and wiring problems – not to mention the rotten floors and garish paintwork.
At times Kim found herself wondering whether the renovation would ever be finished, especially when one of the interior walls collapsed. ‘Luckily I found some very skilled craftspeople,’ says Kim. They replaced the roof and gutted the inside of the house, fixed the floors and electrics, built a bathroom, renovated the windows and plastered every wall, then painted with linseed paint. ‘Once they’d finished it was perfect, a blank canvas for me to recreate the house’s historic ambience in my own way,’ she says. ‘I wanted a more humble atmosphere, a bit like an ancient stone house with no unnecessary adornments – I removed the skirting and ornate window and door frames, and the light walls and ceilings give a sense of calm.’
Of all the antiques that came with the house, just one large baroque-style cabinet remains in place – other pieces have been moved to Kim’s apartment or given away. Kim has found furniture to suit her home’s ‘new and old soul’ and now every urn, candle sconce, chair and table looks familiar and comfortable, as though they’ve been gathered together for centuries. The antiques and the calm colour scheme are a fitting backdrop to the fresh green decorations Kim brings into the home for Christmas – holly, pine branches, Christmas roses and hyacinths: symbols of new life and, for Kim, a reminder of all the work that went into breathing new life into this charming old home.
Clockwise from top left: Kim found this pretty 19th-century cabinet at a fleamarket; an antique pedestal table and Gustavian-style armchairs create a quaint seating space.
The TV is disguised in an old wall cabinet; the cut-glass cheese dome belonged to Kim’s grandmother; an early-20th century birdcage with a stuffed canary; Kim bought the dresser at auction. Next to it, on top of a wooden barrel is an elegant Gustavsberg porcelain vase filled with fir twigs. For a similar pendant light, try Below Stairs of Hungerford
This page: The kitchen was pieced together from the old units and the worktop was painted black Opposite: The original wooden floors were in such poor condition that they couldn’t be saved, so Kim chose to replace them with rustic salvaged bricks. A highly decorative antique Danish stove is the star of the space