Excuse our mess while we are moving in.. I’m literally still in process of moving in to our home in Linköping, Sweden, and at the same time SkimbacoLifestyle.com is going through some changes. All Skimbaco blogs (Home, Travel and Food) will be merged under Skimbaco Lifestyle, and one new blog will also be added under the same site: Skimbaco Lifestyle Finnish Edition, and I will also introduce some new writers (interested writing for Skimbaco? Contact me!). But before the blog transformation happens… Here are a few photos from my actual home, which is also going through many changes – we’ve lived here about a week. Remember that we had to sell almost everything when we moved from New York…? So we are starting from almost scratch and here are a few pictures where we are right now.. I want a few selected special designer items in our home – and I will combine them with inexpensive IKEA and flea market finds and hacks. It’ll be a slow process, but hoping you will join along to see how we decorate our Swedish home – and it of course started with a trip to IKEA.

IKEA Overload

When in Sweden, do like the Swedes do, right? Well, we have been IKEA fans way before we moved to Sweden, with our lifestyle (moving every 1-3 years to other state or country), it’s just the smartest way to go. Nothing has given us more headaches in the moves than expensive large solid wood designer furniture (and thus they will no longer enter to our home until we settle down, if we ever do).

Entry way

Welcome in. With three children we needed shoe storage right next to the door, and the IKEA Tjusik shoe rack ($59.99) fits the space perfectly. The old antique market wooden box and the old lanterns from Kmart fit the space breaking the too modern IKEA look. The rug was left in the house when we moved in, and I might replace it when I get to it. The mirror jacket cabinet was already also in, and it’s perfect for kids’ jackets.

Office

The clear IKEA TOBIAS dining chairs ($79.99 each) were also in our New York apartment, and the BESTÅ BURS office desk ($269) seemed perfect for the open living room/dining room. It will turn easily from my desk to a buffet when we have parties. The curtains were already in the house, and I hid about 9 screw holes from a TV stand with the Paris picture (it’s a framed page from an old Cavallini calendar). The snow globes, globes and glass Mickey Mouse statues are all souvenirs from places we’ve lived and visited. I was planning to sit by the window to work.. but so far I’ve preferred sitting on my gorgeous new (rented) Barcelona chairs instead. The real Barcelona chairs go for about $5,000, but get the copy chair Exposition Lounge Chair, Italian Leather for $539.99 and enjoy the same look. Yes, I made a table for my coffee mug from a box and a tray, and I’m still working a lot from coffee shops, so I’m hauling this office around. Well, minus the Barcelona chairs.

Dining Room Nook

We got this side table from a rental company, and while it fits perfectly for this corner in the dining room, it probably won’t stay there long. When you travel around the world it’s funny how some weird things become important to you, and I displayed a few of those random items with memories in this side table immediately. Sea shells we’ve collected from different travels. Picture of my husband and our first dog on a beach in Alabama a week after we got engaged. Boat pull from an antique market from Sackets Harbor, NY. The boat painting I bough from a street vendor in Spain. Sailor’s brass pen holder I got from my dad, filled with wooden sticks collected from a beach in Italy. Blue vase from an antique shop in Naantali, Finland and my beloved Villeroy & Boch bowl and Alvar Aalto glass bowls. Random collection of memories. This display won’t stay long, but after traveling for a few months it’s nice to see some old things.

Walk-in Closet

No… the house didn’t come with a huge walk-in closet and in fact we didn’t have enough storage space downstairs for our clothes, but we did have an extra bedroom that initially I was planning to make an office. But since I designed to work from the living room where I can see the gorgeous view, we turned the extra room into a walk-in-closet. We had done the same in our apartment in New York, and shipped some of our shelving units here, and now added a few pieces to it. Good news that IKEA still sells the same system, but bad news was that the color was changed and so had the quality for worse (or might be a difference between Sweden and the US IKEAs too). Nevertheless, after much work my amazing husband set up a home-made walk-in-closet for us! It’s still in process… maybe I’ll share more photos once it’s finished.

Basement

More from IKEA… the couch is divine for lounging and family movie nights. It will also sleep our entire family if needed. (lamp also from IKEA, but pillow isn’t) Guess what else we have in the basement? A sauna! I swear, our home will not be like from an IKEA catalog, but we needed some things ASAP to get settled in, and IKEA was the best way to get many things fast. Hoping to share more pictures soon. home, home in Sweden, ikea, scandinavian home, Swedish home