A Gorgeously Dark and Dramatic Family Home in Norway

Name: Maria
Location: Skedsmokorset, Norway

My husband, Roger, and I built this house and moved in three years ago, and we share it with our two young kids and a French Bulldog.

Welcome to Scandi Week—Apartment Therapy’s seven-day focus on all-things Scandinavia (often defined as the countries of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway). Sometimes it seems like the whole world is obsessed with trying to copy this corner of the globe, from its timeless style aesthetic to its now-famous coziness rituals. For the next week, we’ll take a look at all of it—cleaning, pop culture, and of course tons of eye popping design inspiration. Pull up a blanket and get hygge with us.

Because the house is modern and boxy and mostly open plan, we decided to go the other way with the decor. Contrast and texture and vintage furniture is our way forward, coupled with dark colors, green plants and moody wallpaper. We love it.

We love city travel and married in Paris, so that’s why we chose the Bonjour-lamp to be the main feature in our hallway.

The kitchen was plain white, and drove us crazy. We’d gone over budget on the house as it were, so couldn’t do anything expensive to change it. We ended up covering the fronts in decor foil and painting out the rest.

The aim with this house is for it to be inviting and to not have to worry about the kids making fingerprints or crumpling stuff, and not worry too much about the dog jumping on the furniture. Vintage furniture can be replaced, some of it is Salvation Army stuff, and we have a few design bits in between to elevate the style. This is a home to be lived in and loved.

Thanks, Maria!

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