This Dreamy Norwegian Home is the Very Definition of Airy

Name: Tuva, with partner Lars and 10-month-old son Bo (and a cat called Nils)
Location: Tøyen — Oslo, Norway
Size: 950 square feet
Years lived in: 4 years, owned

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. This tour is a rerun of a gorgeous Scandinavian home we toured a few years ago.

Tuva says that her favorite thing about this apartment (and actually a main reason why they bought it) is the light. That’s no surprise when you see the sunshine stream into this cozy space. But instead of just keeping surfaces light and white, Tuva and her partner mixed in dramatic dark accents. It’s these contrasts—plus smart DIY ideas—that make the apartment bold.

Tuva runs a blog called Drill & Design, and we first saw a glimpse of her home in her house call. In it, she talks about the two months of work that went into personalizing this home (including a lot of floor sanding and removing a giant aquarium!). And though there are elements from IKEA in the space (like the kitchen, for instance), Tuva’s simple and smart DIY customization ideas (like leather pulls on the kitchen cabinets) give the space character. This apartment is a perfect example of a minimal, calming space that’s also filled with personal details to create a warm, friendly home.

Our Style: Being Norwegian I would never describe my style as Scandinavian, but I guess it’s kind of typical Scandinavian or Nordic with a muted color palette, lots of whitewashed wood, clean lines and graphic elements. Light and airy are key words as well.

Inspiration: I spend far too much time on Pinterest! My Pinterest feed knows me better than I know myself, haha.

Favorite Element: The dark grey wall in the living room that camouflages the TV. Several moths after we moved in, one of our close friends that had visited a bunch of times said “But you don’t have a TV.” He hadn’t noticed it. Success!

Biggest Challenge: We sanded and whitewashed all the floors ourselves. It was a huge, messy, noisy and tiring job that we had to do with the windows closed because of the neighbors. In August. It was so, so hot. And everything we owned was covered in dust. Everything. But it made a huge difference to the whole apartment and it was totally worth it.

What Friends Say: The balcony is always popular in the summer. It’s south facing and big and always full of Lars’ home grown chili plants. Also, the apartment lends itself nicely to parties. We have seated 18 people for a six course dinner in the kitchen and living room!

Biggest Embarrassment: Embarrassment is a big word. I don’t think anyone should be embarrassed when it comes to their home. There’s always bigger issues. However, having a 10 month old tornado in the house I miss having surfaces not covered in cereal, but that’s life.

Proudest DIY: I hand painted the chevron stripes on the floor in Bo’s room. It was a meticulous task involving a ruler, several rolls of masking tape and about 10 podcast episodes of This American Life. The stripes added a fun element and gave the room character without being childish.

Biggest Indulgence: Impulse buying an antique fireplace screen. Especially as we don’t have a fireplace. But it’s really beautiful!

Best Advice: Don’t be afraid to try out bold ideas. Often, the worst thing that could happen is that it turns out ugly. And then you can redo it. It is hard to really break stuff if you work on surfaces and don’t fiddle with plumbing or electrics.

Dream Sources: It depends on what types of furniture or accessories I’m looking for, for furniture it could be HAY, LK Hjelle or Bolia, for bathroom fixtures it would be Vola, for kitchenware and tableware it could be Iittala, Marimekko, Menu or Muuto. My favorite place to shop is a store called Nr9 in my hometown. They always find the prettiest things from designers I haven’t even heard of.

• Most walls: Jotun LADY Pure Color (supermatte finish) Refleksjon 1622
• Dark walls in living room, Bo’s room and the bedroom: : Jotun LADY Pure Color (supermatte finish) FR1134 Heksetimen

• Cupboard: Vintage find, probably from the 30s or 40s
• Poster: Vintage school poster
• Whale print: Society6

• Sofa: Bolia
• Pendant lamp: Habitat
• Shelves under TV: Bolia
• Floor lamp: Bolia
• Wall art: K-G Gyllensvärd, ert&ris, Society6 and Tuva’s great uncle
• Oak and glass frame: Moebe
• Bird: Kay Bojesen
• Book shelves: Bolia
• Table: Bolia
• Table lamps: AndTradition and IKEA
• Small ceramic vases: Tone Eidsør
• Speaker: Geneva

• Table and chairs: HAY
• Lamp: Bolia
• Wallpaper: Ferm Living Half Moon
• Sideboard: Vintage

• Kitchen cabients and fronts: IKEA
• Appliances: IKEA
• Splashback: self made in poplar plywood
• Handles: self made leather handles

• Bed: IKEA
• Nightstands: Muuto
• Poster: Vintage school poster
• Pendant lamps: Bolia
• Lounge chair: Rastad & Relling’s Futurum
• Dresser: Vintage
• Mirror: IKEA

• Shower curtain: Ferm Living
• Washing machine cabinet: self made in pine plywood
• Sink cabinet: IKEA

• Bed: Kili
• Mobile: Moulin Roty
• Lounge chair: Rastad & Relling’s Futurum
• Cushion: Design House Stockholm (Elsa Beskow collection)
• Solar system print: Double Merrick
• Animal photos: The Animal Print Shop
• Whale print: Society 6
• Riding prince print: John Bauer (Zazzle)
• Cat print: Vintage
• Alphabet print: Lagerhaus
• Rabbit lamp: Kremmerhuset
• Flags: Granit

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