Houzz Tour: TV Presenter Elsa Billgren’s Dreamy Stockholm Home
To create a warm vintage home requires more planning than you think, but Elsa and Pontus has perfected the technique in their small flat
Entering Elsa’s apartment is like getting a hug. The large room smiles with its windows that overlook green trees, dazzling sun reflections plays on wood, and you feel like… well, home. Despite that Elsa and Pontus have only lived in their home, in the cozy area around Allhelgonakyrkan at Södermalm in Stockholm since 2014, the atmosphere and decor make it feel much longer. “Yes, like 20 years or so,” Elsa says. “We want it to feel warm and welcoming for everyone we love, with the windows flung open and playing jazz in the background. We love things, but it’s a creative mess – so we actually know where everything is.” Elsa’s rule for what things may enter the home is simple. They should be colourful, and they have to come with a story. “The fact that we choose to fill our home with flea market finds, that become valuable possessions, is probably a way for us to relive our childhoods. The two of us grew up in arty homes, so for us this is completely natural.”
When Elsa and Pontus moved into their new home, they furnished it quickly and with confidence. “I was shopping like crazy and had a big truck that came the day after we moved here, with vintage stuff from Olsson & Jensen.” But how did she get that homely feeling that you experience in the apartment? All the furniture feels like they have been here for years, as if they have all been standing and living here with each other, to create a warm and familiar feeling. “It’s all about good planning. I always draw up a plan and know exactly what I want, and in what dimensions, before I start buying.” So, what seems like a spontaneously beautiful home, has a solid foundation with a lot of thought behind it. “To just go with your gut feeling rarely works, it needs a plan to create harmony. In fact, it also helps when you’re out looking for bargains at garage sales and second-hand shops.”
Although the vintage queen loves classic Swedish design, it is an American fairy tale ála 1951’s that is her style ideal. “Romantic interiors seduce me totally. Powder, gold, faded pink… I grew up in the 90s, when it was all about large TV cabinets, plastic and sporty. While everyone wanted a single, rigid gerbera stem in a vase, I dreamed about half overblown roses. Fragile and delicate.”
Elsa spent her early years in Gothenburg, but moved to Stockholm when she was 10. She loves the area Söder in Stockholm, and especially this hidden green nook."These houses were built around 1928 with large families in mind and a neoclassical style. They face a large courtyard, full of chestnut, elderberry and other trees, where the kids could play freely. I do not know exactly how many kids they had in our apartment, but it was not unusual that they had six in this little one bedroom flat. The apartments in the houses have no fancy stucco or stoves, but huge windows and plenty of clever storage - there are seven built-in wardrobes and cupboards here!”
And it also remains quite a lot of real Söder-people, says Elsa, in a neighbourhood that has been completely transformed in just a few decades. “It reminds me of Gothenburg,” Elsa says, “with bistros where people are warm and happy.” Is there a place she would absolutely not be willing to live? “In something newly built, I just couldn’t. I am addicted to old materials!”
It was the strong painting by Pontus’ father, the colourist Ronald de Wolfe, who got to colour the entire apartment. The green colour was picked up in the velvet sofa from Ikea, and the orange elements on the Smeg-fridge and old gift boxes from Hermés in the bedroom. To have such a clear picture in terms of colours helps to bind together the home, and inspiration can come from anywhere. “It can be dreams, images, films…” Elsa says. “If you like something, then show it. Do not be like everyone else, it just makes people happy if you are a bit different.”
The details are important in the apartment and the black bakelite light switches have carefully been chosen at Byggfabriken. “There is no better sound than the click when you light a lamp like this,” Elsa says.
The 2.5 metre long table is made of old planks, and 10 people can easily sit around it for dinner. “It’s damaged and dented, perfect to spill red wine on. And steady enough to dance on.”
The vase was bought by Pontus at Brandstationen as a consolation gift. “I had found an amazing big vase in Östersund in north Sweden, and flew home with it in my arms on the plane. Then my husband managed to slam a wine bottle into it, so it broke and 7 liters of water gushed out… But this one is also nice!” Elsa says.
The vase was bought by Pontus at Brandstationen as a consolation gift. “I had found an amazing big vase in Östersund in north Sweden, and flew home with it in my arms on the plane. Then my husband managed to slam a wine bottle into it, so it broke and 7 liters of water gushed out… But this one is also nice!” Elsa says.
The orange refrigerator was actually already in the apartment when Elsa and Pontus moved in, and fits perfectly with both the painting by Ronald de Wolf, and as a counterweight to the jade green velvet sofa opposite to it – “it is great because it balances the colour of the sofa,” Elsa says. The beautiful glass lamp was found at a flea market for 100 SEK.
There are a few modern and newly bought things, but mostly technology – most of it is hidden in the old bakery boxes, except the speakers from People Products that are allowed to be visible. The small brass pyramids are quality souvenirs from Egypt, an antiques trend that Elsa believe will grow bigger.
In the background, behind the couch from Ikea shows an artwork by Elsa’s mother, artist Helene Billgren, called ‘Familjen Byxa’ (The Family Trousers)."This is cardboard dressed in velvet,” Elsa says, “and we in the family are the trousers – I’m the little one. It was in the basement at home and I thought it would work here.” The pillows from Svenskt Tenn, Ikea and Fine Little Day have been decorated by wooden beads and tassels by Elsa.
The culture room, a small alcove with doors that can be closed, houses books, music, gamesand the piano that Swedish legend Hasse Alfredson has recorded several favourite songs on. Pontus and Elsa got it from his son Tomas Alfredsson, the world-famous director, and brought it home when Pontus won a Grammis for the music for a stage version of The Wizard of Oz.
“This mirror is almost my favourite thing at home, I found it at Metropol auctions. I find bidding a little bit scary, if I have fallen in love with something, I get super stressed by the thought of not getting it.” Elsa’s predilection for vintage does not extend to bed sheets and linen – she always buys those brand new.
That it is American dresses, or Italian Americana as Elsa calls it, that she likes the most, has historical connotations. “After World War II a lot of relief consignments were shipped from Europe from America, and especially in Italy, this thing with flirty skirts and the whole New Look became very big. There are not that many clothes left over from other countries at the vintage market any longer, you don’t see any Chanel dresses in circulation for example, and almost nothing from Russia.” But what is it that makes the old garments so special? “How they are made, how they fit. That the buttons are covered, how nicely the lace is created. A craft that is almost forgotten today, when production is outsourced to Asia.”
A large part of Elsa’s time is devoted to her business hiring vintage wedding dresses. In her showroom hang around 200 dresses that are rented out to women from all over Sweden. It is noticeable that it is a subject close to her heart. “I just love when a bride comes by bus from Sala (a small town located in the middle of Sweden) for a fitting. They actively choose vintage and appreciate the fact that many brides have used the dress before them – that you become a part of a tradition.” And also that well-made vintage dresses does what few wedding outfits succeed with – to make the bride feel beautiful. “When they see themselves in the mirror… then I know why I’m a vintage missionary,” Elsa says.
The love of the dresses permeates Elsa’s life and has done so since she was a child and joined her mum on vintage hunting. She likes the smell of them, the old, beautiful smell, which reminds her of when they “were digging in old containers and shops for bargains – that childhood memory feels reassuring,” she says. And it’s the well-tailored dresses created with so much love and thought that would be her savior if anything went wrong. “If no one reads the blog, if TV stop my programs and if Instagram breaks down, then I have the dresses. Then I go back to working in a store again.”
Elsas top 3 tips for finding the gems at a market or car boot sale:
Tip 1. Write a list. If you need a teapot, towels and a bed lamp, focus on that, and do not stop by the old vinyl records or kitchen chairs.
Tip 2. Learn to see if something is really old, from the 40’s and back. If it is, the object will probably never lose its value.
Tip 3. Estimate the quality by weight and proportions. Ask the question if the object can manage on its own. Lift it up from the muddle of things, isolate it, and then see if it’s still beautiful. In that case – buy it!
Tip 1. Write a list. If you need a teapot, towels and a bed lamp, focus on that, and do not stop by the old vinyl records or kitchen chairs.
Tip 2. Learn to see if something is really old, from the 40’s and back. If it is, the object will probably never lose its value.
Tip 3. Estimate the quality by weight and proportions. Ask the question if the object can manage on its own. Lift it up from the muddle of things, isolate it, and then see if it’s still beautiful. In that case – buy it!
Who lives here: Elsa Billgren, a TV presenter, blogger and vintage entrepreneur, husband Pontus de Wolfe, musician, and the cat Mira
Location: Next to Helgalunden, Södermalm, Stockholm
Size: 63 square meters, one bedroom, music alcove and open plan kitchen and living room