My Houzz: Surrounded by Luxury in a Round Apartment in Sweden
Step through the looking glass into this blogger’s luxurious and flower-filled 1880s tower home
Blogger Dasha Girine has been living in a beautiful old building in the Norrmalm district of Stockholm for a year and a half. The building’s striking architecture includes a tower on one side, and that’s where Girine lives, in a luxurious round apartment. The rooms have their original features, such as stucco moldings on the ceilings, as well as a warm, modern look with earthy colors and lots of art.
Before Girine moved to Norrmalm she lived in Kungsholmen, one of the city’s suburbs. “We were a pretty big gang of women, five or six of us, and everyone lived within five minutes’ walk of my door. We were all single and we went out a lot — but then one woman after another left, moving from Kungsholmen to Östermalm,” another Stockholm suburb.
Girine, the last one left behind, decided to look for a new place. Then one of her best friends, Petra Tungården, put her apartment up for sale. The timing was perfect. Girine made a smart move to make sure she snagged the apartment: “I thought: How can I do this without a bidding war? Petra obviously wanted me to get the apartment, but she also couldn’t give up half a million kronor [about $60,000] for me.”
Girine, the last one left behind, decided to look for a new place. Then one of her best friends, Petra Tungården, put her apartment up for sale. The timing was perfect. Girine made a smart move to make sure she snagged the apartment: “I thought: How can I do this without a bidding war? Petra obviously wanted me to get the apartment, but she also couldn’t give up half a million kronor [about $60,000] for me.”
There were two viewings and two previews planned for the apartment. “I called the real estate broker two hours before the first preview and I offered 700,000 Swedish kronor [about $85,000] over the asking price, which was the most I could pay. He thought it was pretty strange and wondered what kind of person I must be. Everyone who came to the viewings just turned around again at the door, as they thought I was some mega-rich person who just wanted the apartment at any cost.”
The beautiful mirror seen here was a huge selling point, and Girine wanted to buy the apartment with the stipulation that it be included. In fact, her friend had made the same deal with the previous owners.
The beautiful mirror seen here was a huge selling point, and Girine wanted to buy the apartment with the stipulation that it be included. In fact, her friend had made the same deal with the previous owners.
“My home is very open — I love having people over,” Girine says. “My favorite thing is when people say, ‘I want to come over to yours and have dinner; I think I’d like to have cod,’ and then I’ll go make up a menu.”
The fact that the apartment is so central also means that friends are constantly dropping by. “You can always pop up and leave things or collect things and so on,” Girine says. “It suits my lifestyle and my job. The apartment is close to both Hötorget [the Hay Square, a central square in Stockholm] and Vasastan [another central area] — it’s only a five-to-seven-minute walk to so many neighborhoods.”
Chairs and trestle: Hay; tabletop: custom
The fact that the apartment is so central also means that friends are constantly dropping by. “You can always pop up and leave things or collect things and so on,” Girine says. “It suits my lifestyle and my job. The apartment is close to both Hötorget [the Hay Square, a central square in Stockholm] and Vasastan [another central area] — it’s only a five-to-seven-minute walk to so many neighborhoods.”
Chairs and trestle: Hay; tabletop: custom
Girine created a wall display with mirrors she found mostly at antiques shops. “I like mirrors very much and happily decorate with them. Mirrors make a room look bigger, and I think they are the best fun you can have with interior design. This mirror wall especially is a bit Alice in Wonderland.”
No major renovations were needed before move-in; Girine simply had to make the decor her own. “I have quite earthy tones in my home, with some splashes of color,” she says. “Personally, I wear a lot of dark clothes and simple colors, but in my heart and soul I am all glitter!”
She gets a lot of her inspiration from everyday life. “When I see nice things, I photograph them. I have inspiration folders both on the computer and on my cellphone, where I save images of anything and everything. It can be anything from a nice lamp to a party I want to be at right now.”
She gets a lot of her inspiration from everyday life. “When I see nice things, I photograph them. I have inspiration folders both on the computer and on my cellphone, where I save images of anything and everything. It can be anything from a nice lamp to a party I want to be at right now.”
Tall candleholders: vintage; small candleholders: Skultuna
One of the most important features of Girine’s decor is fresh-cut flowers. “They lift plain surfaces and work well with all genres and styles, always,” she says. “Fresh flowers are my best decorating tip, and they are something you’ll always find lots of in my home.”
Cart: Newport
Cart: Newport
“You need to have a curved couch in a round room, otherwise you would lose a lot of floor space,” Girine says. “I could have had a rectangular dining table, but the space is better optimized with a round one.” She bought the elegant little coffee tables directly from the artist who makes them, after spotting them on Instagram a few years ago.
Girine bought the crystal chandelier in the living room especially for the new apartment, to match one that used to hang in her walk-in closet in Kungsholmen. The original one now hangs in the hallway.
All of Girine’s neighbors are young. “It’s the best apartment block in the world — it’s almost only young people who live here, people around 30 years old. It’s a fantastic vibe. I have great neighbors,” she says.
The bedroom features matching bedside lamps and a ceiling light by Michael Anastassiades for Flos, alongside part of Girine’s art collection. “I like art and all of my artwork was created by my mom’s friends — she has many friends who are artists,” she says.
Bed: Mio; pillow and bedspread, Zandvoort; nightstand: Ikea, with knobs from Superfront and marble discs added by the homeowner
Bed: Mio; pillow and bedspread, Zandvoort; nightstand: Ikea, with knobs from Superfront and marble discs added by the homeowner
Girine found the framed elephant photos by chance. “I was on my way home from a nightclub in Stockholm about 10 years ago, and outside Berzelii Park there was an open-air exhibition of photos. I found these images and fell completely in love with them, so I then searched and found the photographer online, and ordered the prints.”
The closets in the bedroom are also embellished with knobs from Superfront, one of the few additions Girine made when she moved in. “I put in more closet storage, as well as the dresser and the large cabinet in the bathroom. A good tip for making budget furnishings a little more luxurious is to buy the furniture at places like Ikea, but then replace the knobs and legs with new ones from places like Superfront. I’m not a DIY person, but this is so easy.”
The bathroom is fully tiled, with a sink and mirror from Ikea and a bathtub Girine added. There are fresh flowers here too. “I definitely always have flowers on the dining table and in the bathroom,” she says. “Here, I tried to match the colors of the flowers with the new Molton Brown soaps.”
Girine commissioned a friend of her mother’s to paint this piece for the bathroom. “I wanted a painting of a woman bathing, because I really like to bathe myself,” she says. It’s a hint of fun in a home decorated with a touch of humor and loads of luxurious details.
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style: Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style: Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
House at a Glance
Who lives here: Dasha Girine, freelance PR and events consultant and blogger for Metromode. She also runs the company Stadsdel.nu, which creates college-style sweatshirts and hoodies printed with the names of Stockholm’s various districts.
Location: Norrmalm, a central district of Stockholm
Size: Two rooms, about 580 square feet (54 square meters)
Year Built: 1889
“I like that it’s an older building,” Girine says. “It’s also really cool that the room is round and that I literally live in a tower — I usually joke that we should do a photo shoot where I’m standing by the window with a really long braid.”