sweden – The Interiors Addict

Online shopping fix: Pappa Sven

Having spent a year living in the small town of Skellefteå in northern Sweden, Libby Helinski fell well and truly in love with everything about the culture, environment, lifestyle and of course, design.

Deciding she wanted to bring part of that back to her hometown of Newcastle, she — with the help of her husband — opened Scandinavian homewares store, Pappa Sven.

With both a bricks and mortar and online store, Pappa Sven aims to be truly Scandinavian, rather than just a shop filled with Scandinavian-inspired products. Brands include Marimekko, Kähler Design, Ferm Living, Fine Little Day, By Lassen and OyOy Living Design, to name just a few; with the range including candles, cushions, blankets, baskets, rugs and small furniture pieces, as well as Marimekko bags and fashion.

Wanting their customers to feel like they’ve stepped into a cozy little shop in Stockholm or Copenhagen, the beautiful store is located in an old warehouse with exposed rafters and a big glass frontage. If you’re in the area, definitely check it out! Otherwise…

Shop online.

Anna Carin McNamara’s first range for Designer Rugs, inspired by her Swedish childhood

Inspired by the traditional nomadic rugs which would illustrate a myth or poem through their design, self-professed modern nomad Anna Carin McNamara, has created a contemporary version, drawing on the stories of her own childhood for a collection of floor coverings.

Reflecting on memories of her youth spent on a farm in the south of Sweden, from picking wild berries to harvesting oats, Anna Carin has created a collection of hand-knotted floor rugs that epitomise the creative fusion of diverse cultures coming together.

0452_WEB — Wild Berry: “In summer, as a child, we would pick wild berries in the meadow. We would thread them on straw like a string of pearls then run home and eat them with cream and sugar.”

An accomplished interior designer with a body of work spanning Europe to South-East Asia and Australia, Anna Carin’s childhood memories have hewn a unique narrative for her rugs. Each design in The Forsa Collection recounts a childhood memory, each one abstracted and renewed, now resplendent in wool and silk.

0512_WEB — Straw: “On our land, as a child, we grew oats and thimothy grass for animal feed. We would ride on top of the hay load in my father’s cart. Leftover straw from the oats we used to make bedding in the stables for our horses.”

Anna Carin’s clean, pared-back, Scandinavian aesthetic is further enhanced by the use of traditional, Nepalese hand knotting techniques. The time-honoured tradition of hand knotting Tibetan wool with silk collides in a hushed palette of colours, synonymous to the Australian interior.

Nest: "As a child mother kept hens in our barn. Lots of hens. I would help collect the eggs. It stank in that barn. I would cover my nose with a handkerchief drenched in perfume." — Nest: “As a child, Mother kept hens in our barn. Lots of hens. I would help collect the eggs. It stank in that barn. I would cover my nose with a handkerchief drenched in perfume.”

Perfect for hospitality and commercial spaces or in the home, The Forsa Collection rugs find their origins in a very humble and personal time and place.

The Forsa Collection will be officially launched this week. For more information.