Sebastian Bergström's tiny flat in Stockholm is a masterclass in combining colours
I always have my inspiration glasses on in my everyday life,” says the Swedish creative consultant Sebastian Bergström, who can reel off a long list of people, places and media that have influenced the charming, cheerful interiors of his apartment in Stockholm. It starts with interior designers Rita Konig and Beata Heuman, moves into the various national styles of Britain (for the colour), France and Italy (for their country kitchens), takes in Nancy Meyers movies ("I'm always pressing pause on It's Complicated and taking in the details; after seeing it for the third or fourth time I bought rattan blinds for the whole flat"), and ends with the most prosaic of grocery store items: “A tomato in the store can give me some ideas and then I go home and create based on that. I love that flow!”
Sebastian has been obsessed with interiors from his childhood, when he would create rooms within rooms at his parents' rural house in northern Sweden, graduating to reading their interior design magazines and redecorating his teenage bedroom over and over again, and then starting on the other rooms in the house, “with my parents' complete support”, he hastens to add. He calls it a “good school”, forcing him to learn how to redecorate with the things his parents already owned. Only 26 years old now, he has been blogging and Instagramming about interior design for 10 years, and has just set up his own eponymous studio. His flat in Gullmarsplan, a neighbourhood just over the river from fashionable Södermalm, is something of an Instagram sensation, a tiny space efficiently organised and overflowing with colour and pattern.
Sebastian moved in in 2017, having previously lived with his sister and nephew in a ground-floor flat in the same building. When a neighbour's larger third-floor flat became available, he and his sister bought it and chopped it back up into the two apartments it had previously been, so that the siblings could live next to each other but on their own. This necessitated some clever rearrangements of the 40m2 space. “The flat was in good condition with a newly renovated bathroom,” explains Sebastian, “but there was no kitchen and the door to my flat was behind a wall. So the first thing we did was to find the door. I then decided to split my bedroom and make half of it into a kitchen, and so I put in a door to the bedroom part from the living room.” The bedroom now has just enough space for a bed, but the kitchen, with its glorious new window into the bedroom, is big enough for two people to cook in.
The flat has continued to evolve over time; floors and mouldings were among the first projects, wooden panelling emerged in the hallway, and Sebastian recently gave the bathroom an overhaul. The flat has slowly become more and more colourful, starting off full of greys, whites and blues and gradually acquiring more and more shades of tomato red, green, and yellow. “I have realised that colours have a huge impact on me,” explains Sebastian, “so now when I decorate a room it starts with the colours." Although he favours vintage furniture and textiles, there are plenty of colourful fabrics from Swedish sources, including Svenskt Tenn, Chhatwal & Johnson and Cathy Nordström.
The most immediately striking thing about the flat is just how much Sebastian has been able to fit in without making it feel overly crowded. “I have learned so much about what kinds of furniture to use to make the most of the space,” he says. Shelves are a key recommendation; slender wall-mounted shelves provide lots of storage for books in the living room without taking up floor space, and the tomato-red shelves in the kitchen fulfill a similar function. One of Sebastian's first projects was to deepen all the windowsills in the flat and line them with marble to provide handy extra shelves; there is another 30cm-deep shelf behind the sofa with storage built into it. “The quickest and best tip I can give for small spaces is to try to make rooms within rooms," says Sebastian. “In my living room I have a dining area and a sort of library and an area for the TV. And within each of those mini-rooms there are other spaces I think of as self-contained. It makes everything feel more homely and cosy. My other tip is to be brave; you can usually fit more in a room than you think.”
The happiness and cheerfulness that radiates from the interiors are echoed in Sebastian's own attitude. Living next to his sister and eight-year-old nephew, and accompanied by his Jack Russell Herman, he has plenty of time with his family, and seems thoroughly enamoured with living in the city. “One of the reasons I like this flat is that it's on the third floor, so I can see the roofs and the crowns of the trees from the window, and it really feels like living in an apartment. The more he does to the flat, the more he enjoys it. His current favourite spot is on the daybed in the living room, which he has recently recovered in a large blue and white check. “It is my first proper furniture project and I think it worked out. Herman and I love spending our evenings on that daybed watching telly.” As his new interior design studio launches, we hope he'll make many such rooms for happy clients.
@mosebacke | @sebastianbergstrominteriors | sebastianbergstrom.com
Simon Bergström1/16“I saw a shop in Copenhagen that had a lovely blue on their walls, so I decided to go for a blue hallway after initially painting it rather a boring green," says Sebastian. "My family wasn't so sure about the colour, but I trusted my gut feeling and started to paint and have never regretted it. It feels so welcoming now and I get a peaceful sensation every time I walk in the door.” The colour is Misty Dijon by the Swedish brand Nordsjö. The floor in the apartment was a cheap parquet when Sebastian moved in, and replacing it with proper boards was one of his first projects.
Simon Bergström2/16The cabinet in the living room is painted in Farrow & Ball's ‘Oval Room Blue’, which Sebastian calls the perfect backdrop for his tomato-red chairs, which are painted in ‘Heat’ by Little Greene.
Simon Bergström3/16An eclectic collection of vintage art and posters decorates one wall of the living area.
Simon Bergström4/16A library area of wall-mounted shelves surrounds the door into the hallway.
Simon Bergström5/16The shelf under the television is a clever addition for plants and books.
Simon Bergström6/16The sofa is an Ikea Karlstad sofa with a linen cover by Bemz Design.Sebastian added the scallop to his coffee table and painted it in ‘Sage and Onions’ by Little Greene.
Simon Bergström7/16Sebastian recovered the daybed himself in ‘Gingham 249 Marine by Nya Nordiska’ and now calls it a favourite spot. The red check cushion on the daybed is by Chhatwal & Jonsson with a linen one from Linum behind.The rug is an one of a kind vintage Beni Qurain rug.
Simon Bergström8/16The living room opens into the bedroom, which used to be twice as wide, extending into what is now the kitchen.
Simon Bergström9/16The internal window opens into the kitchen. Another clever shelf behind the bed and deep windowsills provide space for plants and to set down a cup or glass. The walls are painted in Celestial White by Little Greene, and the fabric on the headboard in Sebastian's favourite red-orange is a Laura Ashley fabric he found in a vintage shop; it is also used on the chair in the bathroom too.
Simon Bergström10/16The hallway opens into the kitchen and bathroom. The chest is painted in Sage and Onions by Little Greene. A vintage Moroccan Boucherouite rug lies on the floor.
Simon Bergström11/16Sebastian added the panelling in the hallway. A vintage lampshade sits atop a lamp by Olsson & Jensen.
Simon Bergström12/16The kitchen was the biggest project when Sebastian first moved into the flat. “I often say that it is a working kitchen - every tool or whatever I need to use is just a one step away and I love that.”
Simon Bergström13/16The shelves are painted in ‘Heat’ by Little Greene, and contain a collection of dishes and pots, including some pieces of blue and white English porcelain.
Simon Bergström14/16The cabinets are painted in Sudbury Yellow by Farrow & Ball.
Simon Bergström15/16Sebastian renovated the bathroom last year, adding panelling in a cheerful yellow (a shade called Vete by Auro) and vintage furniture that helps the space feel warm and comfortable. “With this renovation it really became a part of the flat finally and I love spending time in there,” he says.
Simon Bergström16/16The curtains are a vintage fabric.
