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One advocate of this elegant trend is undoubtedly the Swede Maja Dixdotter, creative director of the fashion label By Malene Birger and co-founder of the carpet brand Cappelen Dimyr. When she decided to redesign a country house in Österlen, a rural area in southeastern Sweden – also known as the “Tuscany of Sweden” – it was no surprise that beauty and quality would speak for themselves here too.
All roads lead to Österlen
Maja Dixdotter and her husband David Holm both grew up in the countryside in Sweden. When they later moved to a city apartment in Copenhagen, they planned from the beginning to buy a country house one day so that their two sons could have similar experiences to those they had had in their own childhood.
In her search for the perfect country house for the family, Dixdotter finally came across Österlen, which is located in the southeast of the Swedish province of Skåne Län. Österlen not only won her over with its excellent location, as it is only an hour and a half from her home in Copenhagen, but the region is also characterized by long white sandy beaches and picturesque farming villages. In addition, there are many charming restaurants, cafes, art galleries and ceramics studios here. Since antiques are one of the designer’s personal passions, the many flea markets and antique shops in the area were a big plus.
An old Swedish country house becomes a family home
When the couple came across their future country home, part of a farm dating back to 1850, it was love at first sight. “Mainly because of the location and the surroundings – the view from the house is just magnificent, you can see for miles and there is nothing but hills with a few fenced-off plots,” says Dixdotter. In the late 1800s, the main house fell victim to a fire and was rebuilt around 1930 – as it stands today. Until not long ago, the farm kept cows and grew vegetables, but after years of being empty, the house needed some renovation. The couple saw this as a unique opportunity to put some of their family’s heart and soul into the house while preserving the original features, such as the wooden floors. The renovation reused many of the house’s original materials, but the personal touch came primarily from the careful selection of antique furniture and objects.
The living room as the heart of the Swedish country house
The living room is the center of the family home, from where you can see all the other rooms on the ground floor. It is also home to some of Dixdotter’s favorite treasures, such as a landscape painting left to her by the previous owners, old art books she discovered on her visits to flea markets, and a table she made from old wood together with her father-in-law. The carpet with the abstract, irregular shape is one of the first designs she made when she founded her textile label Cappelen Dimyr.
An individual, authentic look
As for the interior design style, the designer explains: “It was important to me that our house did not simply embody a certain style or trend, but that it was authentic and that it was a little ‘out of line’ here and there.” Each room was given a specific function, with clear areas for breakfast, board games, reading, drinks and even enjoying the sunset. In addition to the small seating area with a deck chair in the living room, the dining room is also one of Maja Dixdotter’s favorite places in the house, as it has the most beautiful light.
family kitchen with a Swedish-Mediterranean touch
One of the rooms that was designed from scratch is the kitchen. “My husband built our kitchen himself, like most things in this house,” says Dixdotter. “I have a lot of ideas, and David is extremely skilled at implementing them. If he doesn’t know how to do something, he teaches himself, and that was definitely the case here.” The kitchen was moved to its current location from another area of the house. David Holm built everything from scratch: from the kitchen carcass to the arched alcoves and cabinets. “There are quite a few arches throughout the house, so we thought it would be nice to incorporate that shape here too. I wanted a combination of Mediterranean and Swedish aesthetics, and the arch and stone combined with the wooden cabinets did just that,” explains the Swedish designer.
“Our house in Österlen has become a place where I retreat when I am designing a new collection or sketching new ideas for carpets. It gives me the greatest peace of mind, a feeling of calm and inspiration,” says Maja Dixdotter. And for the couple, their country house has an even deeper meaning: “You never know what life will bring, but just the thought that we will grow old together in this house makes me very happy.”
Dixdotter and Holm bought the antique chairs in the entrance area from Blå Hallen in Höganäs. The candlesticks come from an antique shop in Sweden, the floor lamp from the flea market in Österlen. Wall hanging by Cappelen Dimyr. Mike Karlsson Lundgre.
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