Swedish Cottage with IKEA That Will Surprise You. Let's Take a Look Inside?

Everything happened as in a Russian saying: if there had been no happiness, misfortune would have helped. The fate of this small house in the Swedish countryside was decided by its owner's divorce.

After the divorce, Silvia Engvall's life took a new turn: selling the house on one of the Stockholm archipelago islands, she decided to move to her parents' old cottage in western Sweden.

In the 1980s, Silvia spent every summer here with her parents. Since then, she has cherished wonderful memories of walks along the lake and outdoor dinners. Now, when she returned to this house, she wanted to turn it into her dream home.

Her parents supported her: despite the small size of the cottage, only 25 square meters, they didn’t doubt that the old house deserved a better life. Together, they sketched a plan for changes: Silvia knew exactly what she wanted, and her father was good at drawing.

The changes started with a re-planning: originally the house was single-story, and Silvia decided to add an upper floor to accommodate a bedroom.

This was not as easy as it seemed: according to new regulations introduced in Sweden in 2014, a house with an area of 25 square meters used as a permanent residence cannot exceed four meters in height.

After negotiations with the municipality, they managed to get approval for an additional meter and install a staircase leading to the second floor so that it wouldn’t take up too much space.

For the sofa in the small first-floor living room, there was only space under the staircase: it fit perfectly into the curve of the stairs in a pristine white EKTORP from IKEA. Other than the sofa, there are no large furniture items in the living room — Silvia wanted nothing to obstruct her view of nature.

To keep the feeling of airiness in the house, both walls and furniture were painted white. The ideal combination for this color is various shades of blue, while gold accents add elegance. Silvia believes that small spaces shouldn’t have too many colors.

Most of the items were bought at IKEA, some were brought from flea markets. The beautiful crystal chandelier hanging in the two-light living room is a family heirloom.

But the main treasure lies outside the house — thus, its door is almost always open. Not only from the terrace but also from the living room, one can enjoy the view of the lake and mountains — it’s for this picture that all renovations were undertaken.