{"id":5501,"date":"2022-03-27T10:00:55","date_gmt":"2022-03-27T08:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=28019"},"modified":"2022-03-27T10:22:12","modified_gmt":"2022-03-27T08:22:12","slug":"a-1920s-london-home-with-scandinavian-inspired-interiors","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/a-1920s-london-home-with-scandinavian-inspired-interiors\/","title":{"rendered":"A 1920s London home with Scandinavian-inspired interiors"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Jo Leevers\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 27 March 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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There\u2019s a question that Finnish designer Jonna Saarinen is asked on a regular basis: is she related to fellow countryman Eero Saarinen, the late architect and creator of iconic mid-century furniture<\/a>? \u2018Because I work part-time at the Royal College of Art, I get asked this about once a week,\u2019 she says. \u2018Sadly, the answer is no \u2013 but I\u2019m hoping to make a name for myself on a smaller scale with my own designs.\u2019<\/p>\n

Jonna\u2019s work as a textile and surface designer is all about bold, brilliant colours and clear-cut shapes \u2013 a tradition that she traces back to her childhood in Finland and has brought to life in her south London home. \u2018 Pattern and colour<\/a> are integral to Finnish and Scandinavian design,\u2019 she says, looking around her living room, which zings with fabrics by Finnish design houses Marimekko and Finlayson. A vintage<\/a> Smurf peeps out from the bright red interior of an original Eero Aarnio Ball chair while, upstairs, intricate floral wallpapers by Pihlgren ja Ritola and Josef Frank mix happily with Moomin designs.<\/p>\n

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This imaginative world of nursery colours and abundant flora is, says Jonna, rooted in the Nordic identity. \u2018It stems in part from long, dark winters. Filling your home with bright design and touches of fun was a way to lift the spirits,\u2019 she says. A woven tapestry on the landing, made by Jonna\u2019s great aunt, is testament to this tradition. For Jonna, even her collection of Moomin memorabilia reflects the same mindset. \u2018The Moomins were a big part of my childhood,\u2019 she says, \u2018and I\u2019ve looked out for figures, toys and fabrics that depict them ever since.\u2019 But, as any Tove Jansson reader knows, there\u2019s often something dangerous hovering at the edge of her forests. And that awareness of nature\u2019s darker side is threaded through the Nordic design tradition: \u2018Even in Frank\u2019s designs, there\u2019s a sense that nature is powerful and is to be respected,\u2019 says Jonna.<\/p>\n

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She shares this 1920s house with her fianc\u00e9, David Wynd, a musician, and they both love its old-fashioned feel, with its walk-in larder, skinny bedroom fireplaces<\/a> and high panelled doors. It was built in 1926 by a local builder who had bought a double plot. \u2018This was the first house, then he built a mirror image of it next door, but added more decorative plasterwork. He sold this house and moved into the fancier one.\u2019<\/p>\n
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The house had been owned by the same family ever since, but fell into disrepair and had been boarded up for three years when Jonna and David viewed it. \u2018That was why we could afford it,\u2019 she says. There was no central heating and the window panes were broken, but the couple fell in love with its atmosphere.<\/p>\n
\u2018This house feels like it was made by hand, at a gradual, human pace,\u2019 says Jonna. For example, all the doorknobs are different. \u2018The builder put the prettiest ones in rooms at the front of the house and they get less special towards the back. You can almost imagine him making decisions as he went along.\u2019 As they renovated, they uncovered evidence that other builders had been at work. \u2018We found a newspaper from the 1950s and a forgotten sandwich under the floorboards \u2013 still in its paper bag from a Streatham bakery. Someone must have missed their lunch that day.\u2019<\/p>\n
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For a suitably nostalgic decor, Jonna and David delved into the archives of Finnish company Pihlgren ja Ritola and Swedish design house Svenskt Tenn for wallpapers, buying vintage rolls as well as modern reissues of Josef Frank\u2019s patterns. \u2018We had to hang the old papers carefully,\u2019 she says. \u2018They were so fragile they began to melt at the edges when we added paste.\u2019<\/p>\n
The pieces of 1930s and 1940s dark wood furniture belonged to Jonna\u2019s great-aunt and were brought over from Finland, creating what Jonna calls a \u2018pub snug\u2019 feel in the second sitting room. The heaviness of the wood is lightened by Jonna\u2019s way with colour and fabric. Modern additions that complement her style in the house include egg yolk-yellow lamps from Habitat and a tomato-red Smeg fridge. But the Eero Aarnio Ball chair is Jonna\u2019s favourite piece \u2013 she bought it 10 years ago from someone who was moving to a loft apartment<\/a> and couldn\u2019t fit it through the door. \u2018He\u2019s in a bit of a state, battered and scratched,\u2019 she says. \u2018But he\u2019s a fellow Finn, so I\u2019m very attached to him.\u2019<\/p>\n