Johanna & Emil Stark

Where are we and how did you end up here?

We are in Hammenhög in Österlen in south-eastern Skåne! A few years ago we lived in Malmö and during the summer we were at a flea market out in the country and were not only buying flea market stuff but also a cute house completely spontaneously. It didn't turn out to be that particular house, but we began to dream of a house closer to nature, wave surfing and with space for both business and family. That led us to find this particular large house from the 1930s that was once built as a tailor's shop with a family residence and a floor for servants. It was simply the house and the location that made it Hammenhög and Österlen.

What do you like most about your home?

That it holds everything we need - a floor for work and our showroom for our company Tropical Scandinavia (which sells carpets, blankets, art, etc.), a floor for our family life, as well as guest rooms at the top and storage in the basement. We love that it's big and has tons of potential - slowly but surely we're renovating one room at a time with lots of colour! And the wonderful garden is of course a bonus.

How did you think about the colour of your hallway and kitchen?

In the hallway we wanted to splash with bright, happy colours - we simply chose a palette of our favorite colours to make the mural. Since it's the first thing you see when you enter (and the last thing you see before leaving the home), we wanted to make it playful and happy - so that you can carry that feeling with you when you enter and when you leave the home. We love working with interior design as a way to reinforce a positive mindset, in the hallway we have gone all in on that mindset:)

When we did the preparatory work for the kitchen, we found a yellow colour at the bottom under all the layers of wallpaper. We felt that it suited the bright kitchen (which is directly south facing) so nicely, and there is often a good idea with what is original in a house, so we decided quite quickly on yellow. When we took a walk in the surroundings here during the late summer, Emil looked at the warm yellow field against the blue sky and had an idea - of course the ceiling should be blue!

Which colours have you chosen, what made you stick to them?

For the hall we chose 44 - Marilyn, 91 - Green Delft, 14 - Dusty, 47 -  Aperitif, 88 - Sugar Snap, 69 - Sketch for Summer and 100 - Pop. Happy pastel colours together with a couple of slightly more "dirty" colours - a combo we always liked!

For the kitchen we chose 28 - Villekulla, and 114 - Aloha. Villekulla was exactly the yellow we were looking for - lots of colour but still incredibly pleasant. When we wanted a blue that felt a bit "heavenly", Aloha was an obvious choice.

What were you most satisfied with?

The whole - that everything came together so nicely. You enter the kitchen directly from the stairs where the mural is, and it feels so good that the two colourful rooms talk to each other. But clearly also that we "dared" to paint the ceiling blue - it gives such a nice calmness to the room and we have received a lot of praise for what was previously just a boring, forgotten white ceiling.

Describe your interior design style in three words.

Eclectic, playful and colourful.

Do you have any tips for someone who wants to repaint?

Just go for it! A cliche perhaps, but life is a little too short not to dare to try new things and have fun. If you get stuck on a colour - go with your gut feeling and choose it. It can be repainted ;). Painting an entire room in a strong colour does not necessarily mean that it will be "too much", on the contrary, it can give a calmness and a frame to the things in the room. In our opinion, interior design can often be a little too serious, let it be fun and remember that it is possible to change and develop - just like everything in life!

And last but not least, which would be your favorite colour from the Klints colour palette if you only had to choose one?

Impossible question:) But if we have to choose, right now it's the yellow one we chose for the kitchen, 28 - Villekulla, because we get so happy when we step out into the kitchen every morning to start the day.