Through the house they created together, Carl and Karin Larsson expressed a holistic idea of life, art and their mutual influence.

According to this notion, literature and contact with the arts (a rich collection of books, albums, European art magazines), as well as the interior of the house, furniture, dishes, clothes, everyday objects and even the food, are equally important for human growth. The Larssons loved to eat outside, and Carl Larsson’s watercolours depicting breakfasts under a birch tree have helped promote this custom among the Swedes. The aesthetics and philosophy of Lilla Hyttnäs, the home of the Larsson family, may seem familiar to us. The couple are often called the precursors and inspiration behind IKEA’s style.

The storytellers of Swedish history

The red wooden horse painted in folk patterns – one of the most popular souvenirs brought back from Sweden, nowadays available for purchase at every Pressbyrån kiosk – originates in the Dalarna region. There, several kilometres from the city of Falun, in Sundborn, one of the most famous houses in Sweden (and perhaps abroad, too) is located: the house of the painter Carl Larsson and his wife, Karin Larsson (née Bergöö). I saw its interior for the first time many years ago, on a postcard sent at Christmas by my aunt from Sweden. Carl Larsson, who lived at the turn of the 20th century (1853–1919) is, alongside Selma Lagerlöf and August Strindberg, one of the most important storytellers of Swedish history and creators of Swedish identity.

Lilla Hyttnäs – a house Larsson and his wife lived in and decorated in Sundborn – is a milestone in the development of Scandinavian aesthetics. Larsson’s watercolours depicting its interior have inspired, among others, Astrid Lindgren. When Lisa, the narrator of Children from Bullerbyn, describes the most wonderful birthday gift she has ever received, she talks about her own room with rag rugs and white-painted furniture. The Larssons’ aesthetics and philosophy have become – and still