Frida Ramstedt - The Interior Design Handbook: Furnish, Decorate, and Style Your Space

About the Author

Frida Ramstedt is the founder of Trendenser, one of Swedens largest and most long-standing blogs on interior design. Visit her at trendenser.se or on Instagram at @trendenser.

Afterword

Interior design is cool, but it can also be difficult. The fact that so much of it is about likes and taste makes it more than a little tricky. On one hand, people frequently say there are no rules; on the other, when you talk to architects and designers, it becomes quite clear that there is a consensus about such things as proportions, composition, and harmony. But we seem to find it difficult to put into words. You will rarely get simple, straightforward answers, whether you are talking to a layperson or a professional.

What I have tried to do in this book is to simplify and explainto the best of my abilitythe many, sometimes contradictory, rules of thumb that are commonly accepted in the world of interiors.

One of the things I found missing in modern aesthetic thinking was any reference to ergonomics. A design, after all, should be more than attractive to look at; it should also be pleasant and functional for the human body to live and work in. It is not always easy to know how to achieve that. This is why I have spent so much time gathering and sorting many different recommendations and measurements: I want to make them easier to understand, particularly for people who have never thought of these things before.

You certainly dont have to agree with or use all the tips I have given in the book, but if you take away something that helps you live better in your home, then my hard work has been rewarded. As the old saying goes, Theres no place like home.

Good luck with yours,

Frida

Sources and Further Reading

Books

Swedish sources with details of English editions included where relevant.

Albers, Josef. 1963. Albers farglara Om fargers inverkan pa varandra. Forum [1963. Interaction of Color. Yale University Press]

Andersson, Lena. 2016. Fargsattning inomhus. 2. uppl. Ica Bokforlag

Andersson, Thorbjorn, och Edlund, Richard. 2004. Kataloghuset Det egna hemmet i byggsats. Byggforlaget i samarbete med Jonkopings lans museum, Kalmar lans museum och Smalands museum

Bjork, Cecilia, Nordling, Lars, och Reppen, Laila. 2009. Sa byggdes villan Svensk villaarkitektur fran 1890 till 2010. Formas

Bodin, Anders, Hidemark, Jacob, Stintzing, Martin, och Nystrom, Sven. 2018. Arkitektens handbok. Studentlitteratur

Boverkets byggregler Foreskrifter och allmanna rad. Andringar inforda t.o.m BFS 2017:5. 2017. Svensk Byggtjanst

Brostrom, Ingela, Desmeules, Eric, et al. 2007. Stora boken om inredning Fran moblering och ljussattning till dekoration och fonsterarrangemang. Infotain & Infobooks

Conran, Terence. 1999. Easy Living Ett hem dar livet ar skont. Prisma [1999. Easy Living. Conran Octopus]

Edwards, Betty. 2006. Om farg Handbok och farglara. Forum [2004. Color: A Course in Mastering the Art of Mixing Colors. Penguin Putnam]

Fredlund, Jane, och Back, Bertil. 2004. Moderna antikviteter. Ordalaget

Fridell Anter, Karin, och Svedmyr, Ake. 2001. Fargen pa huset. Formas

Fridell Anter, Karin, et al. 2014. Farg & ljus for manniskan i rummet. Svensk Byggtjanst

Gospic, Katarina, och Sjovall, Isabelle. 2016. Neurodesign Inredning for halsa, prestation och valmaende. Langenskiold

Gudmundsson, Goran. 2006. Invandig renovering. Gysinge centrum for byggnadsvard

Handbok No. 9, reservdelar till gamla hus. 2009. Gysinge centrum for byggnadsvard

Klaren, U., Fridell Anter, K., Arnkil, H., och Matusiak, B. 2011. Percifal Perceptiv rumslig analys av farg och ljus. Stockholm: Konstfack

Kondo, Marie. 2017. Konsten att stada Forandra ditt liv med ett organiserat hem. Pagina [2014. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying. Vermilion]

Miller, Judith. 2010. 1900-talets design Den kompletta handboken. Tukan [2009. Millers 20th Century Design: The Definitive Illustrated Sourcebook. Mitchell Beazley]

Markmann, Erika. 1993. Att lyckas med krukvaxter. Info Books

Neufert, Ernst, and Neufert, Peter. 2012. Architects Data. 4th ed. Wiley-Blackwell [English edition]

Nylander, Ola. 2011. Bostadens omatbara varden. HSB

. 2018. Svensk bostadsarkitektur Utveckling fran 1800-tal till 2000-tal. Studentlitteratur

Paulsson, Torsten. 1990. Fargen i maleriet. Ica Bokforlag

Piippo, Kai, och Angstrom, Emma. 2010. Ljussatt ditt hem. Ica Bokforlag

Ridderstrand, Stellan, och Wenander, Vicki. 2018. Byggnadsvard for lagenheter 18801980. Gard & Torp och Bonnier Fakta

Rybczynski, Witold. 1988. Hemmet Boende och trivsel sett i historiens ljus. Bonniers [1986. Home: A Short History of an Idea. Viking Penguin]

Schmitz-Gunther, Thomas. 2000. Ekologiskt byggande och boende. Konemann [1999. Living Spaces: Ecological Building and Design. Knemann]

Snidare, Uuve. 1998. Leva med farger. Bonnier Alba

Wahloo, Anna. 2017. Att gora en klassiker En studie av fenomenet moderna mobelklassiker i en samtida svensk kontext. Symposion

Wanstrom Lindh, Ulrika. 2018. Ljusdesign och rumsgestaltning. Studentlitteratur

Wei Lu. 2016. Andrum Skapa ett harmoniskt och organiserat hem. Pagina

Wilhide, Elizabeth. 1998. Belysningsboken Att planera och leva med kreativ belysning. Forum [1998. Lighting: Creative Planning for Successful Lighting Solutions. Ryland, Peters & Small]

Websites

bbgruppen.se/kophjalp/montagehojder/byggnadsvard.se [inactive]

byggfabriken.se

energimyndigheten.se

ncscolour.com

omboende.se [inactive]

sekelskifte.se

sis.se/standarder/

smartbelysning.nu

stadsmuseet.stockholm.se

trivselhus.se (planskiss husmodell Fagersta, B031)

viivilla.se

Interviewees and Advisors

Eva Atle Bjarnestam, style historian and writer

Robin Barnholdt, buildings antiquarian

Hildur Bladh, color expert

Kelley Carter, interiors journalist

Asa Fjellstad, lighting expert

Louise Klarsten, color expert, ColourHouse AB

Karin Lindberg, wallpaper expert

Dagny Thurmann-Moe, color expert

Anyone we have been unable to identify and acknowledge here is welcome to contact the publisher.

What Makes You Feel Good?

Before professional designers or stylists start work on a clients project, they carry out an analysis of needs. Since they are not choosing furniture for their own use, they have to try to form some idea of the people who will be living there. How do they live? What practical needs have to be taken into consideration, and what do the clients want to be able to do in their homes?

When we are doing the design work for ourselves, it is easy to skip this initial phase and instead go straight to the aesthetic aspects, thinking more about the way we want the result to look than about how we want it to function in terms of everyday living.

If you want to be satisfied with the result and avoid unnecessary purchases, the very best tip I can give you is to start by doing a thorough analysis. Not everyone wants or can afford to bring in a consultant, but it wont cost you a penny to start thinking like one.

Who Are You, What Do You Do in Your Home, and for Whom?

These days a home is much more than just a roof over your head. Many people identify with their homes and want them to reflect their personalities, with the help of details that signal their social status or group membership. We can see on social media, in particular, where the private sphere becomes the public sphere, and we are happy to photograph it and show it to others. We seem to be using our homes and their design to project an image of ourselves, just as we did in the past with clothes and fashion. This kind of approach, however, can easily lead to vanity, causing us to go for show rather than comfort and ease.