Oslo colourful

Dagny Thurmann-Hoelseth is the creative director of Colourful, a Norwegian chain of stores selling their own brand of paints and wallpaper. Dagny is sitting by her kitchen table in her detached house in the heights just outside Oslo, where she lives with her husband Pål and her two lovely girls Stella and Indie. They just finished the house this spring, and moved in with all their colourful clothes and objects. The glamorous blogger, spokeswoman, TV personality and professional, refuses to accept BORING interiors. Some would describe that as a very un-Norwegian, rather unconventional thing to do in Norway; possibly even slightly American - but there you go, that’s Dagny! She has even given her own taste, or outlook on interior design, her very own term 'Scandinavian maximalism'. This is the way she has always preferred it. She cannot think of anything more depressing than grey, and wants people to feel happy upon entering her home... View interior feature

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A choice of colours

The first thing they did when moving into their new Oslo apartment, was to paint it all white… ‘We were in such a great hurry with our move, as we were expecting our son Otto to be born any day, and so he arrived the day after we got our keys.’ says Synne Skjulstad. As soon as they had got used to their new arrival and their ever so ‘nice’ nest to bring him up in, they got out their paints and wanted to play…  They started off with a bucket of glossy signal-red oil paint and dressed the hallway with built in storage solutions and shelves. Then they moved on to a patch of bright yellow in their Amish dove grey kitchen. These two colour choices and the dominant painting in the sitting room led them to an acute stop in their process. The solution came when trying to ‘’keep up with the Jones’s’’. When at the home of their architect-neighbours Andreas Joyce Nygaard and Heidi Pettersvold they started thinking of their home as having the look of a boring council office! So they asked their neighbours for help with the rest of the colour chart... View interior feature

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Retro Fun / Homemade In the Old Town

On their way home from a long day of ‘doing the local flea markets’, Dag and Gjertrud decided to stop at a public viewing of an apartment which was up for sale in the ‘Old-town’ of Oslo’s east side. It was love at first sight for them both in this bright and airy apartment. Despite lowered ceilings, and a recent and fairly unbecoming modernization of the place, they instantly felt the urge to move in restore the apartment to its former glory. Their charming reworking of the interior has provided them both with a sunlit-flooded arena in which to work and live. There is no doubt that the proportions of the rooms in the apartment now back to their to their former stature. The generous space for two, large windows, original cornice detail and even the wood panelling have now been given a new lease of life. Not to mention the patchwork of an old kitchen they have created together… View interior feature.

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The King has now left the building...

"We've approached the work on our own apartment as a professional project, but one where we can experiment and take anything we like, 'all the way". By doing so, newlyweds Andreas Joyce Nygaard and his wife Heidi Pettersvold have been their own ideal clients. They both work for the prestigious Oslo and New York based architectural firm Snohetta, and this wonderfully orange, perfectly patched work of art is now their own home. The classical turn of the century apartment has been rehabilitated to show off their work, but more than that, it challenges how far interior design actually can be taken in a home environment. And it works!! On the wall in their bright kitchen thrones the King himself. Elvis has been reformatted and framed so everyone can catch a glimpse of him. In an adjacent corner hangs a lightbox fitted with an x-ray of Heidi's rib-cage. The apartment is testimony to the challenge they put to themselves: how to combine the apartments' original features with the constantly expanding framework of their main objective, which is treating spaces as rooms. Every single choice they've made concerning pallette, materials, tactility and form reflect their constant drive to push their own boundaries... View interior feature

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A choice of colours

The first thing they did when moving into their new Oslo apartment, was to paint it all white… ‘We were in such a great hurry with our move, as we were expecting our son Otto to be born any day, and so he arrived the day after we got our keys.’ says Synne Skjulstad. As soon as they had got used to their new arrival and their ever so ‘nice’ nest to bring him up in, they got out their paints and wanted to play…  They started off with a bucket of glossy signal-red oil paint and dressed the hallway with built in storage solutions and shelves. Then they moved on to a patch of bright yellow in their Amish dove grey kitchen. These two colour choices and the dominant painting in the sitting room led them to an acute stop in their process. The solution came when trying to ‘’keep up with the Jones’s’’. When at the home of their architect-neighbours Andreas Joyce Nygaard and Heidi Pettersvold they started thinking of their home as having the look of a boring council office! So they asked their neighbours for help with the rest of the colour chart... view feature

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Classic Contrasts

In love with each other and Italian design, this is a marriage between the original classic and a more modern playfulness straight from the heart. Together with their son Victor and the dog Jim, the couple hold down their fort in an apartment at Majorstuen in Oslo. A few paces up the street and around the corner, just far enough away for Jim’s morning walk, is Stian Hagfors’ architect’s office, BLOKK architect... view feature

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The Blue Room

The owner of this classically decorated apartment in Oslo, lives for, with and off the arts. Her home has become the essence of style, with the knowledge, experience and fine art she has collected over the years. Besides being a representative for one of the UK's major auction houses in Norway, she has designed everything from cruise ships to hotels chalets and Royal rooms. It's an adventure to go exploring in this art experts’ home. From the elegant hall, open living room with light from two sides and a ringside seat to the Oslo Fjord and the Kiel ferry's approach. But if one takes the opposite way you are in the blue room, suddenly, with little over five meters to the ceiling! The 70 m² room appears as a gallery for fine antiques and art, as well as library and music room, but also as a perfect gathering place for friends and a large family. The mix of old and new, Norwegian, Swedish, French and Asian culture all testify to the owners' interests and travels... view feature

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Wearing White and Gold for Christmas

With the cold, but oh so festive season approaching, the owner of this snow-white apartment in Oslo is wishing all her beloved friends a very merry Christmas. However, she's sending neither Rudolf nor Santa a jolly rsvp card this year. Instead, any child in the neighbourhood or young family members may stop by for an improvised Christmas workshop or some homemade cookies at her table. Just about a year ago, Oddfrid, a young designer of cool costumes and accessories for films and theatre in Norway, found herself the owner of a slightly tired and well-worn apartment in the Oslo neighbourhood Adamstuen, painted in various shades of ice-cream. She set out to give the place a Christmas present the likes it had never seen before. Almost single-handedly, she has refurbished this bright and classic apartment so that now it almost seems like an extension of her; with a pure and gentle background allowing for cool vintage finds and stylish details. Given that her daytime job is as a designer and artist, the renovation of the apartment has just been one more outlet for her creativity and distinct style... view feature
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