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The Chromarty family living

A Family of six, including their Brittany bird dog Gaia, approached us a couple of years ago as they were moving homes a few blocks closer to the Waldorf school in Oslo. Their new ‘semi’ was older, bigger, had taller ceilings and from now on, the kids would have their separate rooms. As an added bonus, they would have their very own lush garden to enjoy in front of the classic wooden building.

A budget to go by and sourcing second hand goods.
Their initial plan was to give the new 150 square metres a new coat of paint to make it their own, but after the initial walk through with us -they got so inspired that they asked us for a long term plan of how to do the whole place up. That is of course without touching all the good bits that drew them to the apartment in the first place. I.E the wooden floors and the recently renovated bathroom.
-The C, had a set budget to go by, which by the way is also our strength, and as the owners are more concerned than most with environmental issues, both they and we enjoyed scouring finn.no for second hand finds and sourcing antique beds from the grandparents farm in the west of Norway.

A Large Family Room
The largest modification to the space was the decision to knock down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room, which in turn allowed us a whole host of possibilities. A large family room was created for eating, cooking and spending time together, whether it be preparing a meal in concert or reading, each on their own in front of the new, shared fire place. Local carpenter treestories were summoned to custom make a Shaker style kitchen, and marble tops, though initially costlier than many other alternatives, were put in place to last, well, forever.

Flawed objects and Scandinavian hygge
Not all Scandinavian interiors are sparse and neutrally decorated with only straight lines and beige walls. Today, modern Scandinavian interiors are often eclectic.
They might feature found objects from other style traditions alongside streamlined furniture, but this doesn’t necessarily imply clutter, as long as it’s done thoughtfully. Cool and warm elements don’t need to be mutually exclusive; in fact, they can live in harmony, as shown by the popular Tina Seidenfaden’s gallery space The Apartmentin Copenhagen and the work of Beata Heuman (Swedish designer based in London) demonstrate.
Rather than throw in the common Pax building set from Ikea, objects like the old wooden cabinets, sourced and painted by The C were placed in the bedrooms. Because these elements are flawed and carry with them a unique history, they have been embraced by the entire family and contrast nicely to the typical clean Scandinavian design. They make the rooms warmer, more vibrant and less correct and today the whole apartment is an embodiment of hygge. (For those who haven’t come across it, hygge is a Danish/Norwegian word, meaning a feeling of cosiness and comfort.)

Dark forest
A piece of wallpaper, with a dark forest theme that recently had found its way into our office became our reference point when working out the colour palette. With its mix of Duck egg blue, tender green, deep dark brown and a tiny bit of grey and creamy white, it was a whimsical choice for the walls of a guest wc. and also our setting stone for the project.

Added playfulness
The allroom is now dressed in a dark Farrow & Ball Studio Green 93, the adjoining sitting room with the 5 meter long velvet sofa is painted in a Poetic Wimborne White and all the woodwork in both rooms is painted NCS 1502Y. All the doors and skirting boards throughout received a clay brown colour. The four bedrooms all have carefully chosen pale tones on the walls, whereas the ceilings in pale green, powdered pink and soft teal add a certain playfulness. The youngest girl has her walls covered in a fairy tale paper sold at the local builders warehouse..And a sliding glass door separates her from the shared tailor-made wardrobes and parents room.

Added storage for heating
The Dad in the house longed for an antique kakkelovn, but as the engineering maths was done and we soon realised that the floor may not hold such a heavyweight item, a custom fireplace with Brunner 51/52/52 inset was built and covered in white glazed tiles. This was made with heats storage such as the old swedish stoves.. Copper sheeting was laid as a surround to protect the wooden floor. The same sheets were also used to enclose the kitchen fan. These details add hints of a country house kitchen. For all meals the family gathers around the large table produced by the Norwegian brand YGG & Lyng and the surrounding, hardwearing chairs from HAY can also be brought outside to be used for a garden gathering.

Collecting art, a long term and personal project.
Even though we firmly believe that choosing and buying art, should be a long term project and a chance to reflect ones biography in ones surroundings, The Chromarty was delighted when asked to suggest som artworks for the walls as well… Moving into their new family home, they wanted to complement art they already owned, such as the limited edition prints by Haakon Gullvåg and Haakon Bleken, and those fabulous, framed watercolours painted by the oldest daughter (who attends the Waldorf School). Given the family’s penchant for the outdoors, we suggested the works of Thorbjørn Sørensen, a Norwegian painter. From a series exhibited at Dropsfabrikken the same year, they chose a neatly painted watercolour. His soil and weed paintings stuck with them. With simple titles like “lump of soil with grass”, “dry leaves on soil” and even just “soil”, it’s evident that however alike they all seemed, each embodied an individual character and temperament. The painting is a meditation on the ordinary, painted almost to scale and with a certain light touch. Hanging as it does now, by their veranda door and with a view to the garden, its beauty is very matter of fact, as if beauty itself needs no embellishments.
Another well known painter, Irma Salo Jæger, with a personal connection to the family- and to Norway is also represented on their sitting room walls. The C happened to source an early sketch by her.

Art reflecting one’s biography
The first thing that greets you when stepping through the front door is an antique dresser, complimented with a lithograph by the recent YRJÖ EDELMANN, instead of a typical matching wall mirror. The Swedish painter is celebrated for his Hyperrealist paintings of clumsily wrapped packages. To create his smooth trompe-l’oeil surfaces, Edelmann built up thin layers of oil paint using a traditional Renaissance glazing technique, gradually achieving the highest possible degree of dexterity and illusionism. By only depicting wrapped parcels, his oeuvre maintains a pervasive sense of tension and mystery, leading viewers to speculate what could be hidden beneath the wrapping paper.
Moving ones gaze slightly to the right and with a sightline all the way through to the other side of the apartment and into the master bedroom, there is a photograph of clouds and dramatic burst of sunlight in Morten Andenæs’ photograph, Budapest, 2019.
In the new family kitchen, just by the ragged old reading chair which may or may not be reupholstered, there is a delightful example of using decorative arts. Wall hung plates are not an uncommon feature, but here they have 6 Kai Fjell pieces in bone China popping out from the dark walls.

A room of One’s own
As we ended up being much more involved in this project than what was planned for, we can only say that we are super happy with the results. Even though the family have had help from us with both the renovation process and used us as art consultants- it still feels very personal. The brief was never to make a perfect living space in an objective kind of way, but rather creating the right mood and the right rooms for them individually. We are certain that our clients feel that this is completely theirs. Looking at the recent images shown here, it is almost as if it has been their family home for at least a couple of generations. Which suits them :)

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Stensgata

The Chromarty was invited to collaborate with the entrepeneurs Klever & Backe on a complete renovation of what became a lovely studio apartment, with a balcony facing Stensparken in Oslo.The Studio was to be sold on the open market upon completion. With only 25 square metres at our disposal, it seemed like quite a challenge to accomodate all needs and wants as well as creating a visual feast

However, with Klever & Backe, nothing seems impossible to achieve. Together we managed to make a dream bathroom, even nicer than in any of the Boutique hotels we have stayed in anyway:) Added to this, the 'bedroom' was hidden within the wall of cabinets that also contains a kitchen with all amenities, storage and a double bed - yes even some bookshelves. In the hallway, a small nook was made into a walk-in closet.The C functioned as an AD for the concept, and designed solutions as well as being responsible for colors and materials. K & B made everything doable with Per Backe at the helm. All elements were custommade, while the wooden oak floors were restored and made darker with pigment/oil. The bathroom was rebuilt from the ground up. Terrazzo tiles, Montreux fittings, Happy D sink, hidden storage behind mirrors and even a strip of marble shelving. The shower space measured 1x1,2 metres. Per even spent nights finishing up painting everything from top to toe.Walls, ceilings and cabinets all the same colour but different shine in the big allroom.

We presented the apartment as fully furnished - the small space still had enough room for 6 people by the table and an overnight guest..

The C is super proud of the finished result, maybe even a bit surprised, and needless to say, the apartment was sold before any public viewings.

We may even be a bit jealous of the new owner..

www.kleverogbacke.no

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Add to this, they were open to anything….just about.Their eldest daughter had one wish, and one wish only for the upcoming makeover. A walk-in closet just to herself. Up til then, her clothes were stuffed into a cabinet with the whole family’s national costumes AND the boiler.
Now, instead of throwing up a dry-wall with some IKEA Pax cabinets behind, we decided to have a room built within her bedroom.

The starting point was an old door from Vøyen Gård, and a vision of large, deep shelves to house all her mess.
Add to this, the exterior of one of the walls was to double as a bedhead in the room proper. Given that this was to be a solution for the long-term and not some quick fix, we drew our inspiration from the simplicity of the shaker style for the panelling. Thanks to Klever&Backe’s sincere interest and willingness to experiment with solutions beyond the scope of the ordinary together with the Chromarty team, we’d say it was quite a success!

 Happy daughter -happy parents!

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When she, a couple of years ago, decided to leave home (as her children were already out of the nest to go study abroad and in the North of Norway), she wanted a brand new apartment. She wanted a place that required very little upkeep so as to give her more time to enjoy it in her own way. No more mowing the lawn or shuffling snow.
The downside however, of buying a modern apartment in a newbuild, is the lack of character on the inside. She wanted to create an altogether personal space, so rather than make use of the developers alternative choices at an extra cost, she hired a helping hand from The Chromarty to maximise the potential of the space. We got in early in the process so as to avoid the developers putting in standard features that she would later have to discard.
By removing a wall, one of the bedrooms was made into a cosy TV corner/library, and the room more or less included in the bigger allroom and communal space. She had the option to choose her own wall colours and the flexible entrepeneur let her make changes to the standardised kitchen.  Then she dreamt about a certain type of floor and this kind of a tile, but quickly realised that it was going to be too expensive and had to make do with what was actually possible..

She treated herself with some electrical work, which was important to get done before the walls were closed and painted. This way, she got some extra wall lamps with hidden leads, perfectly placed considering where mirrors and tiles etc were going to be at a later stage.  A set of extra plugs inside cabinets and in the kitchen, and outside lighting on the large balcony, were all done during the construction process. Taps and mixers were changed for classic Arne Jacobsen ones and cabinets built into the walls. The kitchen which usually is put together by standard units and wall cabinets, was placed on one wall made up entirely by tall units, fridge and freezer hidden, and only workunits with tiled walls all the way up to the ceiling. All cabinets and drawers had new brass knobs instead of steel. The light and easy worktop is made of Dekton, a natural material of compressed sand which can take all kinds of spillage, acid and heat.

There were few changes made, but all in all the ones that were suggested and seen through, have made all the difference. Add to that the choices in furniture, some reupholstery of old sofas and chairs, getting rid of surplus during the moving process and curating her artworks with our assistance, the client’s apartment has come together and suggests stylish, clean and easy living in a high rise.

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-We like to think that we have green fingers, even though we are both well-indoctrinated city slickers.
Their acute need to get dirt under their nails and their boots all mudded up, took them by surprise a couple of years ago. This need, as the Norwegians say, ‘to stick their fingers in the earth’, brought them to the edge of the city, and halfway into the suburbs in search of a garden. Being in a central location just didn’t seem to cut it anymore, and number one on their list was the chance to have a fabulously big kitchen with direct access to a garden. A garden for growing and cultivating vegetables, herbs, plants, berries, flowers and whatnot. Oh, and to have a bit of peace and quiet. They locked in an auto-search on finn.no for just over a year, before the perfect match entered their lives. Well almost…

The kitchen left everything to the imagination. That particular criteria had not been fulfilled.
Even though the framing was right, the existing kitchen was not much to boast about, with little character and functionality - it was also placed in a narrow nook with almost no natural light entering. With guidance from The Chromarty, they decided to open up the entire floor, remove an excess bathroom and build a brand new kitchen at the opposite end of the ground floor.
– With the layout as it is today, we have direct access to the garden through the kitchen, and a kitchen, which really is the heart of our home. At the same time, the couple installed glass doors to provide privacy to the lounge area and separate it from the kitchen. Now, we get the best of both worlds! Not only has it created a more spacious and airy sensation, but by letting the light shine through, it has changed the character of the light entirely.

Now, the interior is meticulously thought out, (almost) complete, classic and sophisticated. The colour usage is minimal with the appearance of muted green tones and contrasting colours.
The Chromarty has recommended durable materials like leather, natural fabrics, wood and stone.
-In auctions and antiques-markets, we have found classics and design icons, which in some cases have received a small upgrade. Others have been with us for decades. You can get a lot of wear out of a piece of furniture if you only use your creativity and expertise.

The couple is very pleased with the collaboration with The Chromarty, adhering to their suggestion that they bring with her the timeless pieces they’d acquired over the years, despite fluctuating trends.
-I have never used lots of colours, but I like wood, plants and art. I prefer to shop second hand items and I like good furniture with patina. Our interior is not made up from a one-stop shop. It is slow decoration so to speak, and we are taking our time. These days we are thinking about and enjoying the search of that specific picture to hang on the wall by the stairs. A big one! Or maybe many small ones in a group. I don’t know.. we have the Chromarty looking for us as well.

The kitchen units are from IKEA, and has been upgraded with spray-coated fronts in NCS colour
8502-B. As a warm contrast to the otherwise cold colour scheme, the tall cabinets have got new doors in oak from Studio 10. The countertop is in composite stone, and the metro tiles are in a sober green tone.