Apartment Hunting - Södermalm Classic - Space Planning

For our inaugural Apartment Hunting space I decided to go with a classic Swedish floor plan.  This plan is found in the older buildings and comes in all sizes.  This particular plan in Södermalm is a cool 181m2 and 12 000 000 SEK.  Pretty unattainable for most of us.

But as I mentioned in the last post, we are going to spend, spend, spend.  So in the spirit of money's no object, let's have a bit of fun with this one shall we.  Our client will be a professional couple with two kids.  They want a space that will reflect contemporary values on living/kitchen areas while maintaining the traditional Swedish vibe by going with a Gustavian inspired colour scheme and decor.

Södermalm Apartment - Before

1.  The Kitchen

Back when these apartments were built the kitchen was not a priority.  It was kept out of sight and out of mind, and allotted as little space as was possible.  Times have changed and the kitchen is THE place to be.  Having the available time to spend hours in the kitchen is something of a posh thing now. The kitchen for our little castle in the sky will be moved to the main area, just on the other end of the washroom (keeping in mind the location of the existing plumbing)  The area is bigger there, allowing for a nice spacious kitchen with an island, but most importantly it will be directly beside the living room. 


2. The Partition Wall

The wall dividing the new kitchen and the living room is indicated as being a partition wall and not having any structural value.  With that in mind, I would like to open up the space by moving the doorway to the centre of the wall and widening it.  I am not a big fan of complete open concept but rather the freedom to have either.  I think open concept makes sightlines overwhelming and if you have kids, all that junk they haven't picked up stares back at you from every angle!   If we make a large doorway with pocket doors the kitchen can be open or closed off from the living room whenever one chooses.

Södermalm Apartment - After

3.  The Dining Room

The room to the right of the living room will be a formal dining room.  It can double as an office or homework room when the family are not entertaining.  This keeps all the "living" areas together and the bedrooms will be in the back, which are usually the rooms overlooking the courtyard.  I also want to close the doorway into the dining room from the front entry.  This allows for a nice space for a vignette or an impressive piece of art, which would be immediately visible upon entering the front door.


4. The Front Entry

To me, there is something funky about having a pathway that leads from the living room into a bedroom and out to the other bedrooms.  Perhaps at one point it was a library.  We are going to change that and by doing so there will be a passage from the front to the bedrooms and one to the living areas.  I love the French balcony which lights up the entry and gives a view.  Quite a luxury for Stockholm.

5.  Old Kitchen

Becomes the master bedroom as it has a walkout to the balcony.  Again, it makes better sense to have all the bedrooms together on the quieter side of the apartment.  The other two bedrooms will be for the kids.



6.  Bathroom and Powder Room

Stay where they are.  In buildings you don't usually have much freedom here.


Next time we will look at Gustavian colours and perhaps some quintessential Gustavian inspired furnishings.