IKEA's 1700 serie

During the 90s IKEA launched on the market something very unusual, considering their products: the 1700 serie. This serie is still sold, but through other brands (for example Flora Linnea, Move), with some variations respect to the original items.

The different items are inspired by old Swedish furniture and reproduced as copies, but still with the same quality.
IKEA sold not only furniture, but also lamps, plates, glasses and cutlery in the same style.

For some time now, I have been drooling over the trågsoffa (a wooden couch) and few days ago, I finally saw one on Blocket. I had an image in mind of how our veranda should look like and I can say we have been very lucky that the family who was selling the cough, had also many other items of the same collection.

Our veranda finally got some furniture

 I have been looking around for other similar items, but I was definitely stuck for this specific couch. Why? Because the wooden work is so beautiful and has the same style as
the one we have on our staircase!

The couch details

The staircase banister

Dream plan

I write the dream plan I have in my head down here, so I can maybe see in 10 years or so how much we will end up really do and how much we will really want to do still.
If we'd had an infinite amount of time and money I would like to:

• Isolate the attic and make it an extra guest room with a bathroom and a lot of storage place.
• Renovate the tower room, by fixing the floor and isolate it properly. I would also like to set back the windows in the tower. I would love to remove the radiator that has been put there (which would mean removing the pipes in our bedroom), although Mattias doesn't agree at all.
• Shorten the balcony to its original dimensions (nicer proportions with the rest of the house).
• Remove the built-in wardrobe in the guestroom and the treetex from the wall. 
• Put back the floor over the pine tree layer which we are using as floor today. That is not supposed to be the floor! 
• Rebuild the ensuite bathroom. It would be nice to have it in a more classic style, better organized and following some smart rules (the floor should not lean towards the bedroom!)
• Isolate properly the wardrobes in Isabella's and Oscar's room.
• Put back the original windows where there are the ones from the 70s and the ones from 2005 by making an inventory of what we have in the attic.
• Renovate some original window that we have so that they will survive other 100 years and for some create an inner-window so that the environment can be better isolated (e.g. in the attic).
• Remove the structured wallpaper from the stairhouse and the entrance.
• Place back the swinging door between the entrance and the stairhouse.
• Recreate the frescos on the walls in the entrance.
• Renovate the little toilet next to the entrance.
• Remove the treetex from the "red room".
• Place back the door to the veranda.
• Remove the stone window sills and replace them with the wooden ones (but I think this will be quite an utopia since it will require a lot of mess with wooden strips - but I really don't like the stone window sill!!!!).
• Fix the chimneys with the rain protection.
• Write back the name "Bellevue" on both facades.
• Renovate the kitchen.
• Renovate the basement, by lowering the floor and removing the "krypgrund" (some unused space under the tower room which has no floor and no isolation of any kind) and make the access to it more comfortable.
• Refresh the tool shed and the garage.
• Remove the "cocktail bar" and build instead a changing room and a shower next to the pool.
• Rebuild the floor around the pool so that we don't get weeds constantly and that the floor is stable!
• Finish to paint the pool shed.
• Reorganize the garden by removing plants we don't like and are in the way and moving back the meridian to some more visible place.
• Recreate the white fence in front of the house.
• Renovate the roof, as we are planning, by keeping the tiles (but this we know we will do!).
• And....

I am crazy, am I not?

Villa Hemmet

Last week we had the opportunity to pay a visit to Villa Hemmet thanks to its owners' kindnenss. This villa is also located in Gamla Åkarp, not too far from ours and it is incredibly beautiful.
We took this as a great opportunity to learn on how also other families have renovated their house and get some inspiration for ours.

A picture from 1997 of Villa Hemmet

Villa Hemmet was built 1915, based on some drawings by an architect more accostumed to churches than villas. The current owner had the opportunity to meet Hans Ingemanson (who lived in our house when it was built) who defined Villa Hemmet as "the new one".
Luckily, not so many owners have lived there and that has made it possible to preserve a lot of original details.

There is a story behind this house: two sisters fell in love with the same farmhand. Some sources report that the one that was not so lucky in love decided to use the  inherited fortune to build this house and move there, other sources instead that the one who had the chance on the man, built the house and moved there with him and a maid. In both cases, the maid inherited the house after the couple's death and after her the house was bought by a priest family.

The house is full of very nice details. From the little niches on both sides of the entrance, to the kakelugnar (a tiled stove). What strucked us mostly was that the floors are original in most of the house and look very different from our pine tree floor, which is the "under floor"!
On each threshold there were some metal bars with decorations. When looking at our threshold I can see that there are some "holes" and I wonder if such metal bars (I suppose to protect the wood to get consumed) were there as well.
The owners have decorated the house with very beautiful wallpaper and site-built bookshelves that melt in between the original windows. Between the inner and the outer window, considering the season, they had put some material that would prevent drafts. That is a smart way to have a better indoor climate! It is not necessary to change such windows into modern ones!
The presence of a little steep stair nearby the kitchen made us also realize that there must have been one like that in our kitchen too, to reach the maid's room, which was probably the room that today will be Oscar's. I had wondered many times about the pipes rests we found in that room and it is clear that the bathroom we have newly renovated didn't exist from the start.
Their kitchen has been renovated with a checkboard floor and a new furniture in old style. It looked definitely more practical than ours and despite the years (about 10) in a much better state!
They also renovated the maid's room, changing the planning of it, to a bathroom with the laundry facilities. It is a pity since the "maid stairs" now are the only way to the attic (and this is possibly an obstacle to use the attic as additional room) but on the other hand, the bathroom is comfortable and one doesn't have to go down to the basement to wash clothes.
Very nice also the new banister on the balcony: as it is possible to see in the picture above, before it didn't exist, but the new one looks like it has always been there.
Also Villa Hemmet has a veranda, quite similar to ours in style. The difference though is the access: there are additional windows between the adjecent room and the veranda. So, I went and looked at the drawings of Villa Bellevue from 1953 and saw that between our veranda and the "fireplace room" there was a door. And I think I know where the rests of some part of that construction are: in our attic, hopefully!
We also visited the basement and noticed that one didn't have to be a dwarf to go around there, differently from ours! This gives me hope that it will be possible to fix the basement so that one can walk there without too many problems.

The room that was absolutely breathtaking though was the dining room. Original wallpaper is still there from 1915 and looked very close to something that is called gyllenläder (Cuir de Cordoue/cordovan). On one side of the room, there is also a table with benches around three sides of it. Textile work typical from Skåne is decorating the wall just behind the sits. The whole room is a masterpiece!

I couldn't stop to stare at details like the doors handles (although I think some have been changed during the years - there was some clear funkis one!), or even the radiators (and the fact that the thermostat looked very old) and by being there, I got so many ideas and dreams on how villa Bellevue looked like and could still do!

The tiles

We have unfortunately no idea, with the current information, about which was the original roof of the house. Which was the color of the metal on the tower? What about the tiles? And their shape?
Still, I know by looking at the different postcards that the metal looked of a lighter color than the roof tiles (later, instead the metal looks darker). However, the only information I have that is more pragmatic is the fact that before the 70s (and the fourth owners, the Svenssons) the metal looked greenish and that the tiles looked red/light brown.

Today, the roof is still the one from 1976. This is why we have to refresh it and when doing so we had a choice to make around the colors and the tiles. We think that despite the fact that most likely the original roof tiles were not green at all, the roof has its own character with these green glazed dutch tiles and we decided to try to keep them, instead of changing to new tiles.

Then, a problem arises. Where to find such tiles? Are they still in production? We surely need some extra since a minor percentage will anyway break during the demounting from the roof.
The contractors we had talked to didn't seem to be able to find them, so I took the initiative to make a quick search.

Our tiles

On the back side it was stated "J. Kurstjens" among other things and that was the key word that allowed me to find the following: Traditec.
We started to exchange emails with them and after few of them, we got some samples of the tiles they had at the time in stock.

Comparing tiles

We came to the conclusion that they were close enough to ours (the middle one in the picture above). Being used tiles, it means that they have been exposed to weather and pollution, which has of course slightly altered the color. 

Packing tiles

Our tiles are still in Holland. They have been brushed from organic material and packed and they will wait for our "go" before being delivered to Villa Bellevue.

Our coming summer/autumn project

Almost everyone asks us if we are done with all the renovation work in the house or what is coming next. Well, we surely have a big item on our todo list (which is quite huge) coming this year: we are going to renovate the roof.
Indeed, already during the house inspection it was clear that we would have had to face this issue. The tar paper looked torn for how little it was possible to check it out and the previous owner stated that the roof had been fixed by his predecessor during the 70s. In the paper left by him (Bengt Svensson, that is, to Thomas Bachrach) there is stated that the roof was redone 1976. And this is confirmed when looking at the tiles: marked 1976. Also, postcards from the 60s show a roof with brown/red tiles.
Well, after 40 years it is definitely time to have this job done. Pity is that we were very stupid and ignorant when the inspection occurred and we didn't realize the amount of work and cost this would imply.

Roof overview

Last summer, when looking around, we noticed that good part of the sheet metal on the roof is rusty. When contacting contractors they didn't think it is anything that can be saved. It must be rather changed to something new. Pity that we have tons of metal details around the house! We really don't know if there is anything in decent condition.

Detail of the "regndalen" (where the metal is like a valley)

Rusty wind protection

 When having a scaffold around the house, we are wondering if we have to take advantage of it and possibly do other fixes. If we exclude the plaster, we have the chimneys that are "falling apart" (according to the inspection) or anyway do not have rain protection. 

But I am also looking at the garret windows. I wonder when they have been renovated or even just painted last time...

One of the two chimney

A facade painted with acrylic paint?

During December, we had sadly noted a humidity stain appearing in a corner of our "red room". We got of course worried since this could mean tons of things are going wrong.

The evil stain

The stain hasn't increased in size (luckily) over the past months, so we thought it would be connected to the heavy rain that occurred during the autumn storms.
In fact, it was enough to pay attention outside to look at this detail:

On top of the stain

In my opinion, this doesn't look that good and could be the cause of getting water and humidity up in that room. However, we haven't investigated how it looks really in the room just over the "red room" for several reasons. First, there is an heavy wardrobe there and second, just behind that wardrobe there is some "empty" space between two walls, which is not accessible. This is just under the roof and used for isolation and as wardrobes in other rooms.
Or at least, I think there is such a space just behind that wardrobe...

We have also been noticing humidity in the garret floor, but not under the old wet (and probably partially rotten beams) but just nearby the outdoor walls.

A garret window with clear signs of humidity (and flies)

The lime mortar is falling off

 It is very odd that the lime mortar is coming off. Yes, of course it is old, but that doesn't mean it should look bubbly and wet.

Out of concerned, we have contacted a contractor to look around and as soon as he came in, just by touching the outdoor walls, he stated that everything is painted with acrylic paint.
We have still to get a second opinion, but if this is the case, this is going to hit us heavily.
Also, what is quite annoying is that it seems our predecessor did repaint the outdoor walls in 2009, so why not doing a proper job? Acrylic paint is sadly not optimal since it doesn't let the walls "breath" with the result that the water that comes in, doesn't go out, creating humidity problems.
Why it is still used (it was surely popular in the 70s), I have no idea, but it seems still a valid option in the shops, despite the "fame".

How to solve this issue?
Well, we first need to get another point of view over the matter, but for the moment I'd like to use some ethanol and check that the paint is coming off. If that is the case, we have most likely the wrong paint on the house.
But if that is the case, we might need to blast out the paint, possibly causing damage to the plaster and then we have to see if that needs repairing and if that is just lime based or cement mixed.
Then, on top of the plaster we will have to use some lime paint...

Why can't proper material being used in a house like this? (And I blame also ourselves for some mistakes done when hastily, naively and without good knowledge renovation)

A modern fireplace in a jugend villa

Due to a bad translation, I had been searching for months the wrong item for our fireplace.

What I was searching was a spark arrestor, which in Swedish is gnistsskydd. However, until I found the right word, I was searching for a eldskärm, which seems to be an item for covering a fireplace when it is not used and it can be decorated. In fact, I was finding a lot of covers in jugend style, but in wood or textile and I was wondering how they could stand the fire...

After I identified the right item, I had issues finding a nice arrestor in Sweden. The auction sites seldom presented those and when looking at the shops we didn't see anything of our taste. It could easily be that if we would search more, we would have found some small smith selling what we wanted, but we really didn't have the time for such an hunt and we simplified our life searching some Italian website.
We found then Caminopoli, having a quite big selection and we went for one of their products in cast iron.

Considering how modern our fireplace is, I think the arrestor makes it fitting a bit better in the environment and it seems working fine with the fireplace itself. So now, we can be sure no cat will be cooked in the fire! ;-)