Nature's Bounty

An old schoolhouse enabled artist Gunnel Sahlin to create a nourishing environment in which to live and work

- Karen Jensen-Jones

When designer and artist Gunnel Sahlin and her partner Håkan viewed a former schoolhouse in Sörmland, just an hour’s drive away from Stockholm, she instantly felt drawn to the history and provenance of the building and, in particular, the light-filled school hall.

‘What could be more suitable for an artist than a house where you can feel the creativity in the building and benefit from the most incredible light from such enormous windows,’ explains Gunnel, who specialises in glass design. ‘The old school hall, with its nine magnificent windows, is everything you could possibly wish for in a studio, and the two handmade tables in the middle of the room provide ample space for my various projects. It’s such a nourishing environment to work in.’

Gunnel originally intended to buy the property as a summer house, but it ended up being her main home where she has lived and worked for two decades. ‘The building needed very little structural improvement because it had been well-maintained over the years, with the original floors, doors and windows still in place,’ says Gunnel. ‘I’ve tried to be sensitive to the history of it with my renovations and colour palette.’