To Grandmother's House We Go

How one young couple honors bygone times.”

-  Tina Agren

Susanna and Christian Andersson lived in a tiny house from the 1800s, but when Susanna's great-grandmother was moving to a smaller apartment, the opportunity arose to buy her home.

"We bought the house partly for nostalgic reasons," Susanna says. "My great-grandmother had lived in the house for over 50 years, and I spent a lot of time here when I was young. But it was also a chance to get a house where we could grow as a family. We both like older houses, and this one suited our style."

RENOVATING AND RETAINING THE OLD STYLE

Susanna and Christian bought the house and started renovating. Christian is a carpenter, so they could do most of the work themselves. Susanna comes up with the ideas, Christian builds, and Susanna paints-a combination that solves most problems! The renovation has been careful, and together they have managed to create a style that combines turnof-the-century romance with rustic details.

"We wanted the house to feel large, bright and spacious, as it's a 1920s-style house," Susanna explains. "It's important for us to retain the old feel even in the new additions we're making to the house."

During the kitchen renovation, they kept the old kitchen cabinets, updating the frames with new doors that Christian made, and Susanna painted. The old short-pile carpet was removed, and the wooden floor was sanded and painted a bit "roughly" to give it an old worn look. Now the kitchen has a wonderfully rustic style that fits the house's character.

SUNROOM POSSIBILITIES

The same attention to period details can be seen in the cozy sunroom. Susanna and Christian built it in 2012, and much of the material was reused. The windows are made from old window frames from the 1800s that Susanna's grandfather scraped and built into frames. The door to the deck came from a neighbor's house, and the floor was salvaged from an old outdoor patio in the same area.