Glamorous Apartment - Art Of Darkness

The owners of this stylish Oslo apartment have eschewed the conventional pale shades of Scandinavian decorating in favour of daring expanses of blue-black and graphic pattern

- Serena Fokschaner

Ask Catrine Svellingen to explain what drives her design ideas and she will come straight to the point: ‘I love interiors that stop people in their tracks. If you do things with passion and integrity, there are very few rules.’ It is a bold approach that is reflected in Catrine’s apartment in central Oslo, which she shares with her daughter, Andrine, aged 17, and partner Per Ove, a television producer.

Set in a handsome 19th-century apartment building, this is a home that delivers glamour and drama in equal measure and where, on an icy December afternoon, flickering firelight, ebony walls and Wagnerian-inspired seascapes exude all the enchantment of a night at the opera.

The sculptural, perfectly imperfect Christmas tree, bedecked with Catrine’s hallmark monochromatic ornaments, was chosen to echo the scale of the flat. ‘The space is not huge, but the tall ceilings make it feel grand,’ she says.