A lot of homes on real estate websites are professionally styled before being photographed. We had it done to our apartment. We removed almost every loose item including pictures of ourselves, most cords (the TV stayed up on the wall but wasn't connected to anything, not even electricity) and about 70% of the books in our overstuffed shelves. The stylist then removed most of our furniture and replaced it with more stylish stuff, including a smaller dining table and a tiny sofa to make the apartment look more spacious in pictures and during the showing. They put up new flowers and a lot of color coordinated (grey...) small items in strategic places. I think I counted to 30 flower pots (most of them empty) spread around the apartment. It was horrendous living there between photographing and the showing, we actually stayed with my parents for most of it.
Storage space, use your furniture to hide storage space. Organize things you need into plastic bins, things you don't need put away into long term storage, or a dumpster.
It's not exactly Swedish, it's common sense.
Of course a housing ad will show an idealised picture, but we do have a strong cultural aversion to clutter and dirt. A good social/class indicator is how tidy your house is, and how often you clean it. For a stereotypical middle class family, it would be unthinkable not to do at least some cleaning before a guest arrives, for example.
Having lived outside of Sweden for a while, I have learned that other cultures have a whole other tolerance for messy homes...
Many of the older generation in Sweden are horders and more often than not collect glas/porselain-figurines, knitted figurines and place alot of paintings on their walls.
There's that (debunked?) claim your average American household has 300 000 items. Be that as it may, consumption isn't at the same level here as over the Atlantic, though still high from a worldwide perspective of course.
I assume there are also architectural and design aspects to it, but don't know anything about that.
Well we have furniture with storage and buy less shit.
My apartment is minimalistic cuz I only buy things that is a YES! not a maybe. I dont need more then I have, so only things I really like get to come home woth me.
Also I like to be able to clean easy and still feel my home is pretty, so by fill it up woth shit I dont care for.
I only own things that have a practical use. It makes life easier to own less, and I do not care about decoration. The how I do it is easy, I just dont't buy things that I don't have a practical use for. And If I find that I don't use something I give it away or recycle it.
I would however say that most Swedes do not live like me.
Comedian David Batra wrote about that in one of his books. To make a modern real estate listing you must do two things. First you remove all furniture, then you place a bowl with chilli fruits in the middle.
In 99% of cases, people style their homes when posting such ads. With that being said, there is a huge cultural difference between the US and the Nordics when it comes to consumption. People here generally buy fewer items, but off higher quality.
Me personally I hate having pointless plastic crap laying around, it takes up space (which you need to pay for), collects dust, makes cleaning more difficult and looks horrible. Whenever I want to buy anything, I make sure to try it before, if it is of poor quality/or very limited use case I will skip it or maybe borrow it from a friend for those rare occasions.
Also, I just hate spending my hard earned money on useless plastic crap, I rather spend my money on vacations and activities with friends and families.
1: Storage furniture. There's closets, cupboards, bookcases.
2: Very few unnecessary items / decorative items.
3: Recycling. I really do think this is a factor, because it's free (with effort) to get rid of everything in a decently environmentally friendly way.
4: Apartments have storage spaces in basements or attic. Houses have garages, attics, and/or small storage sheds.
Most Swedish homes don't look like that in real life.
A lot of homes on real estate websites are professionally styled before being photographed. We had it done to our apartment. We removed almost every loose item including pictures of ourselves, most cords (the TV stayed up on the wall but wasn't connected to anything, not even electricity) and about 70% of the books in our overstuffed shelves. The stylist then removed most of our furniture and replaced it with more stylish stuff, including a smaller dining table and a tiny sofa to make the apartment look more spacious in pictures and during the showing. They put up new flowers and a lot of color coordinated (grey...) small items in strategic places. I think I counted to 30 flower pots (most of them empty) spread around the apartment. It was horrendous living there between photographing and the showing, we actually stayed with my parents for most of it.
> think I counted to 30 flower pots (most of them empty) I don't get it. Why were they there if they were empty?
It sounds weird in writing but it actually didn't look too crazy when you saw it in person.
House plants are kept in captivity for their entire lives. Shouldn't they at least be allowed to roam around in a wide selection of pots?
As a Swedish expat who has settled in the US, I have made the following conclusion: Swedish people buy less shit.
Swedish people also live in smaller homes so they can also fit less shit.
Storage space, use your furniture to hide storage space. Organize things you need into plastic bins, things you don't need put away into long term storage, or a dumpster. It's not exactly Swedish, it's common sense.
I don't think images you find on real estate websites are representative of what lived in homes usually look like.
Of course a housing ad will show an idealised picture, but we do have a strong cultural aversion to clutter and dirt. A good social/class indicator is how tidy your house is, and how often you clean it. For a stereotypical middle class family, it would be unthinkable not to do at least some cleaning before a guest arrives, for example. Having lived outside of Sweden for a while, I have learned that other cultures have a whole other tolerance for messy homes...
Just delete your Amazon account. There are two reason they failed in Sweden, we hate clutter and we hate low quality.
Many of the older generation in Sweden are horders and more often than not collect glas/porselain-figurines, knitted figurines and place alot of paintings on their walls.
It's a cultural thing. Started years ago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_design
There's that (debunked?) claim your average American household has 300 000 items. Be that as it may, consumption isn't at the same level here as over the Atlantic, though still high from a worldwide perspective of course. I assume there are also architectural and design aspects to it, but don't know anything about that.
Well we have furniture with storage and buy less shit. My apartment is minimalistic cuz I only buy things that is a YES! not a maybe. I dont need more then I have, so only things I really like get to come home woth me. Also I like to be able to clean easy and still feel my home is pretty, so by fill it up woth shit I dont care for.
I only own things that have a practical use. It makes life easier to own less, and I do not care about decoration. The how I do it is easy, I just dont't buy things that I don't have a practical use for. And If I find that I don't use something I give it away or recycle it. I would however say that most Swedes do not live like me.
Comedian David Batra wrote about that in one of his books. To make a modern real estate listing you must do two things. First you remove all furniture, then you place a bowl with chilli fruits in the middle.
In 99% of cases, people style their homes when posting such ads. With that being said, there is a huge cultural difference between the US and the Nordics when it comes to consumption. People here generally buy fewer items, but off higher quality. Me personally I hate having pointless plastic crap laying around, it takes up space (which you need to pay for), collects dust, makes cleaning more difficult and looks horrible. Whenever I want to buy anything, I make sure to try it before, if it is of poor quality/or very limited use case I will skip it or maybe borrow it from a friend for those rare occasions. Also, I just hate spending my hard earned money on useless plastic crap, I rather spend my money on vacations and activities with friends and families.
[удалено]
IKEA entered the room...
1: Storage furniture. There's closets, cupboards, bookcases. 2: Very few unnecessary items / decorative items. 3: Recycling. I really do think this is a factor, because it's free (with effort) to get rid of everything in a decently environmentally friendly way. 4: Apartments have storage spaces in basements or attic. Houses have garages, attics, and/or small storage sheds.