Anniken Jørgensen’s renovation diary: How she transformed a city centre flat into a dream home

So, my fiancé and I have known each other for less than a year, can you imagine?

We actually met at this garden party last summer, he walked in and I just knew. Love at first sight (at least for me). We didn’t really speak much, but we just couldn’t stop staring at each other. I texted him the week after asking him out, but he turned me down. I didn’t give up though, and the fourth time I asked he eventually gave in. We went for a drive in my car, and the rest is history…

Five months later we moved in together and four months after that we got engaged.

I used to live in this very small apartment, and he had just moved back to the city when I met him. So we quickly decided to look for an apartment together.

I’d always told my friends I would never sell my small “Sex and the City apartment”, but I’m so happy I did.

We went apartment hunting, and I fell in love with the first one we looked at. I have a lot of bad habits, but I know when I know. It was the first appointment we went to and jackpot! After a lot of back and forth we managed to buy the apartment, and oh my, it´s much bigger than I’m used to.

So, the apartment is in the heart of Oslo, in a very calm and charming area near St Haugen. With small coffee shops and a big park. And the best part, no traffic! The apartment is an old building with huge mouldings and very high ceilings. It was newly renovated when we bought it, but it wasn’t... us.

Lucky me, my fiancé and I have almost the same style when it comes to interiors. I‘ve stopped a few crazy ideas along the way, but he definitely has an eye for details, and is way more patient than me.

In order to make this our dream home, we started with painting all the walls (classic white from Jotun), and then we wanted wood panelling to get that old majestic Paris look.

My fiancé actually put them up himself while I painted each one as he moved on to the next.

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Initially, I only planned to change out the kitchen, and so this was one of the first things I started looking into.

The original kitchen was provided by Oslo Kjøkkenstudio (Oslo Kitchen Studio), and so I contacted them when I wanted to change cupboard fronts and handles. I went down to see all the varieties they had, and had so much fun! The handles we chose were a brand new collection, and blended in perfectly. I had never actually seen the colour ‘light antique’ in real life, but went for it anyway.I was pretty excited to see what it would look like when they arrived. But it was beautiful, and I’m overjoyed.

The other thing we wanted to change in the kitchen was the benchtops, and so I contacted Scan Granitt.

After a chat, we agreed to take a look at their range from Neolith in Norway. I was sold in the first meeting. I’ve seen a LOT of imitations of marble out there, and that’s why I ended up with real marble in my old apartment. However, when I went out to Scan Granitt for the first time to look at all the stones they had, I was actually mildly shocked when I pointed to a large stone to ask what marble it was and they told me it wasn’t marble, but a neolith made of 100 per cent natural material, and without any binder. Best of all? It can withstand absolutely everything. It is maintenance-free and scratch-resistant, and can withstand UV light (which makes up a lot of light in the kitchen), and heat. Not only that, but each piece is unique in pattern, just like real marble.

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In the dining area we went for a huge marble table that I found on sale. I’d never seen it in real life but we just had to have it. We also quickly found out that we wanted some walnut to contrast with all the white details, and I think walnut has become my new obsession. Walnut, classic details and black? It’s gorgeous.

I think I may have always dreamed of having big dinner parties, at least that was what I envisioned when I was younger. Great dinners with friends around the table and full glasses of red wine (because we were finally old enough).In my old 30 square metre apartment there wasn’t room for big gatherings, but now? More than enough actually. So the dining table was actually the very first thing we bought for the apartment. It’s 260kg with real marble, haha. How did we get it up the stairs? Don’t ask!

The plan was actually to have fairly light dining chairs, but since my canvas is always white, we wanted something with a little more contrast in it. These dining chairs from Fritz Hansen, bought at Nordiska Galleriet – were, to put it mildly, absolutely perfect. Chairs that will live longer than me, I’m sure. I am and will remain a sucker for good quality that lasts a lifetime.

Then over to the living room again, we decided to get a piece of art. I actually do not have words. This is perhaps one of the most beautiful things I have seen, and I had difficulty breathing when I saw it finished. A tile stove is something I have seen in movies since I was a little kid, and they are actually Swedish! They were made when there was a wood shortage, and they have a very special ability to keep your place warm, for a long time with little wood. So with the insane electricity prices these days in Norway, this is actually a pretty nice investment (at least that’s how we justified it).

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When we first moved in, I told my fiancé that the fireplace was not that important for me, but it was for him. If we were to get one, I said it had to be a tall tile stove. The whole process took around four days, and I have never encountered such neat craftsmen. It was actually just one of them, and he has set up around 500 of these around Norway. It’s, really a work of art, right? God, how I look forward to dinner parties, warm fireplace evenings in front of the TV and generally heat from something so beautiful. Tile stoves come in many sizes and shapes, but we went for this one:

The bedroom, oh my, the bedroom. We wanted it light, first of all, with huge curtains and the biggest bed we could find. And I think we managed that.

In the bathroom, I wanted old meeting new. Like real furniture, real handmade stuff together with quality. Marble everywhere, a different pattern in the shower floor, gold details… well, the bathroom speaks for itself.