Hanneli Mustaparta’s renovation diary: Transforming a 100-year-old house into a minimalist's dream

Even before buying this house my fiancé Stian and I knew that it would require a lot of renovation to make it feel like our own. Usually I absolutely love renovating, however I dreaded the entire process. Selling our apartment, renovating a new house, and of course, the move itself. On top of that, we also had our two kids, one newborn and one two-and a-half-year-old, to consider. Fortunately, the new owners of our place agreed to move in six months later. It was a godsend — as most of our renovation would be done by then.

The property is 100 years old, but the previous owner gutted and renovated it roughly ten years back. That was a quite big project, covering some major costs that we were fortunate enough to avoid — from replacing the roof, outside walls to draining the basement. Instead, we started by figuring out the interiors. Norway has quite long, gloomy winters with little sunlight, so we both decided on keeping the decor light.

We started with the floor. The already-existing one was pretty generic, a three-layer parquet with a slightly aged, yellow hue. Simply put, it had to go. We agreed on herringbone floors, in a more subtle, light coloured oak.

Ceilings and walls became the core for this transformation. I’m not particularly influenced by trends. From my years living in Paris, I had always dreamed of this sleek, Haussmannian feel. Fortunately Stian agreed, too. Wall panels were swapped for sleek walls with added wall decor, mouldings, and delicate ceiling roses. I reached out to Orac Decor and ByggDekor, both experts at this.

Mats Teigen, the founder of ByggDekor, helped us with all the planning and problem solving along the way. We really focused on the intricate detailing, such as finding skirting boards matching the existing ones, to keep the authentic feel. My biggest pet peeve is when something’s just put on the wall without careful thought.

I had a chat with my friend Nate Berkus as well. He’s an interior designer with impeccable taste. Together with him, we opted for Slipper Satin from Farrow & Ball for all rooms, except our children’s. Then we experimented with the ceilings: our bedroom's ceiling is blue, while the upstairs got a dreamy pistachio colour that complements the large brass ceiling fixture beautifully

The bathrooms really stood out. I wouldn’t say that they needed any major changes, more finishing touches. The upstairs bedroom had the most stunning creamy coloured marble. I’ve never seen anything like it. White, almost greige-like hexagon shaped tiles were added to a shower wall in order to compliment the marble. In fairness, the cabinet was the most important part though. I have tons of products, so naturally we needed plenty of storage — literally stretching from one wall to another.

In the downstairs bathroom the plan was simple. The shower mosaic, coming in variations of browns and glass, didn’t feel right. So we opted for my all time favourite: the Imperial Michelangelo tiles from Novabell. They’re made of stone, but resemble marble which looks great in showers. The best part? They won’t stain after a few years of use.

Lastly, we focused on detailing. Stian and I both love light fixtures – wall lamps in particular. Since we removed the wall panels, we called an electrician to set all the wires in the living room, dining room, and hallway before finally adding the shades. I gives me great pleasure that the wires are hidden behind the walls.

We had also envisioned functional, custom-made storage. Together with the carpenters, we created amazing bookshelves for our living room, hallway, and also upstairs, together with customised cupboards.

Right now, we are done renovating. Well, for the time being. We know that we have to change the kitchen worktop at some point. It needs to be a lighter colour in order to match the rest of the home. It arrived when we were almost done renovating. Then it’s the laundry room, it’s functional but not that pretty. But for now, we couldn’t be happier with the result we’ve achieved!

Looking back, I don’t think we would’ve done that much differently. OK, there’s one thing: we would have kept the old floors and added the new ones on top. After removing the original floors, the ground underneath had shifted, making it too uneven to even put the new ones down. We needed quite a lot of cement to even it out, putting us on a three week-long delay.

For me, the most fun part of the renovation is adding all the small pieces, from pictures to paintings and vases. We also quickly found our dream coffee table by m.dezeiner x by bjørkheim that really binds our living room beautifully together with our other pieces. Renovation is a process though, especially with two small kids, so I am not done yet. I need the right headspace, and it’s not always there. But I don’t mind decorating over time. It allows us to source unique pieces that we will truly love.

What I learned from this renovation is that things take time. They have to take time. Stian wants things done quickly, preferably by tomorrow. I, on the other hand, love spending time creating the exact vibe that I envisioned. That means trying out loads of different paint samples until it really hits the right spot.

If you’re considering renovating your home, my advice is to always make sure to set a bulletproof plan — from A to Z. Make sure that things get done in the right order. Once you’re in the middle of it, it’s difficult to think straight. Do order furniture pieces early on, they can take forever (and then some) to arrive. Lastly, ask friends for recommendations on skilled carpenters and professionals. We hit the jackpot with our team: they cared and went the extra mile.