One sunny April morning, we met Caroline Borg in her apartment, where she lives with her family! A home that exudes a great sense of calm and harmony thanks to well-chosen shades and materials. Amidst the scent of lilacs and freshly brewed coffee, we talked about picture hanging, summer plans, and color choices. And Frances, of course! Meet Caroline here!
Hi Caroline, how are you today?
I'm good, maybe a little disoriented after emerging from winter hibernation where everything was in slow motion, and suddenly you're on the other side where everything needs to happen at once. All the work productions planned during the first weeks of the year now need to be executed, while we also enjoy spring and socialize. Now, all that's missing is that spring sun to boost energy levels to a much-needed degree.
What did you have for breakfast this morning?
A large cup of Earl Grey with milk. I rarely eat breakfast, but I drink all the more cups of tea.
"Frances is exactly the sofa I've been looking for"
What are you most looking forward to?
Right now, I'm incredibly excited for summer when our whole family will go abroad for the first time in five years. The plan is to interrail through Germany, Slovenia, and Croatia. The children have really been longing to go abroad and have been nagging for several years now, so I feel we have some catching up to do and therefore think it's best to squeeze in three countries in one go.
The sofa and armchair from our new Frances series looked great in your home; how did you choose those two specifically?
Frances is exactly the sofa I've been looking for. Softly rounded, yet it still makes a statement. The footstool was exactly what our sofa group was missing, I realized as soon as it was there. A big plus is that the cover is removable and can be washed or changed, which I think every parent would agree with.
What is most important to you in a home?
Textiles; there's nothing that frames a room better. Large rugs, custom-made curtains, and a beautifully made bed.
What would we never find in your home?
Most of what is sold in chain stores. I prefer to look for second-hand items, buy at auction, or save up for designer classics that I know I will love for a long time.
"My best interior design hack has to be our short curtains in the bedroom"
Tell us about a fun memory.
A couple of my best memories are from the two times I've been on the west coast picking oysters with Lotta Klemming. It's impossible to describe how magical it is to take a boat out to a deserted beach, put on waders, and pick oysters directly from the bottom of the shallow bay where we've docked. Then to sit there on the beach and eat fresh oysters, share a bottle of champagne, and eat Lotta's incredible langoustines she grills over an open fire by the water's edge – well, you get the picture.
When do you feel most beautiful?
When my skin feels good, my hair is washed, and I feel comfortable in my clothes. The foundation is most important, whether I'm without makeup in sweatpants or dressed to the nines.
What's your best life hack? And what's your best interior design hack?
In the summer, living as we do, in an apartment in a shared house with a communal garden, feels like an incredibly good life hack. The children's friends live next door, and there's always someone with the grill lit when you come home. My best interior design hack has to be our short curtains in the bedroom. When you live as we do, with neighbors close by, it can be nice to draw the curtains sometimes, and with short curtains inside the window, you can draw them without covering the windowsill, which otherwise makes it feel a bit like a bunker. In combination with long curtains in two layers, it's also very stylish.
What do you dance to?
90s music and Carola. "Fångad av en stormvind" works just as well as a tequila shot for me.
Why do you think you do what you do today?
I think I've unconsciously been drawn to this my whole life. I could never quite articulate what I wanted to work with when I was younger, only that it should be creative, and I probably never dared to believe that I could work creatively as a freelancer. Instead, I took the safe route and studied advertising and PR, thinking I would work at an agency like the rest of my family. But with creeping steps, I moved more and more towards interior design and styling, until one day I felt I couldn't do anything else and quit very spontaneously.
What are your best tips right now?
Take your entire month's 'eating out' budget and spend it on a dinner at Restaurant Nour. Their deep-fried milk bread filled with vendace roe is the best thing I've ever eaten, I think. Imagine a warm, freshly fried donut, but with savory powder instead of granulated sugar, and filled with vendace roe, which you dip in whipped crème fraîche. I even got the bread gluten-free, and it was still so good that it brought a little tear to my eye.
What does your summer look like?
Besides two and a half weeks of interrailing, we'll be spending time at our various family country homes, so it will be a lot of the archipelago as always. Hanging out on the jetty, sauna, and cold dips are among the best things I know.
