Home Decor Interview:

Benita Larsson from "Chez Larsson"

1.  Hi Benita, thank you for joining us today, all the way from Sweden.  Please take a moment to introduce yourself and tell our readers about your blog.

Hi!  I'm a visual merchandiser and in my spare time I love to work on different projects around the house.  I love to organize, build things, sew, craft, and garden.  Through my Chez Larsson blog I share all these things with my readers.

2.  When it comes to home decor, you are not shy about the fact that green is your favorite color.  Please tell us what it is about green that you love, and do you always try to incorporate it into your decor if possible?

To me the light green I like is not so much a color actually, it's a neutral. It works with most other colors I like and it's the colors of the greenery outside. When it's winter and not much green to be seen outside over here I love that I have some indoors. I recently changed our living room wall color from green to aqua but there's still a fair amount of green left and I'm sure I will add more as I go along.


3.  You recently repainted the interiors of your home.  How often do you like to repaint your walls, and how have the newest colors changed the look and feel of your home?

I don't repaint that often actually. The living room wall, which was green and which I just repainted, I had intended to repaint every six months or so. It stayed for years simply because I love the color. A paint job on a single wall is such an easy job though, so I could easily see myself changing it more often.

As it happened the green was so lovely it stayed longer than I had intended. Love the new aqua too but I probably will change that sooner. The aqua makes the room look cooler, but still not cold. I love that it changes during the day and that all the changes are good, greyish in the morning, vibrant in the sun and darker cozy in the evening.


4.  You and your husband are self proclaimed dumpster divers.  Over the years, what have been your favorite furniture or decorative pieces that you’ve discovered in the trash?

Our favourite pieces have got to be the bases for our dining area table. We found them under a tarp in a dumpster outside a famous Stockholm restaurant. They are cast aluminum and we love, love, love them!


5.  Reading your blog posts, it seems you have a character trait that many creative people have: you often want to do it all right now, but don’t have the time or patience to wait.  It’s ok, and it’s actually a good thing!  What do you try to do to keep yourself from getting overwhelmed by home decorating projects?

I'm learning to say No... I'm really good at it at work where I'll immediately say no if I know it's going to be too much. At home though I'm trying to cut down on projects by saying no to myself. It's not likely that I in the near future will take on another boat renovation even though it was fun, I'm not starting plants from seeds anymore, I wear clothes I don't have to iron so much etc. 

Basically I try to cut down on the things I know take too much time and which are of lesser importance to me. I prioritize on the things I enjoy more like my home decorating projects. I'm not cutting down on them. 


6.  You have two cute little kitties, Bonus and Mini.  Whenever you’re in the middle of a home project and there’s lots of stuff laying around, do your cats like to get nosy (like my cat) and snoop around to see what’s going on?  And are they generally well behaved cats?

Bonus loves the outdoors more than the house. As soon as I'm in the garden though he whines until I go to pet him. Usually it means I need to get off the top of my ladder or he'll lie at the base of it and meow until I've surrendered. 

Mini on the other hand loves to join in everything we do, outdoors and in. She has helped me to recover the ironing board, helped Wille to do his homework by punching holes in his notebooks, helped Martin to shovel dirt by supervising from the wheelbarrow etc etc. It's so cute. Sometimes extremely annoying. But so cute.


7.  Stockholm is known to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. 

Are you happy with the decor and beauty of Stockholm, and would you recommend that people reading this visit your city one day?

Stockholm is extremely beautiful, almost completely surrounded by water. It's a very clean city compared to others in the world and you would love to visit here!

Much to see, both old and new. Check out a recent post on S.HOPtalk to learn more.


8.  Thanks again, Benita, for answering our questions today.  For our last question, please tell us what first excited you about homes and hobbies, and what inspired you to start your Chez Larsson blog?   

Thanks Giorgina for having me!

I've always loved most aspects of homemaking, except for cooking (I leave that to Martin) and I'm happiest when I get to tinker about at home on my various projects, large and small. As I started uploading photos of my home on Flickr in December I realised to my amazement that others were actually interested in my projects and people were suggesting I start blogging which I finally did in May after much deliberation. It's been so much fun sharing with all of you!

Let's send a big Thank-You to Benita and wish her a safe and happy trip home from Hong Kong.  Benita's blog is warm and inviting, so please drop Chez Larsson a visit when you get a chance.

Thanks again, Benita, and good luck with your lovely home!