Svenskt Tenn and Malmsten’s Revamp

Last February, when I visited Stockholm, I had to go to one of my favorite stores there, Svenskt Tenn. I can’t seem to leave the store without buying another pillow, bag or roll of fabric. Joseph Frank’s textiles are just so spectacular for me, that I never seem to get enough of his wonderful prints.

Another store which I always visit when in Stockholm is Carl Mamsten, (it just so happens that it is right next store to Svenskt Tenn). The classic Malmsten shop on Strandvägen in Stockholm just received a revamp treatment by designer Martin Bergström and creator Pontus Djanaieff. Stepping into the shop you will be refreshed by the genuine quality of Carl Malmstens furniture accompanied by the best of Swedish handicrafts of today. The Malmsten shop has actually been at the same address for the last 69 years and the furniture by Carl Malmsten is part of the Swedish design heritage. But, at the same time it was time to make a fresh take on the complete concept. A couple of the classic furniture pieces received has new fabrics which will make them attractive also for a younger generation. The armchair Jättepaddan (Giant toad) from 1934 received new life through a Martin Bergström fabric (see below). The fabric is called Ufomyran (Ufo ant).  Since 1999 the Malmsten shop is owned and run by Jerk Malmsten, grandson of Carl Malmsten.

Here’s a short text about Carl Malmsten from their webpage.

“Carl Malmsten (1888–1972) devoted his life to the renewal of traditional Swedish craftsmanship, inspired by the cultural examples of the Swedish country manor and rustic styles – furniture endowed with a creative simplicity, with a feeling for the wood itself, with function in mind and a high technical quality.

Malmsten’s light wooden furniture with their blond range of colors have in themselves become an allegory for that which is typically Swedish, with strong references to Swedish nature and cultural traditions. As a furniture maker he expressed the old, inherited forms as well as the new, bold ideas with his language of design. The result will forever be the same – beautiful, eternal individual pieces of furniture which together create a unified and harmonious feeling.”