My Swedish inheritance

I have been mistaken for a Scandinavian occasionally, due to my blue eyes and blonde hair and penchant for Nordic style, but I’m all South African, with a couple of Irish and English and Scottish ancestors 3 or 4 generations back. However, my mom’s dear friends Monica and Jörgen, both children of Swedish missionaries in Africa, always kept a very Swedish home not far from where I grew up in Johannesburg in the 70s. Their West Rand home, always with a yellow Volvo in the driveway, is where I spent many happy afternoons with my brothers while my mom and Monica had tea in their garden of pine and birch trees, on a wildflowered lawn.

Their home of clean-lined wooden furniture, handmade textiles, fine glass, green-filtered light, and the scent of spiced biscuits is what set, I think, my ideal for a beautiful home.

Sadly, last year Jörgen passed away, and Monica has had to make great changes in her life, including selling her home and moving to Sweden. As a result of all this change, I am lucky enough to have some of the things they had for so many years, including the chairs shown in their home above, now fitting in beautifully at home and at the studio too.

Who knows? Without Monica and Jörgen’s home to inspire me, Skinny laMinx may never have even started, so this is a little thank you note to them for sharing their beautiful home with me throughout my life.