Home away from home

Bleaching the floorboards gave the dining room a Scandinavian feel. Photo / Supplied

Tired of cold Swedish winters, Wictoria Markula and her Scottish husband Fergus Slorach decided to emigrate to the other side of the world. The couple met in Markula's native Sweden and then lived in America for a while before moving back to Sweden, but they began to yearn for a more temperate climate. "We came out to New Zealand for a visit, as friends who were already here always said great things about it," says Markula.

"So, here we are and we love it." After moving to Auckland four years ago they began looking for a home for themselves and their two daughters, Freya, now aged 8, and Klara, 5. The Birkenhead home they ended up buying was at the bottom of their list - it was purely by chance that they decided to have a quick look at it after an exhausting day of househunting.

Back then, the dark paint, exposed wood and dark flooring gave the house a gloomy feel, but the couple was swayed by the location, spacious private section, high ceilings and large windows. They could see the home had potential. "We knew right away how we wanted it to look," explains Slorach. "We wanted a modern, clean, bright home, so we took our ideas to an architect who came up with more detail."

A four-month timeframe for the settlement allowed the couple to plan and organise the changes in advance. With a small child and a new baby, moving into a building site wasn't ideal. So they waited another six months before moving in to allow most of the alterations to be finished. "I was more the interiors person and Fergus looked after the structural side," says Markula.

One change to the house was forced on them: the flooring downstairs had to be replaced after it was ruined when a storm flooded the area. The couple took the opportunity to lay pale wooden flooring that was more in keeping with the Scandinavian look they were after. They had it colour-treated to match the environmentally friendly bamboo flooring in the lounge upstairs, and then bleached the dark tawa floorboards in the dining room as well to achieve a cohesive look.

While the girls' rooms have crisp white walls, splashes of colour offset the neutral colour scheme. One corner of Freya's room is glazed, connecting it to the native garden outside. Slorach works from home and has a peaceful and inspiring view from his office window. The home's Scandinavian style sits easily with its native bush setting, giving the family the best of both worlds.

Style tips

Neutral territory: Pale colours form the basis of this home's look. Try to choose warm whites for walls and use crisp and clean whites to highlight frames and skirtings. If you want a pale floor, sand floorboards then whitewash them with a limewash paint or a watered-down shade of white. A final polyurethane coat will protect this finish.

Super storage: "Kids always accumulate so much stuff, so they need places to put everything away," says Markula. "Clever wardrobes with hanging space, shelves, and a range of plastic storage bins mean they can keep their rooms in order."

* Leanne Moore is the editor of Your Home & Garden.