Everything I wanted to get done to turn our barn in to a “party room” has not been completed, such as finding a pair of great chandeliers. But we came far enough to be able to invite some of our neighbors over for “fika” in the barn. “Fika” as you might have seen in the Gevalia commercial means a snack with coffee generally.
It’s so pointless to have spaces in your home, indoors or outdoors, that are not being used. They become storage spaces and burdens instead of rooms to enjoy and have fun in.
Every space in a home should serve a purpose.
Most images by Mehreen Qudosi.
The barn was used since the 1800’s for farming. For years and years afterwards new owners used it as storage for firewood and other things. Ever since we bought it, it has been storage space for my bother’s salvaged windows and doors as well as leftovers from the renovation of the house.
It felt amazing to get it cleared out.
A barn is a perfect space for a meal or a party.
There’s plenty of room for lots of guests.
We built an 18′ long dining table out of old planks found in the barn.
I was really excited seeing this start to take shape.
For the party we picked flowers in the garden for center pieces.
I wanted to keep it to one color – sunny yellow.
My friend Monica had a number of benches from her greenhouse she no longer used, and gave them to me.
Thank You Monica!
I covered them with Swedish “trasmattor”.
As we were clearing out the barn I just randomly hung old tools and items found on the barn on the wall.
I used antique pitchers for flowers, and bought some new ones from Ikea.
We used simple vintage plates and napkins.
We ate some delicious cinnamon rolls. Recipe HERE.
The Swedish cinnamon rolls are nowhere near as sweet as the American version. A perfect snack with a cup of coffee in the afternoon.
All the kids had run out to play soccer by the time we took this picture and my family had headed home except for my cute mom. This space now needs two cool chandeliers, painted ores for the back wall and party lights all over.
Inviting neighbors over that you know, or getting to know some new ones, I highly recommend!
You never know who might just live around the corner…
