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Mimmi Staaf

In these Grandpa Family editorials we highlight creative and exciting people in our sphere. This time we met up with Mimmi Staaf in Trosa. This multi-disciplined home decorator packed up her apartment in Midsommarkransen, Stockholm, and started up a slow and easy life in the countryside.

Pastures, wood anemones, and birdsong awaits us as we arrive at Mimmi’s and her family’s postcard worthy home. Upon entering the house there’s no doubt that a creative force has taken residence here. It’s a mixture of light colors, natural materials, intricate and beautiful details, and second-hand home-runs.

Hi Mimmi! How do you make time pass?

Apart from spending my time as a shepherd, a hen keeper and a cat-lady I also work with interior decoration, styling and within the curtain business.

Tell us a bit about your background?

I spent about eight years in Stockholm running a home decoration store that also did wallpapers. But when we got kids it felt like it was time for a new phase of life to begin, so we closed shop, packed up our apartment and moved out to the countryside where we now reside: Lagnö outside of Trosa. I’m currently trying to figure out how to best combine this lovely countryside life with work.

How come you left the city?

My spouse Joakim was born in Trosa not far from here, and I’ve also spent a bit of my youth here. Both of our parents still live here, which is great for all of us, with the kids and all. It’s a reasonable enough distance from Stockholm, and to be honest we got a whole house here for the same money that would have gotten us a one bedroom apartment in the area we were living in. We also moved from a rental apartment, so we we’re iching to get our own house to make our own, and to live closer to real nature.

What does a normal day look like for you?

The farm we’re living at is a housing cooperative, so we share the farm’s yard and its sheep together. Our son’s kindergarten is also located here. So the day usually starts at 08.30 with us dropping off our son there. On Wednesdays we’re responsible for the sheep, and one day a month there’s like this communal workday. The other days we take care of the hens, our cat, and then we’ll work either from home or head toward Stockholm to work there.

You seem interested in environmental issues, how does that perspective apply to the business you’re in?

It’s kind of complicated to say the least, as the kind of business I work in revolves around consumption. With my background as an upholsterer, and with a passion for reusing what’s already available I try to focus on small-scale craftsmanship and arts, as well as working with more sustainable companies and products. I try to use organic colors, or to grow the flowers or greens that I’ll be using when styling.

This summer I’m working half-time at the Ekologiska Bryggvaruhuset, which is a great opportunity for me to learn more about sustainable materials and techniques.

Your home is very characteristic and beautiful, where do you find your inspiration?

Thank you! I’m mostly inspired by other homes that I see or visit. I also tend to gather the feeling I get from a home, a certain style or an object, and try to apply it to my own home. I want my home to be calm, warm, structured, and soft. A place to land. So that’s what I aim to create, using colors, a lot of textiles and what I call a “feel good” storage system.

When it comes to style and clothes, how do you define your style?

I feel like my sense of style has been split in two: the farm life where there’s really no point in dressing up. Workwear does the trick, as there’s always a dog, sheep or a child making a mess of whatever I’m wearing. When I leave for work I wear nicer clothes, and I tend to keep to what’s comfortable, but also timeless in terms of style, fit and materials. I don’t jump on the shorter trends. One hang-up of mine is that I only wear light colored shoes.

Name three things that make you feel great?

Animals in general, positive people in particular, creating, improving, curating, structuring, enjoying warmth and taking a bath. That’s almost three?

Any plans for the future?

Right now I look forward to warmth, spring, and summer on the farm. Attending social gatherings and trying to get my compass working again in this crazy time of pandemics and war. I also look forward to developing my idea around made-to-measure curtains under the name Lolelole (@lolelole_textile). It’s something I started working on this spring and will develop further moving forwards.