May 12, 2008
WALLPAPER DISTRIBUTOR ANN-LOUISE LOLLO JANSSON
What is it with Scandinavians? They make everything seem so effortless. I'm hoping that some of it will rub off by osmosis from my husband, whose mother is Finnish. But in the meantime, I'll have to content with myself with admiring the works of talented people such as Ann-Louise Lollo Jansson, who is the woman behind Scandinavian Wallpaper & Decor - which stocks a range that you really MUST check out before embarking on any renovations.
How and why did you start Scandinavian Wallpaper & Decor? Since renovating my cottage and working in interior design, I realised the market was narrow when it came to wallpaper, especially in Perth. What I found was mainly budget wallpaper and I had to use paint for interior walls. This was so different from Sweden where I come from where there is such a long history of using wallpaper. It was very exciting decorating spaces in Sweden using wallpaper, and I was always amazed about the mood you could create. One of the most charming aspects of using wallpaper is that you sometimes could find out the history of a place and get a feeling of the people who had lived there just by looking at the layers of wallpaper. Sometimes I found 5-10 layers of wallpaper in a house. So, determined to bring wallpaper into Australia and to make it stay and be a part of commercial and domestic interiors, I decided to start my own business and here I am.
What has been the response? It has been an amazing response to our products, especially towards the photo collection and the accessories collection, which is as I had hoped it would be. Before opening my business most people I talked to advised me not to do wallpaper as “Australians are outdoor people and do not care about their interiors”. I strongly believed it was the total opposite. We live on a continent with hot weather and a strong sun where people spend a lot of time indoors, whether it is at home, at work or in a shopping centre. With photo wallpaper you can bring the outdoors inside and I also believe we are living in a world where people more and more want to show who they are, not only via clothes and music, so playing around with wallpaper or accessories is one way of doing it.
How is having your own business different to what you expected? I don’t think it has been different to what I expected, not as yet. I was prepared to put in hard work and have multiple roles.
What has been a highlight? To be my own boss, working hours suiting my lifestyle, being able to bring in products that I like and believe in and of course all the support from other business in the area of interior design.
Where do you look to for inspiration? I find it irresistible to browse and look at Scandinavian and Japanese design. In many ways I think they have a great deal in common. I also love reading my interior magazines; I read them over and over again and look at them with new eyes every time. I also turn to nature a lot, it makes me very philosophical. And of course I love recycling; my motto when decorating is to “rethink, recycle and revamp before I go out and spend money”.
If you could meet one person, living or dead, who would it be? That would be my father who passed away 10 years ago. He was an amazing person and artist. He could create anything in his workshop anything from making furniture or building cars and I think it must be from him I that I got my motto as he always would rethink, recycle and revamp before spending any money.
What are you looking forward to? To be able to implement other ideas I have in regards to Scandinavian interior design; I have lots of ideas and hopefully I will soon be able to do something with them.
What are you reading? Believe it or not, but I am currently cross reading three books about wallpaper recently bought when I visited Sydney: Patterns by Drusilla Cole; Wallpaper: Dreams of colour for the home by Alejandro Asensio and Wallpaper by Lachlan Blackley.
Images courtesy of Scandinavian Wallpaper & Decor
How and why did you start Scandinavian Wallpaper & Decor? Since renovating my cottage and working in interior design, I realised the market was narrow when it came to wallpaper, especially in Perth. What I found was mainly budget wallpaper and I had to use paint for interior walls. This was so different from Sweden where I come from where there is such a long history of using wallpaper. It was very exciting decorating spaces in Sweden using wallpaper, and I was always amazed about the mood you could create. One of the most charming aspects of using wallpaper is that you sometimes could find out the history of a place and get a feeling of the people who had lived there just by looking at the layers of wallpaper. Sometimes I found 5-10 layers of wallpaper in a house. So, determined to bring wallpaper into Australia and to make it stay and be a part of commercial and domestic interiors, I decided to start my own business and here I am.
What has been the response? It has been an amazing response to our products, especially towards the photo collection and the accessories collection, which is as I had hoped it would be. Before opening my business most people I talked to advised me not to do wallpaper as “Australians are outdoor people and do not care about their interiors”. I strongly believed it was the total opposite. We live on a continent with hot weather and a strong sun where people spend a lot of time indoors, whether it is at home, at work or in a shopping centre. With photo wallpaper you can bring the outdoors inside and I also believe we are living in a world where people more and more want to show who they are, not only via clothes and music, so playing around with wallpaper or accessories is one way of doing it.
How is having your own business different to what you expected? I don’t think it has been different to what I expected, not as yet. I was prepared to put in hard work and have multiple roles.
What has been a highlight? To be my own boss, working hours suiting my lifestyle, being able to bring in products that I like and believe in and of course all the support from other business in the area of interior design.
Where do you look to for inspiration? I find it irresistible to browse and look at Scandinavian and Japanese design. In many ways I think they have a great deal in common. I also love reading my interior magazines; I read them over and over again and look at them with new eyes every time. I also turn to nature a lot, it makes me very philosophical. And of course I love recycling; my motto when decorating is to “rethink, recycle and revamp before I go out and spend money”.
If you could meet one person, living or dead, who would it be? That would be my father who passed away 10 years ago. He was an amazing person and artist. He could create anything in his workshop anything from making furniture or building cars and I think it must be from him I that I got my motto as he always would rethink, recycle and revamp before spending any money.
What are you looking forward to? To be able to implement other ideas I have in regards to Scandinavian interior design; I have lots of ideas and hopefully I will soon be able to do something with them.
What are you reading? Believe it or not, but I am currently cross reading three books about wallpaper recently bought when I visited Sydney: Patterns by Drusilla Cole; Wallpaper: Dreams of colour for the home by Alejandro Asensio and Wallpaper by Lachlan Blackley.
Images courtesy of Scandinavian Wallpaper & Decor