A home filled with nature, memories, and warm Holiday traditions

Little Petra Lounge chair and pouf — From the living room, there is a separate door leading out to a west-facing veranda with a roof. The Christmas tree was cut by hand in the forest.

For interior enthusiast Gro Anita Nilsen, the Holidays are all about atmosphere. Her family’s 1956 villa in Norway comes alive with forest-fresh greenery, treasured keepsakes, and playful traditions.

Residents:

Gro Anita Nilsen with her son, Christopher, and daughter, Erika. The home is a 200 m² detached house from 1956, located in Sandefjord, a seaside town roughly a 1.5-hour drive south of Oslo.

Gro Anita Nilsen, portrait — Gro Anita Nilsen is co-owner of Woods Agentur and runs the lifestyle shop Mitt Hjem in Sandefjord.

INTERIOR DESIGN and decorating are both Gro Anita’s livelihood and her passion. Together with her deep love of nature, they shape the atmosphere of her home.

In their Sandefjord villa, the Holiday season begins well before December 1. That’s when Gro Anita heads into the forest and returns with nature’s own decorations: branches, moss, and small trees.

“It goes by so quickly, and if I waited until Christmas Eve only to clear everything away for New Year’s, I would miss the cozy Advent season. The fire crackling in the fireplace, candles on the breakfast table, and the wonderful scent of pine and fir branches, those are what make it feel like Christmas to me. I don’t use scented candles; in our home, it’s the smell of nature filling the living room that signals the season,” she says.

Christmas tree decorations — Gro Anita decorated the Christmas tree with elegant ornaments. More Holiday decorations can be found at Finnish Design Shop.

The Little Petra lounge chair, upholstered in soft sheepskin, creates an inviting knitting spot by the fire.

The small family holds on to its traditions, even though the kids seem to be growing faster than their mother can keep up. Fortunately, none of them have outgrown the weekly Holiday calendar they receive every Saturday or the tradition of Christmas pajamas – a new pair is added every year. The clear highlight of the winter is the big stocking on Christmas Eve. The whole family wakes up early, still in their Christmas pajamas, and opens gifts together in bed.

Gro Anita makes her living by creating atmosphere. She has run the lifestyle shop Mitt Hjem (“My Home”) in Sandefjord since 2001, and she is also co-owner of the agency Woods Agentur. In both roles, she finds joy in inspiring others, and she is known for her strong sense of color and eye for detail. These golden moments are by no means reserved for the Holiday season.

“Interior design is a lifestyle for me. When you work creatively and intuitively, ideas and inspiration flow constantly. I have no off-switch – for better or worse...”

“Everyday life is what matters most. A good cup of coffee, a lit candle. I think it’s important to enjoy yourself all the time, to live in the moment. Don’t wait if you feel like doing something. Brew a good cup of coffee and drink it from your finest cup,” says Gro Anita.

Yes, that cup counts – she admits that freely.

“It’s not embarrassing to own nice things. If you keep waiting to buy what you really want, it might never happen. This is the moment we have, here and now!”

Fredericia Spanish Chair — In front of the fireplace stands Børge Mogensen's classic Spanish Chair from 1958, next to a generous stack of firewood. Above the dining table hangs the Snowball lamp from Louis Poulsen.

Jotun color Olive Brown — The kitchen wall is painted in the color Olive Brown from Jotun.

&Tradition In Between chairs and table, smoked oak — The In Between dining chairs and dining table, both in the smoked oak finish, are from &Tradition. Above the kitchen counter hangs Verner Panton's Flowerpot lamps.

Gro Anita is used to traveling frequently for work, so she’s easily inspired.

“Some of my finest treasures were found on my trips. When I’m spending more time at home, I often feel the urge to bring out those cherished travel memories,” she says, adding that part of successful interior design is about blending the new with the old, the trendy with the personal, and surrounding yourself with memories.

“Place the old brass candlestick you inherited next to something sleek and new. Play with contrasts, both in shape and in material. That’s when it becomes beautiful,” she says.

“My best Christmas memory is probably the Christmas stocking I got when I was a child.”

It’s the same advice she gives her customers. “Sometimes people move into a new apartment and think they have to buy everything new. I always advise against that. Some of the old pieces need to come along. Even though life only moves forward, our things are part of us, and a home should reflect the person who lives in it,” she says.

And then there’s color: “I think we need color more than ever. We spend so much of our time at home, and color helps create worlds of our own. Put together shades you feel work well together, and don’t expect there to be one right answer,” she adds.

Ceiling beams in the bedroom — It was important to maximize space when the bedroom was built and furnished, and Gro Anita wanted to keep the old wooden beams in the ceiling. The green wall is painted with Jotun's color Evergreen.

Louis Poulsen AJ table lamp — The nightstand is &Tradition's Hoof Table and the AJ table lamp is from Louis Poulsen.

Olympus camera — Nature is a major source of inspiration for Gro Anita, and she loves capturing it with her camera.

Galvanized String Outdoor shelves — The veranda has a roof, so the outdoor space is used all year round. The galvanized wall shelves are from the String Outdoor collection. The Bea Mombaers sofa and table are from Serax.

She also draws inspiration from people and, especially, from nature. Often, she gets lost in a beautiful scene and simply has to photograph it. Luckily, her Olympus camera is rarely far away.

“I’m impossible to go on walks with, because I’ll stop at a flower, a butterfly, or a mountainside and spend ages trying to capture its nuances,” Gro Anita says. That’s what happens when you see beauty everywhere!