For the last year I lived with my wife in Sweden while she finished her master’s degree. With her graduation behind us, our little family has finally moved back to The States. As I close this chapter, I reflect on my time abroad.

While I lived there, I practiced design. In-between looking for work, sightseeing and making friends, I found the time to build my skills. My designs from this time drew heavily from the place that I lived and the people I lived with. As such, before I talk about what I made, I think it’s important to describe where I did it.

Cover Photo: Me in Sweden with the Tycho Brahe observatory in the background.

In Sweden

My wife and I lived in the Swedish countryside, in an antique building. Only a few years prior, it had been home to a florist’s school, “Blomsterskola” in Swedish. After the school closed down the building was sold to a developer who built apartments into the best parts of the property and converted the leftovers into self-storage. Some units were built into classrooms, ours was a piece of the old owners living quarters. The walls of our room were decorated with murals of flowers and intricately painted grisaille molding.

Me in front of the sign for the (now closed) florist’s school.

Surrounding the old school building were gardens. At their peak, the gardens were something of a local attraction. When the school closed down, everything was liquidated. Flowers were dug up, statues were hauled away, and what was left fallowed. After only a few years the gardens had fallen into ruin.

Before and after the garden fell into ruin.

Designs

I developed seven different projects in Sweden. Each has a story of its own and a blog post to match (blog posts are a work in progress). In each post I showcase the design, show how I made it, and explain its connection to people and place.

Goodbye and Hello

After my wife graduated, we packed our bags, said our goodbyes, and flew home. It was bittersweet to leave Sweden behind. While my time there was deeply meaningful, I missed home. Now that I’m back in the states, I’m looking forward to opening my next chapter.

A cloud with a golden lining as the sun sets over Sweden.