One of the world’s most sought-after interior designers, Beata Heuman is known for creating fantastical, character-filled spaces that seem to belong to worlds of their own. But the roots of her singular imagination lie in the Swedish countryside where she grew up. For our latest Vogue Scandinavia Living cover, Heuman returns to her childhood farm Sireköpinge säteri in Skåne to open the doors to her family’s deeply personal summer home – and reveal how the place that shaped her continues to inspire everything she does
“I’ve never seen a ghost,” Beata Heuman says with the same nonchalance as someone expressing they’ve never tried sushi. “In a way, I don’t know if I believe that they exist,” she continues, adding with a chuckle, “but I’m still scared of them.”
We’re not talking about ghosts because one is haunting a house the renowned London-based, Swedish interior designer is currently working on. We’re talking about books, specifically those of Swedish author Maria Gripe (if you grew up in the Nordics, chances are you had her dark fairytales and supernatural mysteries like The Glassblower’s Children and Agnes Cecilia on your nightstand). Heuman has recently started reading Gripe’s captivating tales, often populated by ghosts and other mythic creatures, to her two daughters, Gurli and Alma, which has stirred her own childhood memories of getting lost in these novels – one of her favourite pastimes growing up in the Swedish countryside. “I actually think it’s dawning on me now, re-reading these books with my children, how much to this day I’m still thinking about her stories,” she smiles.
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Lace shirt, €210, Skirt, €195. Both OpéraSPORT. Sunglasses, Rubber boots. Both Beata’s own. Photo: Andrea Papini