Scandinavian Compact living by Agaton
Fashion designer Filippa Agaton, currently part of the design team at the fashion brand Totême, has moved into her first apartment. With help from her mother, Lotta Agaton—one of Sweden’s most renowned interior designers and stylists—she renovated the space and installed a new Shaker kitchen from Nordiska Kök, specially designed and tailored for the small apartment. We had a chat with both mother and daughter about the successful renovation and the new kitchen.
See more of our Shaker kitchens.
Kitchen by Nordiska Kök, in the home of Totême fashion designer Filippa Agaton. Cleverly planned within a limited space, the kitchen is highly functional, with a full-size fridge and freezer, oven, hob, and dishwasher. The framing around the Shaker cabinets ties in beautifully with the decorative wall panelling.
For Filippa’s home, Lotta Agaton designed a bespoke dining table and two matching benches, creating space for up to ten people to gather and have dinner together.
If you are interested in Scandinavian interior design, you’ve probably heard of Lotta Agaton, the renowned stylist who continues to inspire design lovers year after year with her minimalist aesthetic. Now it’s time for fashion and design enthusiasts to take note of another Agaton — Lotta’s daughter, Filippa — who has quickly established herself as a promising fashion designer. From her debut at Stockholm Fashion Week in 2021, to reaching the finals of Designers’ Nest during Copenhagen Fashion Week in 2022, and now as part of the design team at Totême, she is undoubtedly a creative talent on the rise.
It comes as no surprise, then, that her sense of style extends beyond clothing. Filippa’s apartment is a cosy 30-square-metre home with views over one of Stockholm’s lush parks. Dating back to 1909, the apartment features elegant stucco, large windows, nearly four-metre-high ceilings, original doors, and charming panelled walls. Cleverly planned and mindfully renovated, the home bears the mark of a keen eye for design.
– I’ve been interested in fashion and interior design for as long as I can remember, probably thanks to my equally passionate mother. Ever since I was little, it’s been a dream of mine to create my own home — and it’s been so much fun to finally be able to make that dream come true, says Filippa.
Ahead of the renovation, Filippa collected material samples of what she knew she wanted in the apartment and chose a wall colour to match them. The kitchen then took on a darker tone of the same shade.
The apartment was completely renovated, and in addition to laying new floors and painting the walls and ceilings, a new kitchen from Nordiska Kök was installed. The previous owner had placed the kitchen in the hallway, but Filippa chose to move it into the main space instead, creating space for a proper walk-in closet in the hall.
– Considering her profession, she needed plenty of space for the wardrobe. Moving the kitchen also made the large room more social – a place where you can cook and socialize with your guests at the same time, says Lotta.
Since the apartment consists mainly of one room, it was important to include all the necessary functions and amneties without compromising the overall feel of the space. Filippa also didn’t want to give up comforts such as a double bed or a large dining table. At the same time, she wanted the space to feel light and airy.
– Planning a small apartment is probably always a bit of a puzzle and of course you have to make some compromises to make everything fit. I wanted a large dining table with room for many guests, a proper kitchen and a good wardrobe. So to make it possible, I completely removed things that were less important to me, such as a sofa and TV, Filippa says.
Fashion designer Filippa Agaton, in her home in Stockholm. Display cabinet by Nordiska Kök.
The Vaia water faucet from Dornbracht is actually designed for bathrooms, but as Lotta explains, it’s a smart choice for a smaller kitchen because of its proportions. The worktop is Limestone Thala Grey, while the window sills are in grey marble — the two stones complement each other beautifully.
By choosing not to have any upper cabinets or fittings, the kitchen feels more discreet and becomes a natural part of the room.
Since the building dates back to 1909, Filippa wanted the kitchen to complement the apartment’s historic character. And because the room also holds both a large dining table and a bed, it was important that the kitchen didn’t dominate the space, yet still had room for all the essential functions. Her choice fell on an updated take on a timeless Shaker kitchen — but with a more minimalist design.
– Classic Shaker kitchens with lots of doors and knobs did not quite align with the idea I had of minimising the “kitchen feel”. So we decided that the best solution was to make it as as clean and pared-back as possible – and together, we chose to skip the upper cabinets and use full cabinet fronts on the base units instead, Filippa says.
Since the room is small and also holds a large dining table and a bed, Filippa wanted the kitchen not to feel too much like a kitchen while it still was important to have space for all the functions. By choosing not to have any upper cabinets or fittings, the kitchen feels more discreet and becomes a natural part of the room.
One of Filippa’s concerns was that it might feel like she was “sleeping with her feet in the oven” — since the bed shares the same room as the kitchen. The solution was to hide the oven behind a pocket door in one of the cabinets. Above it, cutlery is neatly stored in solid oak drawers.
The kitchen is neither large nor small, but just right. Fridge and freezer are found in a tall cabinet closest to the entrance to the room and then there is a row of base cabinets hiding waste buckets, dishwasher, oven and storage. Filippa chose to hide the oven behind a pocket lid and to completely avoid handles on the cabinets. Instead there is a servo function that allows you to open all the doors by a gentle touch.
– It is important that a kitchen is functional, so you really have to think about how you cook and what your needs are, it is different for everyone. Maybe you need a lot of bench space or perhaps storage is more important? Says Lotta, who was involved in planning the design.
To get the storage that was needed but still not let the kitchen take over the whole room, the top cabinets were removed and a display cabinet at the dining table instead holds all the glass and crockery. In this way, there is plenty of space to cook and serve large dinners even though the apartment is 30 square meters. Get inspired by display cabinets in the kitchen.
The cabinets are made of white pigmented oak on the inside with solid wooden drawers, which matches nicely with the newly laid parquet. Under the sink there is space for waste sorting and cleaning supplies.
Filippa's apartment has oak on both floors, tables and benches as well as the kitchen frames. The color palette is in beige gray. When working with different tones of the same color, it is important that they pull in the same direction, for example, you should not mix a beige that goes with a green tone with one that goes with a red tone. A great trick if you find it difficult to know what works is to stay within the same color code just as Lotta and Filippa chose to do here.
Since it was important for Filippa to be able to have guests over for dinner, the room was planned in such a way that there is a solid dining table with room for up to ten guests.
– Not having any upper cabinets felt important to make the kitchen look as little as possible like a kitchen. I have room for a pantry and pots under the kitchen counter, but all the crockery and all the glass needed somewhere to go. My grandfather who collects fine glass has always had display cabinets and I like it so much when you see all the glasses even when they are not in use, so a display cabinet felt like the perfect solution! I also like that the same doors and color come again in another place in the apartment, it contributes to the kitchen feeling like a natural part of the room, says Filippa.
Both Filippa and Lotta are very happy with the result and thought it was incredibly fun to work on the project together. The limited space seems to have set the framework around the project which has been challenging in a creative and fun way. Lotta concludes by advising those who are going to decorate a small kitchen to think about functions and not to hold back when it comes to material selection.
– When you decorate a small apartment, you often use the cheapest alternatives and material choices, but when it is such a small area, it is usually not so much more expensive to go for the best instead. You can buy extra nice switches when only three are needed, the same applies to floors – when it comes to 30 square meters, it does not make that much of a difference.
Photo: Kristofer Johnsson
Styling: Lotta Agaton
In the home of: Filippa Agaton
About Filippa Agaton
Filippa Agaton is a Swedish fashion designer. In 2021, after graduating from Beckmans College of Design, Filippa made her debut at Stockholm Fashion Week and received the SFW New Talent Diploma for her graduation collection. A year later, she competed in Designers’ Nest during Copenhagen Fashion Week 2022, where she got to present her pieces for an international audience. Since 2020 Filippa has worked as a fashion designer at the acclaimed Swedish brand Totême.
What is compact living?
Compact living is about making the most of limited space while maintaining a sense of comfort, style and functionality. It’s a way of designing homes that focus on quality over quantity — where every detail has a purpose and every square metre works hard. The goal is to create a home that feels spacious, harmonious and personal, no matter its size.
How can you design a kitchen for compact living?
In a small home, the kitchen often shares space with dining or living areas. Smart design solutions can make it both practical and inviting. Integrated appliances, clean lines and cohesive materials help the kitchen blend seamlessly into the rest of the room. Removing upper cabinets, choosing lighter colours and using multi-functional furniture all help open up the space while keeping it highly functional.
All kitchens from Nordiska Kök are available in any color and are completely adapted to the customer's wishes, all to create a site-built feeling without compromising on either design or function.
See all our Shaker kitchens.
