Kitchen stories: In the home of Rachel La Chenardière
We love visiting our customers’ beautiful homes, and in the second part of Kitchen Stories we visit Rachel La Chenardière (@rachelemilia), her partner Mattias, and their children Edith and Ava in their late 19th-century apartment in Södermalm, Stockholm.
Creating a functional family home in an old apartment often requires creative solutions, something Rachel and her family know well.
When our daughter needed her own room, we had to move the kitchen to another part of the apartment. It gave us the chance to start from scratch in a room with completely different dimensions. The new kitchen was tailored to fit perfectly, and the old one found a new home — the perfect outcome, says Rachel.
I really advocate using existing materials whenever possible, but since the new room had completely different dimensions, we decided to tailor everything from scratch.
We approached the process with open minds and the attitude that “it will be fine no matter what.” The only thing we knew in advance was that we wanted to bring in plenty of light and space, and keep the wall cabinets to a minimum. But when it came time to make decisions, we had completely different proposals on the table. We wanted to create a kitchen with personality that still felt calm and harmonious — and I think we succeeded, says Rachel.
What has been your inspiration?
In terms of style, I find myself in a constant tug-of-war between continental messiness and Scandinavian minimalism. Part of me was inspired by kitchens with open wooden shelves and irregular shapes, where a stain of red wine more or less made no difference — while the other longed for floor-to-ceiling white cabinets. In the end, our kitchen turned out to be a mix of both, which suits us perfectly.
The role of the kitchen has changed as our eldest daughter has grown, and now with another baby, a room that was originally meant to look beautiful and clean at all times has become more of a kitchen to live in. And surely you could call piles of unsorted laundry, spilled gruel, and wilted flowers continental clutter?
Rachel also runs the interior brand Merde Selection, a curious collection of vintage artifacts and one-of-a-kind homeware. Each piece is carefully sourced to make a genuine impression.
See more from Rachels and Mattias beautiful home at @rachelemilia.
