My personal style signifier is...

Calmness. I do think that an interior is a kind of portrait & my mix of furniture and objects are all part of the story I want to tell - & that gives me peace of mind. I love & need stillness!.

What attracts me to a place is…

…history, nature, gardens...the smell of changing seasons! I think that comes from my childhood memories of picking flowers & bringing them home to my loved ones.

The last place I went & loved was...

…wonderful ‘work-cation’ at my friend Sonia Lage Santiago’s place in the East Algarve - Villa Lage. The Villa is located in a beautiful plot of land in the back of Ria Formosa. We enjoyed walks at the sea, picked up oysters for our al fresco dinner in the garden. All the perfume from the trees & flowers & the sea -makes this place a true paradise Just being, resting, reading, walking our dogs....what a joy that was. We also had time for work, making mood boards & selecting colours, fabrics, lamps, etc moving around furniture in the different rooms & making Sonia’s collection of items come to life.

When I'm travelling I love collecting.....

Ceramics, vases, artbooks, catalogues, textiles, & soap even just for the beautiful wrappings.

An object that I found on holiday & treasure is...

I treasure my grandmothers’ tablecloth that she always had with her on our holidays to Greece & Italy when I was a boy. It was a ritual to have rosehip tea & ginger cookies when we first arrived at our hotel room....unpacking & planning our tours for the stay.

If I could travel to any time or era in Portugal, I often think about the time when…

…some years back, my husband Johan & I had a wonderful dinner at Casa de Chá Boa Nova when we visited Porto. It was a dream come true to visit this ”Gesamtkunstwerk” by Álvaro Siza. Would have loved to invite Amalia Rodrigues here for an afternoon tea in the late 1960s. Maybe we could listen to some of her famous recordings next to the fireplace overlooking the ocean. I would have asked her about her trips to Rio de Janeiro & Paris....looking through photos & shared memories.

If money was no object, my dream home or holiday home in Portugal would be...

I know that Johan loves the ocean, so maybe a small cabana at Costa da Caparica so we could step out onto the sand each morning. But really, I already have my dream home here in Lisbon, close to the park & gardens of Principe Real.

The artists & designers whose work I would fill it with would be...

Portuguese vintage furniture & lamps from Yoyo Objects. Alvor Casa da Música Chairs by Daciano da Costa & more chairs by Lina bo Bardi. Paintings by Lasar Segall & Mauricio Nogueira that bring memories from our years spent in Brazil & arts & crafts from A Vida Portuguesa or Depozito in Lisbon.

I prefer to stay in a hotel when I'm traveling because...

I like the comfort of a good bed with linen & a bathroom with a nice shower or bathtub.

No holiday hotel room is complete without...

Fresh cut flowers, in season. I prefer to find a market or local flower shop & bring a bunch or single stem back to our room to enjoy during our stay.

The one book I return to when I’m travelling is...

I usually listen to Swedish singer Rebecka Törnqvist’s record - Travel Like in Songs to get me in the mood for exploring & I read Karen Blixen’s Anecdotes of Destiny- my favourite book by my favourite storyteller.

Where is home for you?

Where I have my loved ones - Johan my husband & our dog Olga. We now live part-time in Lisbon, close to the Botanical Garden in Principe Real, & we also have a home in the centre of Copenhagen after calling Stockholm home for almost 30 years.

The best thing about coming home after a holiday is...

Preparing a nice lunch on our terrace & planning the next one.