Nordic design in Stockholm – Svenskt Tenn, NK and Nordiska Galleriet

Three addresses in Stockholm tell the story of Swedish design: Estrid Ericson's Svenskt Tenn on Strandvägen, the NK department store on Hamngatan, and Nordiska Galleriet on Nybrogatan. A guide to where to shop for furniture, fabrics and design – and the history behind it.

Swedish design is often associated with simplicity, pale wood and function. But anyone shopping for design in Stockholm quickly discovers that the history is richer than that: Josef Frank's vibrant fabrics, the department stores' own furniture workshops, and an old auction house that became one of the city's largest design shops. Here are three addresses that together tell that story.

Svenskt Tenn – Estrid Ericson and Josef Frank

In October 1924, the thirty-year-old drawing teacher Estrid Ericson from Hjo opened the shop Svenskt Tenn on Smålandsgatan, with the help of the inheritance from her father. Together with the pewter artist Nils Fougstedt, she produced pewter art, and in 1925 they won a gold medal at the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels in Paris. In 1927, the shop moved to Strandvägen, where it remains to this day, and since 1928 Svenskt Tenn has been a purveyor to the Royal Court.

In 1934, the architect Josef Frank was engaged by the company and became its leading designer. Together, Ericson and Frank developed the interior design philosophy for which Svenskt Tenn is known – Frank wrote in 1958 in the magazine Form that we should design our surroundings as if they had arisen by chance. He left behind 2,000 furniture drawings and just over 250 pattern designs, which today form the heart of the company's archive.

Since 1975, Svenskt Tenn has been owned by the Kjell and Märta Beijer Foundation, which promotes scientific research and culture. According to the company, 80 per cent of the range is its own design. Today, Strandvägen 5 houses a shop, an interior design studio and a café.

NK – the department store that redesigned Swedish homes

Nordiska Kompaniet was formed in 1902 through a merger of K. M. Lundberg and Joseph Leja, with the ambition of offering service on a par with the department stores of Paris and London. On 21 September 1915, the new department store on Hamngatan opened, designed by Ferdinand Boberg, "Sweden's leading Art Nouveau architect", with a steel frame behind the granite façade.

NK also has a place in design history. In 1943, Lena Larsson, Elias Svedberg and Erik Worts created TRIVA, a series of self-assembly furniture that was cheaper and more flexible than the department store's previous luxury furniture – an early form of flat-pack design. Since 1964, the round neon sign with the NK logo on one side and a red clock on the other has been turning atop the building, 87 metres above the street.

Nordiska Galleriet – from auction hall to design shop

At Nybrogatan 11, the farmer Anders Andersson built a large property in 1912, where an auction hall opened and sold antique furniture. In 1929, his nephew Carl-Otto Heigard took over and added an art gallery, and in 1933 the company was named Nordiska Galleriet. Today, the shop combines art with designer furniture, and during Stockholm Design Week new works are exhibited here – in 2025 by Axel Wannberg, Sami Kallio and the studio Front, according to Dezeen.

Where to shop for design in Stockholm

The three addresses are close to each other: NK on Hamngatan, Nordiska Galleriet on Nybrogatan and Svenskt Tenn on Strandvägen can all be reached on foot in a morning. See the streets in VERA PI's street files for Hamngatan, Nybrogatan and Strandvägen, and read Street of the week: Nybrogatan in My Stockholm.

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