Gustav, Jan & Astrid

With Gustav, Jan & Astrid, we revisit a distinctly Swedish design tradition—where gustavian ornament, folkloric elements, and stencil printing coexisted across both class and countryside. From manor house parlours to rural cabins, walls carried a visual language shaped by repetition, handcraft, and subtle variation.

We take our starting point in gustaviansk simplicity—the restrained Swedish neoclassicism of the late 18th century—but allow it to dissolve gently into folk memory. Think Madicken’s bedroom wallpaper, or something glimpsed in a hallway in Bullerbyn. Each pattern carries traces of nobility—and of how that nobility was interpreted by the common hand.

What binds the collection together is our use of stencil logic—but with a Linlava intervention: variation i varje våd. Each form is repeated, but never identical.

We treat the stencil not as an end, but as a starting point.

We ask: what if each ornament were applied again and again by hand, with shifts in angle, paint load, or even interpretation?

At Linlava, we’re not imitating tradition—we’re extending it. Through layered textures, imperfect repetition, and historically grounded forms, Gustav, Jan & Astrid becomes a study in how memory, hand, and ornament can shape a new kind of room.