Small cottage with a rustic interior in Norway. Cottage in Norway. Main features and style elements

Ah, Sweden is an amazing country where funny fat Carlson flies in the sky! Magnificent ancient architecture, picturesque nature, cozy houses, as if straight out of a fairy tale illustration – no wonder Sweden is so popular among tourists!

Imagine, you are rushing in a car along a rural road, and fields, forests, cozy villages, cute houses painted red fly past you... Wait, why is a typical Swedish house everything? country houses! – painted red?! Surprising, but it's a fact! Well, let's look into the secrets of history...

Brick or wood?!

Until the 18th century, Sweden was a rather poor country, so houses were built from cheap wood. Brick has always been considered expensive material, so not every peasant could afford to build luxury home. In order not to look like poor people in the eyes of travelers, resourceful residents resorted to a little trick and began to paint the facades of their houses in a red brick shade!

Swedes consider poverty a sign of laziness, and although the country has long occupied a worthy place in the world economy, the habit of painting houses in a terracotta shade has remained, and the paint itself has become a symbol of wealth and family well-being.

In those areas of Sweden where timber supply was rather scarce, half-timbered houses were erected - frame-and-beam houses made of inclined sections with characteristic wall cladding. Danish, Swedish, scandinavian house – all of them were performed in uniform style and using the same technology. Everyone is familiar with white houses with sloping dark beams. When you look at them, you feel like you are in a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen and the Snow Queen’s ice sleigh is about to roll out around the corner.

A modern Swedish-style home can have a façade of any color, but if you want to maximize the atmosphere of a Swedish village, opt for a brick shade and white trim.

Secret composition

But the amazing legends about red paint don’t end there. Sweden's neighbor is Denmark, whose residents were the first to paint houses red in anticipation of the arrival of royalty and nobility. The Swedes adopted this tradition.

By the way, amazing fact: houses are painted only one shade of red, which is called falu rödfög - falu rödfög. The name of this paint is patented, and the manufacturing secret is protected by the state. It is only known that copper residues, minerals, starch, water, linseed oil and rye flour.

Previously, copper was mined nearby in a mine in the city of Falun. Now the mine is closed for development, but guests of Sweden are happy to go there on excursions and listen ancient legends about regular red paint.

Friends, hello! This is a photo post from a series of articles about life and everyday life in different countries. I already wrote once about life in Holland, I also showed how the Armenians live, and today we will go to visit the Norwegians and see how people live in Norway - one of the most expensive countries peace!

House in Norway No. 1. In the mountains.

It so happened that during a summer trip to Norway our driver was the charming Norwegian Truls. A wonderful person who worked as an ambulance driver in the city of Ålesund for more than 20 years, and now earns extra money by driving tourists.

Visit Norwegian house was not included in the program of our blog tour, but Truls was kind enough to invite us to look into his nice, cozy Scandinavian house at the foot of the mountains in the village of Gaupna.

Truls' house in Norway

The Norwegian village of Gaupna is small, and the houses are generally built in the same style with a predominance of light and bright colors. This is perhaps a typical picture of how they live in.

Norwegians love flowers, so Truls, like many others, has roses and other flowers and bushes growing in his yard. Norwegian houses:

People in Norway are friendly and easy to get along with. Smiling Truls invites us to visit:

Let's take a look at Norwegian house and see how people live. On the ground floor there is a kitchen, living room with fireplace and dining room. I really fell in love with these blue curtains and white chairs.

The house is small, but very clean and cozy. We go up to the second floor, there is something like another small living room:

The windows have sheer curtains, not curtains:

Also on the second floor is the bedroom of Truls and his wife:

The children have grown up and do not live at home, but their bedroom remains untouched, and the height front door in the nursery it hardly reaches 1 meter. Room in a house in Norway:

In the corners you can find very interesting details that complement the interior:

House in Norway No. 2. In the city.

Thanks to the same Truls, who seems to know a good half of the country’s population, I had the opportunity to visit a very unusual houses Norwegians, this time in a city that survived several fires and was completely rebuilt in 1904-1905.

These houses were brought to Ålesund 200 years ago from a Norwegian village, and since then they have stood untouched on the property of Ivar and Anna-Maria Voldsdal. If you are a simple tourist, you can only see the houses from afar

But thanks to great connections we got to private territory to admire the unusual home up close and meet the owners:

I thought that there was someone’s grave on the property, but the owners assured me that the stone in the photo below was there just for beauty:

I think I’ve already written about grass on roofs in Norway, but I’ll repeat it anyway.

In Norway, birch bark has long been popular as a material for waterproofing. She was laid outer side down, and the top was covered with a thick layer of turf to secure the birch bark and insulate the roof. The turf was laid directly with the grass - it’s warmer. This is why grass on the roof is a common practice in Norwegian homes.

To care for the roof, even in our time goats are often put on the roof, which during the day carefully “cut the grass” with their teeth, after which they descend to the ground. Anna-Maria, the owner of the house, admitted that they don’t keep goats and don’t take care of the grass.

Cozy courtyard Scandinavian house:

There is a music studio in the guest house (the owner of the house plays in a rock band).

3 interesting facts about Norwegians:

1. For Norwegians, it is considered quite logical to study abroad, travel, live in megacities such as Tokyo or New York, and then return to their village, marry a neighbor and spend the rest of their lives in locality, consisting of several dozen houses in the Norwegian mountains.

2. Young people in Norway are not eager to work. Many live on unemployment benefits (which can be about $1,500) and go to look for themselves in Southeast Asia and other regions where this very allowance is quite enough for a comfortable existence and the search for truth.

3. The older generation of Norwegians, on the contrary, love and want to work. The retirement age in Norway for both women and men is 67 years, but if desired, a person can remain at work until the age of 70.

My vacation in Norway took place at the invitation of the Tourism Council at the Norwegian Embassy in the Russian Federation, for which I thank them very much! More information about Norway can be found at Visitnorway.com

Last week, a Norwegian couple had an extravagant wedding that was covered by every news agency in the world. The celebration took place in the lighthouse building: the 79-year-old groom appeared before his 65-year-old bride, having sailed about a kilometer through the stormy sea. In addition to enviable health, the man has retained an excellent sense of humor in his years: “We agreed: if I’m ready to say “yes,” I’ll swim to the shore. If “no,” I’ll go to the open sea...”

This story fits perfectly with the post about the life of Norwegians. Indeed, these are healthy and energetic people who take care of themselves and their home, respect each other and honor traditions. Our guide Ekaterina, who has been married to a Norwegian for 17 years, kindly invited us to visit her. In their old house, once upon a time there was an inn where travelers stopped for the night. To this day they preserve the atmosphere of Scandinavian history in every detail. With their consent, I want to publish photographs of the house and tell a little about how Norwegians live...

Ekaterina is a very hospitable hostess. After leaving us at the Kon-Tiki Museum, she went home and prepared lunch for us. Living room:

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A mirror framed with a collar reminds of the inn:

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In some places Russian motifs pop up in the interior of the house:

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Magnets:

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Cozy veranda for receiving guests:

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In the courtyard there is a small children's area with swings and a net:

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The stuffed animal somehow resembled a stubborn fox:

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By the way, guess what it is. In Russian folk tradition There is also such an item, but it looks a little different. Write your answers in the comments:

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Many interior items are made by hand. For example, an old basket turns into an authentic chandelier:

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Husband's office. He is an avid hunter, so there are a lot of weapons in the room (and throughout the house). Catherine says that on the first day after the wedding, she found a loaded pistol on her husband’s pillow. According to tradition, newlyweds should shoot immediately after the first night:

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A narrow staircase leads to the second floor. Instead of wallpaper there are copies of posters and newspapers. Looks original:

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Catherine's diplomas and certificates. In order to become a guide, you need to get a bunch of these pieces of paper:

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Exhibition of old pistols and pre-revolutionary bonds:

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In front of the bedroom is a small but very cozy living room:

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Some more details:

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The Oslo Guide badge, which is mandatory for official guides. By the way, I haven’t called for a hundred years home phone. I wonder if there are still people who use stationary devices?

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What else should I add? Norwegians are hunters and ski lovers. Both are extremely popular. There is complete equality between a man and a woman. In general, women are not considered the “weaker sex” and are not given any special concessions. The tradition of “everyone pays for himself” is the order of the day here.

If you have anything to add about Norwegians, write in the comments!

Many of the site users have heard that building a Norwegian house first of all means building housing according to national Norwegian traditions, multiplied by the optimal combination of price and quality. And when the phrase “Norwegian houses” is mentioned, the imagination pictures massive log-carriages with memorable locks in Norwegian style. This is not entirely true. After reading our article, you will learn:

• What is it - building a house in Norwegian style;
• How to build a Norwegian house;
• What are houses built from in Norway?
• How does heating work in a Norwegian house?

What is a Norwegian house

The magical phrase “house in Norwegian” means the opportunity to live in your own own home in maximum unity with nature, but have all the benefits of civilization.

In Norway, in 1972, the Council of Ministers decided not to develop construction multi-storey buildings. And instead of cramped concrete high-rise buildings, concentrate the main efforts on the construction of private houses or townhouses.

The benefits of this approach to house building are obvious - a private house does not require the construction of huge thermal power plants and the connection of utility networks. It is in this kind of national approach that the answer lies to why private housing construction is so developed in Norway.

Norwegian house building is more of a philosophy than a technology. As mentioned above, contrary to popular belief, traditional log buildings from gun carriages are not built very often. The bulk of the buildings are frames. And log houses, paying tribute to the past, are mainly used for our usual dachas and for going out with the family into nature - just like in Moscow.

There are two categories of houses in Norway: for permanent residence and for relaxation in the mountains. Some Norwegian cottages look like full-fledged houses for year-round use, they have one characteristic feature- flagpole with pennant.

In a special section of our forum you can learn about choosing a contractor for construction

Despite the fact that electricity is ubiquitous in Norway, some owners of log cottages deliberately refuse to supply electricity.

This is due to the fact that Norwegians tend to be alone with nature during their weekend holidays.

And sometimes, to recreate the atmosphere of antiquity as much as possible, wood stoves and oil lamps are used during relaxation.

In those buildings to which, for one reason or another, it is impossible to supply electricity or is very expensive - the home is located high in the mountains, Norwegians install autonomous sources of electricity - solar panels. And for cooking they use imported gas in cylinders.

In Norway, large and very expensive cottages are not usually built, since it is not customary for local residents to flaunt their wealth.

The average area of ​​houses in Norway is between 160 and 200 m2. Since the Norwegians are famous for their frugality, they rightly believe that a relatively small cottage is more profitable to operate.

If there is a large income, the Norwegian homeowner will prefer not to build huge mansions or castles, but to invest money in a design project for a modern and stylish home.

Norwegian frame

Also in Norway they practically do not build stone houses, preferring frame houses. In addition to low insurance, frame houses They perform much better in the rather cool Norwegian climate, allowing you to heat your home with great savings.

The construction of any frame begins with laying the foundation. But there are some here local peculiarities. In Norway, the main types of foundations are USP and shallow foundations strip foundation with floors on the ground, since the Norwegians believe that such foundations are best suited for frame frames, increasing their heat capacity and energy efficiency.

The standard for a frame in Norway is a 20 cm layer of insulation in the walls, but to create an energy-efficient or so-called passive house, the insulation layer is increased to 40 cm.

The walls of most Norwegian homes are finished with unplaned boards, which are then painted in several layers. The Norwegians found that unplaned wood, unlike planed wood, absorbs paint better and is much better able to withstand adverse weather factors - snow, wind and rain. The main colors for painting the walls of a Norwegian house are ocher, white, brown and black.

The cladding of the walls of a Norwegian house is done either horizontally, the so-called ship type, or vertically, the barrel type cladding.

Natural materials are mainly used as roofing. construction material – ceramic tiles and metal tiles. Contrary to popular belief, wooden roof in Norway it is used as rarely as flexible tiles.

Most of the roofs of Norwegian houses are made of black metal tiles. That's whythe roof warms up better and the snow melts off it faster.

Traditional Norwegian green roof, mainly found on holiday homes or tourist accommodations.

How do they heat houses in Norway?

Heating in this cool region has to be given great importance, but it is arranged on a completely different principle than ours. Heating in Norway is mainly electric convectors and heated electric floors.
Norwegians like to warm themselves with potbelly stoves.

Additionally, Norwegians can heat their homes by simply wood stove, most often called a potbelly stove.

In Scandinavian countries, due to the high cost of gas heating, it is very popular to heat houses with wood.

Join the hot discussion on our forum about how to get cheap

In conclusion, it is worth saying a few words about the interior of a Norwegian house. Since rooms, in the Norwegian understanding, are a continuation of the nature around them, then living rooms are trying to do panoramic windows, devoid of bindings and the largest possible size, so that while sitting in the living room you can feel like a part of nature.

Also in Norway, as in other European countries, there are practically no high and solid fences that are familiar to us.

If necessary, because of the nearby road, Norwegians can build a fence from a low picket fence, or, if it is necessary to hide the house from prying eyes, a green hedge is planted.

And one more interesting feature of local construction: it is customary to erect beautiful outbuildings here.

This is not a well-preserved ancient building or summer house made antique E that's a change house in Norwegian!

There is a topic on our forum with detailed coverage of all stages of building a house. Watch the video about a complex made from alternative energy sources to