The Institute of Style X Anna Carin Design

There’s no place like a home designed by the incredible Swedish Interior Designer Anna Carin. 

In this week’s episode of the Institute Of Style, Neale Whitaker speaks with the ever-inspiring Anna Carin McNamara, a Scandinavian-born interior designer, the beauty and the brains behind interior powerhouse Anna Carin Design. 

If you’ve ever flicked through the glossy pages of Elle, House and Garden or Vogue Living or even walked into many of Kikki.K’s Australian stores, you are likely to have been immersed in her fabulous spaces first hand.

With a quintessentially Scandinavian style, Anna-Carin brings stylish, innovative and functional solutions that will stand the test of time and give clients much pleasure and enjoyment for years to come.

There’s something incredibly nurturing and grounding about Anna - Carin's Scandinavian approach to creating a home.

According to Anna-Carin the energy created in our home is the basis for what we take out into the world, so achieving a peaceful, harmonious space is important. And in the transient nature of today’s society, finding an interior designer, like Anna-Carin, who embraces creating sentimental value and evoking a tranquil feeling within your home is the perfect way to reconnect with your true self. 

With a strong focus on sustainability, natural materials and elements Anna-Carin says “We buy too many things we haven’t quite considered, so I believe in acquiring things with that sustainable mindset.” Believing that pieces should be bought once and kept forever, she said: “If you make a piece of furniture then it should last as long as it takes a tree to grow.” 

Anna-Carin focuses on the lifetime value of items, ensuring that true connections can be made with each piece. Anna-Carin suggests asking yourself questions such as - what is the purpose of each of the items - functional or sentimental? What feelings, emotions or memories do they evoke? Why did I choose to put it there?

The answers to these questions help us to create fully multi-generational spaces with purpose and precision. The minimalism, simplicity and functionality of Scandinavian design has really been embraced by many Australians, as we move to create more functional and longer-lasting spaces. It is this trend that has allowed Anna-Carin to experience success in the Australian interior architecture market and will see her continue to grow as an invaluable interior style beacon.