×

GRANIT is the Swedish Design Boutique Berlin’s Been Waiting For

By Allison Krupp . May 5, 2017

Downtown Mitte Swedish boutique, GRANIT, takes home decor to a heavenly level.

Soft, grey light’s shimmering in from the wide-open doorway and the floor-to-ceiling windows. The music’s systematic, the beat becoming your very heartbeat, and the smells natural—akin to a specialty craftsman shop. The smell that reminds you you’re there to better something. Your home. Your world. Yourself.

Petter, the salesworker, is electric, bouncing from shopper to shopper and maintaining this gorgeous ecosystem: glittering jars, all in a line, brown paper packages holding chocolates and almonds, plants that seem almost too green–as if grown in a rainforest far from the dead eyes of Berlin. He spells his name for me, first, (two ts, very Swedish) then informs me he’s been involved with GRANIT since 2008. He lives and breathes the simplistic design that GRANIT upholds.

“Simplify your life. Make time to live.” — Linda Åkeson, GRANIT designer. 

Funny when you grow up. You start seeing the beauty in what your parents had on-hand. Mason jars. Crates. Brown paper sacks, set out for recycling. That overnight bag that’s lasted 28 years and counting. Similarly, the Swedes are constantly hunting for ways to make life and its gritty processes simple, soft. And GRANIT is fertile ground.

“The long winters certainly affected us [Swedes]. Back then, we could add a little extra love to our everyday items and furniture. There’s an incredibly rich tradition of craftsmanship in every object, if you look into older homes. We hope this amazing craft will be preserved and appreciated more in the future, even though we are used to much faster consumption.” —Linda Åkeson.

The style exists in the contrasts: black versus white. Toying with light and shadow. Faced with many months of darkness, the Swedes carved a feeling of home, of hope, of ease from the rain. And there’s no question that they’ve mastered something we, here in Germany, covet. Thank God it’s finally here.

GRANIT
Rosenthaler Str.
10119 Berlin

[chimpy_form]

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close