Where In The World

Creating design with a narrative is paramount to husband and wife team Staffan and Monique Tollgård. Staffan shares the couple's favourite home and away haunts with Abode2

The best souvenirs we’ve brought home? 

The Jade inukshuk we brought home from Canada. We have a collection of green stone that started when Monique’s grandparents gave us a sculpture as a wedding present. The inukshuk is a man-made collection of stones used by the Inuit as a way of navigating or marking the landscape. It looks very human, is beautifully tactile and is one of the nicest words in any language I’ve ever come across to say. It sits in our glass cabinet next to the leopard-stone head, gently reminding us of the path home and the importance of family.

City pad or country pile? 

It used to be city pad for sure, but now I wouldn’t trade our home in the countryside for any penthouse in the world. The drive home is a buffer zone between work and a greener life. When I get to the trees I breathe more easily.

Style trend you’d like to bring back? 

I don’t believe in trends. If the style is right for the person, architecture, and setting, it is right. Rather than look to the past, we prefer to search the present to find classics of the future.

The place that keeps drawing me back?

The Alps. Specifically, Val d’Isère. Monique and I love skiing and it’s amazing to have the best ski resort in the world just on our doorstep in Europe. I spent a season in Val in the 90s, and we’ve worked out that Monique was there at the same time. We must have nearly crossed paths so many times. We have been back every season for the past 23 years together.

Best global getaway for design inspiration? 

Japan. The use of space and the way of keeping things functional and clean without being cold is something I connect with. The island nation has inspired my latest collection for Gallotti & Radice, SENSEI. Bridging Italian, Scandinavian and Japanese design cultures together, it draws areal thread between rigour, versatility and functionalism.

www.tollgard.com