If you’re hunting for the best of Swedish design in Stockholm, you’re effectively choosing between two worlds: the classic, storied grandeur of Östermalm and the creative, experimental spirit of Södermalm. Which district you prioritize depends on what you’re after: whether that’s a legacy piece built to last a century, or a contemporary object that captures the mood of modern Scandinavia.
Östermalm is the home of Stockholm’s legacy design houses, establishments that have defined the Swedish aesthetic for over a century. A visit here is an essential lesson in how Swedish design found its form. The collections are investment-grade; expect substantial furniture and premium decor that reflect the district’s upscale character. Treat these showrooms as you would a gallery; even if you aren’t in the market for a centerpiece, the opportunity to study the craftsmanship and composition of these iconic pieces is an inspiring experience in its own right.
If Östermalm is where Swedish design honors its heritage, Södermalm is where it tests its limits. This district pulses with a distinctively independent energy; it is the home of lifestyle boutiques, experimental studios, and concept shops where the lines between fashion, home, and art often blur. While you’ll certainly find smaller, giftable design pieces here, you’ll also encounter the next generation of Swedish makers. This is the district to explore if you want to understand the modern, eclectic side of the city – a neighborhood where design is lived in, mixed, and constantly evolving.
To see Stockholm’s full design landscape, you shouldn’t view these two districts as separate shopping options, but as two halves of a single, ongoing conversation. Östermalm provides the historical foundation and the master-crafted legacy that built the city’s reputation, while Södermalm reveals where that conversation is heading next. Spend an afternoon in each, and you won’t just see the products; you’ll understand the trajectory of Swedish design.
The heritage design houses at Östermalm
These three establishments form the core of Swedish design heritage, all within a compact 15-minute walk of one another. Treat these showrooms as you would an art gallery; the experience lies as much in the curation, history, and craftsmanship on display as it does in the objects themselves. Whether you are scouting for a significant investment piece to anchor a room or simply want to study the evolution of Swedish form, from intricate textiles to master-crafted woodwork, these spaces provide an unfiltered, tactile view of the country’s design legacy.
Svenskt Tenn
A landmark showroom offering an immersive look at Josef Frank’s vibrant, world-renowned textile designs.
Svenskt Tenn opened in 1924 and moved into its current premises on Strandvägen three years later, in a building designed by architect Uno Åhrén. The store is arranged as a series of furnished rooms rather than shelves: a living room, a conservatory, a workspace, and a dining setup with table linens and porcelain laid out as if for a meal.
The reason people travel here specifically is Josef Frank, the Austrian-born architect who left more than 160 textile designs exclusively to Svenskt Tenn, many of which are still printed from the original screens. His prints are densely layered botanical scenes, climbing vines, fruit, and imagined flowers in saturated color combinations that don’t resemble the pared-back palette often associated with Swedish design. Founder Estrid Ericson’s own elephant print, from the same era, serves as a smaller, quieter counterpoint.
Textiles are sold by the meter, meaning you can leave with a length of fabric just as easily as a statement piece of furniture. There’s a café on the upper floor for a lighter stop before or after.
Who this is for: Anyone curious about the origins of Swedish textile design, and those willing to invest in a single, heritage-defining object rather than an entire room.
Who this isn’t for: Anyone seeking quick, inexpensive souvenirs. While you can find smaller items, this is a premium destination where the value lies in the legacy and the craft.
Getting there: About a 10-minute walk from Östermalmstorg (red line), or a 20-minute walk from T-Centralen.
Malmstenbutiken
A tribute to Swedish woodwork, prioritizing timeless craft and comfort over fleeting functionalist trends.
Carl Malmsten opened his first furniture store on Strandvägen in the autumn of 1940, two floors below his own architecture office. He built his reputation in direct opposition to the functionalist movement that was reshaping Swedish design at the time, arguing that stripping a home down to its function ignored what a home was actually for. The store stayed on Strandvägen for eight decades before moving to Humlegårdsgatan in 2021, a few doors from Olofskolan, the workshop-school Malmsten opened in 1930. Current CEO Jessika Hyltner has called the move “a return to our origins.”
The shop carries the full range of Malmsten’s furniture still in production, alongside a curated selection of other contemporary Swedish makers. Named pieces worth looking for include the Berlin sofa, the Häggbom armchair upholstered in tartan, and the Farmor armchair in a Morris-designed cretonne print. The bestseller, by the shop’s own account, isn’t a piece of furniture at all: it’s a lampshade with pressed plants set into the material, a design that dates back to the 1950s.
Who this is for: People interested in Swedish joinery and craft traditions, and in furniture built to be handed down rather than replaced.
Who this isn’t for: Anyone shopping for travel-friendly souvenirs. This is a destination for serious interior design, not for filling a suitcase.
Getting there: Humlegårdsgatan 13, about a 10-minute walk from Östermalmstorg (red line), and roughly the same distance from Svenskt Tenn, making the two easy to combine.
Nordiska Galleriet
A grand, checkered-floor showroom blending home-grown Swedish pieces with the best of Italian and international design.
The showroom mixes Italian brands like Cassina, B&B Italia, and Flexform with Scandinavian and international names including Artek, Carl Hansen & Søn, Fritz Hansen, and Vitra, alongside the store’s own NO GA Studio collection. The ground level is defined by a striking checkered floor that has become a signature of the space. There’s a free in-house interior design consultation available to anyone who asks.
The building began as an auction hall in 1912 and transformed into a combined art gallery and furniture store in 1929 under Carl-Otto Heigard; the name Nordiska Galleriet was officially registered in 1933. Heigard’s son introduced Danish design in the 1940s and 50s, bringing in Finn Juhl and Nanna Ditzel. The store expanded its reach to Italian producers in the 1960s, a relationship that continues to shape the showroom’s aesthetic today.
Who this is for: Visitors who want to see Swedish and Nordic furniture placed directly against its international competition, making this a useful comparison stop even for pieces you might purchase elsewhere.
Who this isn’t for: Design purists seeking an exclusively Swedish aesthetic. While you will find plenty of Nordic pieces, the showroom’s identity is defined by its global, cosmopolitan blend.
Getting there: Nybrogatan 11, about a 10-minute walk from Östermalmstorg (red line), and roughly 5 minutes from Svenskt Tenn.
Taken together, the three cover more than a century of Swedish furniture and textile history within a fifteen-minute loop, from Malmsten’s craft-first argument against functionalism to Nordiska Galleriet’s postwar embrace of Danish and Italian modernism.
The contemporary scene at Södermalm
Where Östermalm honors the permanence of the master-crafted legacy, Södermalm is defined by its fluid, evolving energy. This is a district for lifestyle-driven design: shops that act as extensions of the home, often blending interior objects with apparel, independent media, and experimental aesthetics.
The focus here is less on traditional, room-anchoring furniture and more on the objects that define day-to-day living: thoughtful organization, small-batch craftsmanship, and concepts that prioritize modern, approachable utility. It is an area that rewards curiosity; you are as likely to find a unique, locally designed gift as you are to discover a new approach to how we live today.
Designtorget
A rotating showcase of small-batch, independent Nordic products designed for modern, everyday living.
Designtorget’s original format had the designers themselves working the shop floor, selling and explaining their own products directly to customers. That idea has recently been revived under the name Designtorget Sessions, recurring evenings where a designer talks through their process; the first paired the store with watchmaker TID Watches. The everyday version of the concept is quieter: shelves of small-batch, gift-scale objects from independent Nordic designers, with stock that rotates often enough that two visits rarely look the same.
Stockholm currently has three locations: Götgatan 31 in Södermalm, Sergelgatan 20 near Sergels torg, and a stall inside Centralhallen at Stockholm Central Station, useful as a last stop before a train.
Who this is for: Anyone looking for clever, well-designed home solutions, thoughtful gifts, and items that highlight the independent Swedish design scene.
Who this isn’t for: Those in search of large-scale, traditional furniture or high-end luxury goods. This is a destination for accessible, utilitarian innovation, not for grand statement interiors.
Getting there: Götgatan 31, close to Slussen and Medborgarplatsen (red or green line); Sergelgatan and the Centralhallen location are both within a few minutes of T-Centralen.
Granit
A go-to for functional, minimalist organization and clean-lined everyday essentials.
The range covers storage in paper, porcelain, plastic, and wicker, alongside glassware, kitchen and bathroom items, office supplies, textiles, and spices. The palette across every branch stays deliberately narrow: black, white, grey, and natural materials. Stockholm has several branches beyond Götgatan, including St Eriksgatan, Kungsgatan, Humlegårdsgatan, and Hornstull.
Granit started with two friends, Anett Jorméus and Susanne Liljenberg, who were raising small children and wanted their homes to run with less clutter and less effort. They opened the first store on Götgatan in May 1997, built entirely around storage and function, and have since expanded into Norway, Finland, and Germany.
Who this is for: Visitors who want functional, well-made everyday objects at affordable prices, and who prefer functional items.
Who this isn’t for: anyone chasing something one-of-a-kind. The point of Granit is that the same clean storage box is available at every branch, and they keep a simple design.
Getting there: Multiple Stockholm locations, including Götgatan 31. The Götgatan store is close to Slussen (red or green line) and Medborgarplatsen (green line), both a short walk.
Grandpa
A neighborhood lifestyle shop where Scandinavian apparel meets curated, eclectic home interior finds.
Grandpa opened in SoFo, the small pocket of Södermalm south of Folkungagatan, in November 2003, and has grown from a single room into a larger space without losing its neighborhood footing. It isn’t a design shop in the strict sense: clothing from Scandinavian labels, vintage pieces, jewelry, and books share the ground floor, while home and interior objects tend to sit downstairs. The company now runs four concept stores in total, in Gothenburg, Malmö, and two in Stockholm.
Who this is for: Visitors who want Swedish design mixed into an actual lifestyle shop, and who like browsing without a specific list.
Who this isn’t for: Anyone who wants furniture or textiles as the sole focus. Design objects here compete for shelf space with clothing and books rather than standing alone.
Getting there: Södermannagatan 21, about a 6-minute walk from Medborgarplatsen (green line).
Together, Designtorget, Granit, and Grandpa offer a portrait of Stockholm’s current design pulse. If Östermalm looks to the master-crafted past to define its quality, Södermalm looks to the everyday to define its utility. While the shopping here is more accessible, the true value lies in the shift of perspective: you are moving from the monumental to the modular, and from the legacy showroom to the lifestyle concept. By pairing an afternoon in each district, you aren’t just shopping for objects; you are tracing the full arc of Swedish design, from the traditions that built the city’s reputation to the experimental ideas currently reshaping its future.
