A good year for Bonnier

Sköna Hem is one of Sweden’s oldest interior decorating magazines. The magazine started in 1979, and has a circulation of 92,600 (TS Full Year 2008), with 430,000 readers total (Orvesto Consumer Full Year 2008). Last Thursday, they celebrated their 30th anniversary at Le Bon Palais in Stockholm, with 250 invited guests – a mix of editorial staff, advertisers, freelancers, old employees, decorators, designers and other professionals. It was a double-event – in addition to the 30th anniversary celebration, Sköna Hem gave their Furniture of the Year Award to designer Anna von Schewen for her Twist chair. We chatted with Claes Blom, Editor-in-Chief of Sköna Hem.

Congratulations! How’s it feel to be on top after 30 years? 

I think it is because Sköna Hem has a basic concept that it has never deviated from. It consists of three components: trend, tradition and quality, and the combination is definitely unique. The key is to be contemporary, but also comfortable. The times and the taste and fashion changed, but not Sköna Hem. We combine serious interest in interior design with serious knowledge. 

What will readers notice about the anniversary celebration? 

First, each issue throughout the year will have a contest in which readers can gain exclusive selected design objects from famous brands and designers. In addition to our regular 14 issues per year, we also published two special editions: Sköna Hem Summer & Outdoor Living and Sköna Hem Create Style. 

How is a glossy mag like Sköna Hem weathering tough times?

It is clear that we see a little less ad entry, but if there is something you tend to care about during the bad times, it is home. I am convinced that some interior decorating magazines won’t survive this. As the architect Eero Koivisto said in an interview in our last issue, “It is during the recession that the trash gets filtered out.” And when it turns, I am sure we will be even stronger and have more market share.