5 Antique Tips for Timeless Interiors with Niklas Larsson
An International Antique Dealer
Since 1990, antique dealer Niklas Larsson has built a career that began in Borås and expanded through fairs across Sweden, England, and France. His journey later led to shops in Brussels, Antwerp, and Amsterdam, creating an international network shaped by a lifelong passion for antiques.
A Historic Home for Antiques
In recent years, Larsson’s business has been based at Uddetorp Säteri, a historic manor north of Borås with roots dating back to the 1500s. For centuries, Uddetorp has been a place where everyday life and grand celebrations have intertwined. From noble weddings in the 1600s to harvests, gatherings, and festivities. Today, the estate continues to breathe history, making it a fitting home for Larsson’s antique collection.
Here, antique objects with patina and memory are set into dialogue with the manor’s own heritage, creating a space where history feels alive.
Currently, his collection can be viewed by appointment or via Instagram, and he gladly takes on bespoke buying assignments for clients. For Larsson, antiques are not just objects of beauty, but vessels of memory. Linking past and present, reminding us that history continues to live in the spaces we inhabit.
EXPLORE THE FADED GRANDEUR COLLECTION
1. Where does your story with antiques truly begin?
The spark began with my grandparents. They didn’t collect decorative treasures. Instead, they gathered useful things. Objects you never knew when they might come in handy. That quiet sense of value planted a seed in me. Later, as a young man walking the streets of Stockholm, I discovered the joy of finding pieces in the countryside and bringing them into a new context in the city. That contrast, rural discovery, urban appreciation became my rhythm, and my calling.
2. What do you love the most about antiques?
For me, the beauty lies in history rather than perfection. Every mark and worn edge tells a story. Even if the exact past is unknown, you can imagine it. The lives an object has passed through, the rooms it has seen. Wear and tear doesn’t diminish it; it proves that it has been used and loved, often still fulfilling its purpose centuries later.
One of my most cherished pieces is an 18th-century mirror. Its frame is worn, the surface cracked, yet it remains intact. Not worn out, just marked by time. I often think about what it has reflected. Sorrow and joy, laughter and silence. For me, that makes it even more beautiful today. Its imperfections are part of its soul, and that is what I truly love about antique objects.
3. How can antiques find their place in modern homes?
Today our homes are naturally eclectic, layered with both the old and the new. I value historic interiors, but I also embrace contemporary design. Together they create harmony.
My advice is simple. If you love a piece, trust it. Let it stand confidently beside modern classics. One antique with strong character, a Rococo bureau, a mirror, a table is often enough to transform a room. The key is not to overwhelm the space, but to let each piece breathe, so that your home tells a story that is truly yours.
4. What makes a truly great antique find?
For me, it’s always about the unexpected. The best antique discoveries often happen while traveling. Stumbling upon a piece that feels out of context, almost out of time. In the past, before everything could be photographed and valued online, these finds relied entirely on instinct and knowledge, which made them even more thrilling.
What I still love today is the curiosity of the hunt. Opening a forgotten door, not knowing what might be waiting, and finding that treasure you can bring into a new light.
5. Which experience in your early career became the most defining?
In the early days, knowledge was everything. There were no smartphones to instantly check a price or provenance. You relied on your eye, your instinct, your understanding. Mistakes were part of the journey.
I remember buying a mirror. Beautiful, though I didn’t realize how much at the time. I placed it in a magazine ad, and a renowned antique dealer bought it immediately, without hesitation. When I later saw it again, I knew I had undervalued it. That was my first true lesson.
Even today, when so much information is only a click away, true knowledge remains just as vital. Technology can tell you the facts, but it cannot replace the instinct, experience, and trained eye that reveal an object’s true worth.
