Why did you buy this apartment?
I started a new job in 2004, as artistic director for the House of Dance in Stockholm, and every time I have a demanding job, I need something to renovate at the same time, something completely different, so I bought the apartment and started to do it up. It's in Södermalm, one of the biggest islands in Stockholm - a young, hip area. I'm more or less in the centre. I worked with a Swedish architect, changing the bathroom, fixing the kitchen and knocking down a couple of walls. Openness and easy access to the different rooms is important - the kitchen area has three entrances, the bedroom two.
Why so many signs?
I would like to have a lot more contemporary art, but I can't afford the works I'd like to have, so then you have to find something else. I go for signs and old numberplates. They're very beautiful and easy to get hold of. The French ones I found in Paris, where I've stayed a great deal for work. I walk the streets, and every now and then find a fantastic sign.
We had a game when I was touring with a dance company once, that we should have some kind of sign as a memory of every country we visited. I have one, for example, that says Parturi - Finnish for barber shop. Almost every sign has a memory connected to it - instead of shopping for clothes when I'm away, I go to hardware stores or just walk around in a city to get the atmosphere, looking for the things that people leave behind: small signs, notes, tags...
I put them in cheap, black Ikea frames. My displays are flexible and constantly changing, so you can easily surprise your eyes with some new combination. It doesn't cost much. I guess it has to do with my work - creating choreography and how you combine things on stage, so maybe there is some connection.
What about the metal boxes stamped with numbers?
I found the boxes in an old shop and got them cheap. This was a difficult space in the hallway, which was too small to hang clothes in, so it had to be something fun and practical.
All the numbers and boxes contain different collections - passport, money, maps, keys, shoeshine, more money, information about different cities - so when I travel, I just take all the information from one box and off I go: box 1 is passport and euros; 567 is dollars, pounds and some other currency; 5 is Swedish money (coins); 67 is pencils; 23 is maps of France and Spain; 75 is maps of the US; 325 is bicycle lamps; 45 is toothbrushes. It's good if you have a memory for numbers. ·
Steal Kenneth Kvarnström's Swedish style
1 Artemide Tolomeo standard wall-mounted light, £132, from Utility Design, 0151-708 4192 (utilitydesign.co.uk).
2 Black Fjällsta picture frames (W: 13cm x H: 18cm each), £4.99 each, from Ikea, 0845 358 3364 (ikea.co.uk). Postcards in frames, 50p each, from a selection at Paperchase, 020-7467 6200 (paperchase.co.uk).
3 Denmark upholstered lounge chair, £69, from Dwell, 0845 675 9090 (dwell.co.uk).
4 Kiki ceiling light, £50, from John Lewis, 0845 604 9049 (johnlewis.com).
5 Oversized Karlsson Arabic clock (Dia: 99cm), £349.95, from TickTockClocks, 0800 862 0232 (ticktockclocks.co.uk).
6 Five-drawer mini filing cabinet in silver, £45, from Store, 0870 224 2660 (aplaceforeverything.co.uk).
