Award-winning interior designer Meghan Heeter met local entrepreneur Siri Eklund in 2020 when she was hired to renovate Eklund’s family home, a 1920s Tudor in Ladue’s Fair Oaks Estates neighborhood. The two quickly bonded over their shared passion for historic houses and a commitment to highlighting the history of Eklund’s home, down to the smallest detail.
But when it was time to work on the primary bathroom they faced a unique challenge.
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“If you’re familiar with older homes, you know that storage is at a premium. I love using a medicine cabinet in bath projects because with that four-inch depth, it’s incredible what you can store and how functional they are,” says Heeter. “Siri and I were being so intentional about all the parts and pieces that we were picking for the home but in the medicine cabinet space, there was really nothing on the market that was truly beautiful and artistic. Everything is utilitarian,” says Heeter.
This was the women’s “a-ha” moment. “When I think about designing a bathroom space, it’s one piece, but it’s an important piece,” says Heeter. “You use it and touch it and feel it every single day, so why not make it unique?”
This summer, Heeter and Eklund are launching Ättlingar, a manufacturer of custom, handcrafted medicine cabinets, mirrors, towel bars, and toilet paper holders. The product line includes four inlay patterns featuring thousands of intricately cut pieces of walnut, maple, mahogany and sycamore, available in a maple or a walnut frame. Dovetail corner joining and sawtooth interior shelving display the quality old-world craftsmanship. The cabinets and accessories are crafted by Missouri makers who employ practices from Swedish woodworking that date back generations in Eklund’s family.
Carl Eklund, Eklund’s great-grandfather, was an acclaimed cabinetmaker who immigrated from Sweden to Norway and then to the U.S., where he settled in Chicago. In 1917, he established a workshop in Glencoe on the city’s North Shore. Eventually, the shop became home to the Glencoe Historical Society, which showcases the Eklund Tool Room with its archival cabinetry tools.
The name Ättlingar means “lineage” or “descendants” in Swedish.
“It’s been a little bit of a muse and a tribute to my family,” Eklund says.
Eklund and Heeter bring complementary skill sets to the company, with Heeter’s extensive design experience and Eklund’s business savvy (she holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern). While she grows Ättlingar, Heeter will continue to design interiors with Castle Design.
The company is currently offering trade accounts to designers and architects, though homeowners can also purchase the mirrors and medicine cabinets through a Shopify website. Samples are available to order.
“Our goal with Ättlingar,” says Heeter, “is to look at those everyday items that you have and use in your home and elevate them and make them fit for historic projects and beyond.”
Hear more about Ättlingar on the House of Lou podcast.
