There’s a story behind every item in Leif and Eva Elinder’s apartment at William Sanders Village.
Furniture pieces such as an intricately decorated coffee table are amongst their many souvenirs from travels to India, England, Nepal and Sri Lanka and sit comfortably alongside items and soft furnishings from their Swedish homeland.
The walls are similarly adorned – a beautiful wall hanging evokes memories of their honeymoon in Sri Lanka, a framed photograph reminds of the time Leif walked in the national park in Lapland, and captivating watercolour landscapes which hang above the dining table are much-loved inherited pieces painted by Leif’s grandfather Algot Ringstrom, a famous Swedish painter.
And surely every Swede must own at least one item from Swedish furniture brand Ikea – in Leif and Eva’s case, it’s two easy chairs.
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Having travelled backwards and forwards with their four children between two hemispheres over the past five decades, often driven by Leif’s work as a doctor and his curiosity about the world, they now find themselves with both children and grandchildren situated at two ends of the world.
As a Swedish paediatrician specialising in children with special needs, Leif built a career marked by intellectual curiosity and a willingness to challenge conventional thinking, qualities that shaped both his professional life and the couple’s many adventures.
Today, their family spans two hemispheres, making a base in both Sweden and New Zealand essential. It has also made the couple adept at prioritising what matters most, whether that’s treasured possessions, meaningful experiences or time with loved ones.
They could perhaps make great poster children for the practice of döstädning or ‘death cleaning’, a concept invented by fellow Swede Margareta Magnusson.
Leif relaxes in the couple's apartment at William Sanders Village, surrounded by treasured items of significance and sentimental value.
The purpose behind the concept, according to Margareta, is about to thoughtfully pass on your belongings so that your loved ones aren’t burdened with mountains of your stuff when you pass away.
Confronting their seven-bedroom home in Sweden was a challenge that Eva says she had to face to ensure their living situation better suited their changing circumstances. But she still needed to rope in daughter Anna to assist!
“I had to make up my mind – it was time to sell,” says Eva, a registered physiotherapist. “We had a big library, but we didn’t really want that anymore so we gave all the books away.”
Eva sold some items and donated others to charity shops, then brought the rest to a small unit on the third floor in a retirement living complex in Uppsala.
“With two daughters and five grandchildren in Stockholm, and a son and two grandchildren in Norway, I really like to have a home there as well.
“I feel as long as I’m fit enough to travel between the two countries I will do it, but one day there will have to be a last trip to either place.”
That awareness is what focused their thinking on what was truly important in life, be that keeping fit to enable regular long haul travel, connection to the people that matter – their children and grandchildren – or material belongings that bring joy as well as serve a function.
Leif admires the paintings which his grandfather Algot Ringstrom, a well known Swedish artist, painted, many of which depict scenes from his homeland.
Unlike their unit in Sweden, their two-bedroom apartment in Ryman’s Devonport village includes integrated levels of care within the village which has been especially reassuring for Leif as he manages ongoing heart issues.
They love that it is close to the beach, nearby walking tracks and their New Zealand-based daughter.
Along with their view which looks out onto the village gardens with native bush beyond, it is, in Leif’s eyes, just perfect.
“I think this is the best spot in Auckland,” he says.
After lives shaped by family, travel and rewarding careers, simplifying their possessions has given Leif and Eva more time to focus on what matters most now: the people they love, the memories they carry, and the freedom that comes from letting the rest go.