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Presenter Amanda Vickery explains that the small farmhouse in the remote Swedish lakeside countryside, 4 hours north of Stockholm was the home of Karin Larsson, a housewife whose creativity transformed not only her own family home but the way we all see our domestic space. We discover how she was fortunate to be educated by her parents and was on course to be a professional artist until she met and fell in love with a fellow Swedish artist named Carl Larsson. They married and she gave up a career to start a family. By looking at Carl鈥檚 painting it is revealed that Karin was still being creative behind closed doors; she was crafting a family home with local flowers, her tapestry and local furniture.

Through archive material the established dark and gloomy taste of the time is compared with Karin鈥檚 light, relaxed, colourful and distinctly modern style. It is revealed how magazines and periodicals influenced Karin鈥檚 taste and ensured her rustic home was in fact intellectually informed and new. Looking more closely at the tapestries, the modernity of the patterns and design become more clear and reveal a style that resembles present day tastes. Without Carl鈥檚 paintings we would never know what Karin had achieved - she had created lifestyle as art and in fact the Swedish firm Ikea has seen it travel the world. By intercutting Karin鈥檚 style with modern Ikea room displays it is clear to see her influence is very much alive today. Amanda Vickery concludes that it is ironic that Karin Larsson gave up a career and yet has left a more tangible legacy to modern commerce than any painting hanging in any gallery in the world.