Things Swedish People Like: Hearts

From our house on Tjärnö, you can cross a small bridge over to the island of Saltö. If you follow the road to the end, you'll reach the shore on the opposite end of the island. It's a lovely quick bike ride or walk. 

At the end of the road, just at the edge of the forest, there's a wooden house with a heart on the door. My children saw it before I did and told me about it. I said, "What a strange place to keep a defibrillator!"

My husband, hearing this, laughed out loud and said, "No! It's a bathroom!"

"Why would they put a heart on the door of a bathroom?!" I incredulously replied.

A few weeks later, we were visiting the home of some Swedish friends. As we were leaving, I noticed a heart on the door of their bathroom. I told them the story above and asked why there were hearts on bathroom doors in Sweden.

Our host replied, "Oh, Swedish people like to put hearts on everything."

Since that day, I have noticed hearts. on. everything. Once I started paying attention, I really did see them everywhere. The most common place is on decorative items for the home, but they can be found just about anywhere.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Heart-shaped waffles. (Required by law.)

Heart-in-pig cookie cutter.

Wire hearts.

Heart-covered ribbon.

Hearty welcome. (See what I did there?)

Hearts on a fence.

Cream puffs. With hearts.

Heart-shaped dish at the smörgåsbord.

Heart-shaped headstone.

Hearts on toilet paper!

Now that you're looking for them, I bet you'll see them everywhere, too. There are worse things in the world you could be paying attention to.  <3