Lena Nyholm created the entrance square exhibition at Formex

She has created more unique table settings than most of us, and for Lena Nyholm there are endless possibilities and color combinations that give us the ultimate wow feeling. Lena’s strong conviction that the right interior design provides inspiration, joy and courage is conveyed in the large exhibition in the entrance square, inviting everyone to experience the magic of the meeting together.

Interior designer, colorist and neuro-design expert Lena Nyholm is creating Formex’s main exhibition Meeting Magic. With three “rooms” in the 300 square meter entrance square, she wants to create a magical meeting place.

– It is an incredibly beautiful and important mission! People need to be together,” she says emphatically and continues:

– We need to get together to make something real happen. Hybrid meetings are great, they are convenient, but that’s not where the magic happens!

And Lena hopes for many magical encounters during Formex. With great heart and commitment, she has created the very best conditions for us to meet. Link Together. Meeting Magic.

For the Meeting Magic exhibition, Lena has handpicked 300 objects from Formex exhibitors, and created the three rooms with the idea that we should want to stay, meet, network and make new contacts:

– When we are in beautiful places, we become more open, more social, more creative and kinder. “I always say that beautiful decor creates peace, because when we are in places that make us feel good, we are kind, and when we are kind, we don’t start wars,” Lena says with a smile.

Lena knows which interiors create the best conditions for people. As well as having a Bachelor’s degree in Media and Communication Studies, she is also an expert in neurodesign. It is an area of research that looks at how our brain perceives the environments around us and how they, in turn, also affect how we feel.

She talks about “nutritious” environments with lots of colors, shapes and textures reminiscent of lush nature. It signals to our brains that food is available, allowing us to unwind and relax – we will survive. The stress response is reduced and our immune system functions properly.

When creating environments, Lena uses the principles of neuro-design. Whether it is an office environment or the main Formex exhibition. All environments should feel lovely, welcoming and beautiful. Length.

– “I want to create an experience, not an exhibition that you just walk through and ‘look’ at,” she says, describing something called the ‘wonder effect’. “When we experience something that makes us astonished and feel a ‘Wow! it gives our brains a kind of stillness, a pause, a moment of mindfulness, which makes us calm down, become more relaxed and then also more social.

Therefore, visitors will be able to sit down in the exhibition, at the two-meter wide and over five-meter long specially designed dining table, at the work table, the bar, or in one of the two seating areas.

Lena focuses on creating the best conditions for meetings in everyday life, in the workplace. She has noticed how much we want to see each other. Therefore, our environments need to be designed to allow for meetings, both at home and at work.

With that basic idea, Lena runs the design agency Merry -Monday, which helps companies create offices for a new era. She draws inspiration from many years in Paris, LA, London and New York, and experience from hotel projects, office design and set design, when designing spaces for creativity, innovation and well-being. In spring 2024, AMF Fastigheter will open its new headquarters in MOOD, designed by Merry Monday.

belarteSTUDIO x Lena Nyholm
Magic wallpaper murals take the Meeting Magic exhibition to a whole new level. Together with the internationally successful wallpaper company belarteSTUDIO, they have created an exclusive wallpaper collection. Through their shared passion for art on walls and colorful interiors, three unique wallpapers have been created based on Lena’s exhibition. Meeting Magic is not only the name of the exhibition, but also fits the creative meeting that occurs when different creators create something together.

About Lena Nyholm
Runs the design agency Merry Monday together with Mia Öhrn. He has decorated hotel rooms, restaurants and private homes, and now focuses on designing lamps, carpets, wallpaper and furniture and creating workplaces for companies such as AMF Fastigheter.
Known from TV: Interior design expert on TV4’s ‘Nyhetsmorgon’. Has worked as a set designer for many of Sweden’s biggest TV programs. For example, creating 136 unique table settings for ‘So much better’ (2011-2018) and turning 10 nightmare houses into dream houses in ‘Husköp i Blindo’.