Lena Larsson studied cabinetmaking at the Carl Malmsten school before she joined the studio of interior architect and furniture designer Elisa Svedberg for whom she designed furniture.
In the early 1940’s Larsson was hired by the Swedish Society of Crafts and Design (today Svensk Form) and Arcihtects Sweden to do a study of Swedish housing habits. By doing interviews with housewifes, Larsson found out how they used their homes and what they were lacking. The study became an important part of the Swedish post-war housing projects.
From 1947-56 and from 1961-65, Larsson was the artistic director of NK-Bo an educational interior design shop run by the department store NK in Stockholm. While at NK-Bo Larsson developed the first Swedish flat packaged furniture system Triva together with Elias Svedberg. Together with Svedberg, Larsson also wrote the book Heminredning (Home interior) in 1947.
In 1952 Larsson designed the stick-back chair Allmoge and in 1958 the rocking chair Grandessa, both for Swedish manufacturer NESTO- Nässjö Stolfabrik. At the H55 Exhibition in Helsingborg 1955, Larsson presented the radical idea of a family room in the single-family house "Skal och Kärna" (eng. Shell and Core) together with the architects Anders William Olsson and Mårten Larsson.
Larsson was what today is called an influencer, very active as a journalist in press, radio and TV. In 1960’s Larsson coined the term “slit och släng” (eng. Wear and tear) in Svensk Form’s magazine Form. As a writer Larsson published 20 books, often with her own illustrations. Lena Larsson passed away in 1999 at the age of 81.
