I don't know much about the vernacular architecture of Sweden, but most countries over the centuries have evolved some sort of small traditional cottage that people of modest means could live in. Usually they are abandoned in favor of more modern housing, but they work well for a family because they are the products of centuries if not millennia of experimentation in family life. In the US we have little three-bedroom, one-story "ranch houses" that the fashionable people left behind many years ago in favor of more ostentatious, modern houses, but they are still good and can be made charming with hard work and good taste.
Here is a picture I found of a Swedish house that's like the American ranch house. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/67/201627453_d45c162b47.jpg Sorry, I could not make it post. What would be wrong with a house like this for regular working people? A quick search on Google showed many pretty, modest Swedish houses. So they are there for you.
Just like there are many great things about, for instance, Italy (art, food, the Mediterranean sea, history) or the US (the spirit of the people, the love of freedom, the beauty and the variety of the landscape, the high standard of living) the engagement in building/construction quality is a wonderful thing about Sweden.
When it comes to sheer beauty of architecture, Sweden probably can’t compete with Italy, but still we have some buildings that Swedes ought to be proud of:
The Turning Torso skyscraper in Malmö (by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava):
http://yunol.stes.tc.edu.tw/0703/Turning_Torso/
Skåne/Scania, the region Malmö is located in, is a part of Sweden that is particularly rich in old castles and palaces. Many of them are inhabitated today. If I were to choose between living like a Hollywood star or live like the Swedish upper class, I’d go for the latter alternative
anytime.
Castles and palaces in Skåne/Scania (just click on the names of the castles/palaces to view them):
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lista_%C3%B6ver_slott_och_herres%C3%A4ten_i_Sk%C3%A5ne
One building I like a lot in Gothenburg, my home city, is Oscar Fredrik’s Church. It’s not very big, but I like the symmetrical harmony of the architecture:
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild:Oscar_Fredriks_kyrka_1.jpg
IMO Stockholm in general is very beautiful. Below, some pictures from the German photo site fotocommunity.com, a great site for anyone with the slightest interest for photography (just click above the pictures to continue the ‘slideshow’)
