Vera Nilsson's parents, bailiff Karl Nilsson and his wife Ada, were both ahead of their time when it came to the upbringing of their three daughters and believed that they should receive a proper vocational education. The home was warm and loving, financially secure but frugality was considered a virtue, something that Vera Nilsson carried with her and benefited from later in life.

Vera Nilsson's grandfather, who was a craftsman, moved his small wooden house from Småland across the ice to Borgholm on the island of Öland, where Vera Nilsson would spend her childhood summers. The house, which came to be called Lilla Nyborg, would later be inherited by Vera and became an important place for her painting.

The grandfather and daughter Ada often spent summers on Öland with Vera's siblings and Vera's daughter Ginga's cousins. They also lived on different rented farms, some of which were very dilapidated, but she still enjoyed the rural life with nature right outside the window. Many of Vera Nilsson's most famous motifs are inspired by the beloved summers on Öland.

Ada, Vera Nilsson's mother, was a strong-willed person, both figuratively and literally, and that is also how Vera Nilsson often portrayed her. In the auction painting, the mother is depicted in the salon of Lilla Nyborg, the villa that Vera Nilsson eventually inherited and which became a beloved place for her throughout her life.