Home and Garden Chat

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The simplicity of decorating a home Swedish country style, combined with the warm look that it imparts to a house, is what’s  generating people’s interest.   Open spaces, minimal adornments and avoidance of unnecessary items, this is what Swedish style is all about.  There’s no question that Swedish style is popular for decorating homes. The refined elegance and casual aged appearance seems to have universal appeal.  Carl Larsson (1853-1919), Swedish artist, is generally credited with popularizing the Swedish style of decorating.

This style was heavily influenced by the light and weather of Scandinavia. Long dreary winters with early dusk and a lack of natural light necessitated the need to bring the lightness indoors. The Swedish decor features light, lustrous and pale colors and furnishings as well as reflective surfaces and minimal clutter. Anything pale, light, airy, and lustrous is popular with Swedish style decors. Since pale walls, floors, and furnishings reflect the natural light, interiors decorated with this style are cheerful, calm, and  warm even on the darkest winter days.

Walls, floors, accessories, and furniture are painted or stained in pale tones of white, cream, soft yellow, pale pink, soft green, and dove gray. These surfaces are accented with gold and red. After white, blue is the color most often used in Swedish style interiors. The tone reflects or emits the feeling of a clear, fresh day and coordinates easily with the other colors of the Swedish color palette. Against the clean white ground, accents of red look fun and bold in Swedish interiors. The color is found in wallpaper, fabrics, stripes, and floral prints.

Straight lines and gentle curves combine in Swedish style furniture. Legs on case goods are delicate and tapered at the floor. Simple light-stained wood or padded headboards are common on beds in Swedish style interiors. Canopy beds are popular and use yards of white fabric mounted on a coronet or hanging from poles or rings on the ceiling. The Swedish look is often achieved by using nooks, trundle and daybeds rather then a large piece which would not have fit in smaller country Swedes homes. Extra seating is provided by benches of simple, delicate design. Padded cushions and bolsters soften the look. Wooden frames and delicate, carved legs are found on a typical Swedish style sofa. Upholstery is simple on seat cushions and back pillows. Birch, white pine, beech, and alder are readily available and common. Woods are often bleached or painted or stained with white or pale paints. Most wooden furniture is painted in white, cream, soft gray and other delicate, light colors. Stencils are added for color. Simple carved accents are used on some pieces of furniture, especially on fluted legs,and beaded edging are common, mirror frames and leaded glass windows, high ceilings, wall moldings and reflective mirrors and sconces are often placed on walls to increase and reflect existing light which is typically a mix of simple hanging fixtures, wall sconces and lamps.

Simple woven, textured white fabrics of linen or cotton are common. Textures, stripes, checks, and plaids add more color. Patterns used in Swedish decorating are usually color on a white ground. Small floral prints have lots of white ground, too. Stripes, checks, and plaids are almost always white and one other color.   As far as furnishings go, floral patterns, stripes and checks work the best. Wallpaper, with ribbon, wreath or heart motifs, or abstract shapes like diamond, circle and oval may be used as well. For the floor, make use of striped rag rugs that give a warm and homely look. You can also use ‘woolen-looking’ blankets on sofas, so that the house looks more inviting. Try to bring nature into your home. Adorn your house with fresh flowers and natural objects like pebbles, shells, etc.

The Swedes and their nearby neighbors in Norway have long been known for a rather unique style known as ‘Scandinavian’ or Swedish and characterized by its heavy use of unfinished woods and simple but elegant lines. There are variants such as ‘Country,’ ‘Nordic,’ and ‘American’ Swedish design as well as true Scandinavian design which should really be classified as its own unique style – but all hark back to the roots of Sweden, the dark and long winters there and the ancient Viking past.