Nationalmuseum, Stockholm | by Dimitry B Nationalmuseum, Stockholm | by Dimitry B Armchair Karmstol Mahogany, gilded details, 1820’s […]
Month: September 2013
5 Design Tips to Live By from Jane Moore – Veranda Veranda featured a wonderfully Swedish home way […]
In the March 2013 issue of House Beautiful Magazine, featured a home with a unique flair for the […]
Braided Rug 80″ Round Off-White $109 The careful selection of your homes rugs can really bring alive that […]
Scandinavia – made up of Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Iceland and Norway -has always had a unique mark on the arts through history. Whether it be needlepoint, embroidery, wood carving, furniture painting, knitting or any other local arts, they inspired each other in these regions, often drawing on the same color tones, motifs, and decorations.
The Nordic style craftsmanship and decorative themes can be seen unique to this northern area of Europe. Chances are if you love Scandinavian furniture, you will fall in love with so many of the different arts that are also found in this region.
Folk art, is celebrated in the international galleries around the world, but it also can be found in people’s homes, garages, and attics around Scandinavia. With access to to the internet, you don’t even have to know the back streets of Sweden, or speak the language to invest in high quality antique folk art. With esty and ebay within reach, you can pull together a collection for your interior without leaving your home.
“Folk art” is the most common term to describe the every day craftsmanship of people from one region or another, which depicted the artistic talent of life and times in art. Almost everyone has a hobby today, and it was more so, 100 to 300 years ago, when the family didn’t gather around the television for three hours each night. People had so much more time that could be devoted to the arts when the children were home schooled, and mom and dad worked off the land. Life was so much better back then, and you could have a little piece of that history.
The art was influenced by the culture, which is why German, Italian, and even American folk art each has their own style and flavor. Many of the popular collectible folk art pieces include handcrafted toys, quilting, wood carvings, and basket weaving. Folk oil paintings can be some of the most expensive range of collectibles within Folk art. Oil paintings emerged in the late 1700’s but only until the 1800’s did it really begin to flourish. Folk artists were often self-taught, and considered amateur artists due to the fact that they were not academically trained in the fine arts. These paintings are some of the most collectible of the wall art, and surprise, surprise,….sometimes they are inexpensive! It is amazing what you can find on ebay, if you are willing to wait.
Here is a collection of 60 books that focus their attention on Folk art, or the Scandinavian region in general.
Country Style Mora Clocks – Swedish Interior Design.co.uk Interior archive is one of those sites where you can […]
Chelsea Textiles, is a family company, which was originally started in the 1990’s by Mona Perlhagen. Formerly a […]
Picture Credit –Scandinavian Antiques Co On Ebay
Featured above are the colors, Top Row: Pratt & Lambert’s Argent 1322, Farrow & Ball’s Claydon Blue 87, Farrow & Ball’s Green Blue 84, Middle Row, Farrow & Ball’s Light Blue 22, Benjamin Moore’s Sea Star 2123-30, Benjamin Moore’s Wolf Gray 2127-40 Bottom Row, Benjamin Moore’s Graytint 1611, Sherwin-Williams’s Magnetic Gray SW-7058, Benjamin Moore’s Stone Harbor 2111-50
Home Beautiful featured an article on 26 Designers who shared their favorite Grays. Gray painted interiors can be the perfect color palette for Swedish Gustavian or Rococo antique furniture. Gray can showcase antiques like no other color, because it is neutral, and doesn’t compete with the furniture and decor. The last thing you want after spending thousands on a piece of furniture, is to have someone notice anything but what you spent your hard earned money on! Pair your painted gray antiques with a backdrop of white gray interior walls and trim, and add a punch of color with your upholstery, accessories, and flowers.
Many of the designers featured in the article, were those of Richard Gluckman, Stephanie Stokes, David Kleinberg, Tori Golub, Stephen Sills, Phoebe Howard, Steven Gambrel, Gerrie Bremermann, and Sharone Einhorn and Honey Walters.
Here are just a few of the designer quotes:
“Mesquite is a flattering light moss green without much yellow. I love it because it doesn’t shout ‘I’m green!’ It says, ‘I’m a very beautiful color.'” –Jennifer Garrigues, Benjamin Moore’s Mesquite 501
“Lago Argentino is a glacier lake in Patagonia, and it’s the most amazing color, an aqua, milky because as the ice melts it pulls minerals off the mountain. I stayed in an inn with a stunning view of the Perito Moreno glacier.” –Suzanne Rheinstein , Ralph Lauren Paint’s Blue-Green GH81
“For me, the most appealing colors in summer are not hot but cool. You don’t need to be reminded of the sun and heat — you’re in it. What you want is a cool breeze through the pine trees, like this chalky gray green.” –Frank Roop, Benjamin Moores Soft Fern 2144-40
“In my cutting garden I have morning glories climbing over a lattice obelisk painted this wonderful silvery sage green. It reminds me of lavender leaves.” –Michael Whaley, Benjamin Moores Cedar Grove 444
“I have a big, hugely functional Georgian Revival lawyer’s desk in tired dry mahogany, bought from a tired dry lawyer. I painted it this pale gray-green in an oil-base stain finish, cleanable, very calm, but not so pale that it dies. The gimmick is the old-fashioned desk in an unexpected color. It catches light and makes for a more interesting surface.” –Carey Maloney, Donald Kaufman Color Collections DKC-10
“It’s kind of robin’s egg blue, and with mahogany furniture and neutral upholstery, it looks great. I see dining rooms as mostly evening rooms, and this has life to it. It’s very soothing.” –Mariette Himes Gomez, Benjamin Moore’s Sage Tint 458
“Green is the great neutral, all the way from pond scum to soft sage or pale celery. I recently moved into a new house surrounded by greenery, and when I was thinking of what color I might use for a drapery lining, it came to me to reflect the green that is present year-round right outside that window.” –Barbara Barry – Donald Kaufman Color Collection’s DKC-8
“This is the color of the sky in Old Master paintings, when the varnish has yellowed; it’s luminous. Paint just the floor and you’d feel as if you were floating.” –Thomas Jayne, Benjamin Moore’s Heavenly Blue
“In my cutting garden I have morning glories climbing over a lattice obelisk painted this wonderful silvery sage green. It reminds me of lavender leaves.” –Michael Whaley, Benjamin Moore’s Cedar Grove 444
Gray Painted Swedish Furniture – Laserow Antiques
18th Century Swedish Tray Table – Jacqueline Adams Antiques
This mirror would have been part of a room paneling. It features a beautifully hand carved and gilded top panel of a basket with flowers and grape bunches before crossed mallets and grape branches and is surrounded with a square, gilt molded frame. Beneath is a square mirror framed with a beaded, molded edge