Decorating With White

1. Shades of Country: Designing a Life of Comfort – From $3.99 Amazon

“Shades of Country,” written by “Chippy Irvine,” masterfully presents some of America’s most beautiful, charming and fascinating country houses. It is profusely illustrated with a wealth of examples of actual American homes, some of them are derived from European country styles, but most are what we think of as typically American – east coast farmhouses, Shaker simplicity, Montana ranch and rustic Adirondack cabin.   This book covers a lot of decorating territory. A few pictures of each, as well as others styles like Ranch, or French. If you are having trouble deciding on a style, this book might help you.

2. Country Living Decorating with White- From $14 Amazon

Country Living Decorating with White showcases a beautiful new vision of how to use this classic hue. Explaining the art of choosing the right shade of white and blending it with other colors and objects. Close to 150 color photographs fill this volume with captions describing successful design features and giving decorating tips. The classic motifs of white with blue or black are given primary focus, although every room of the house is shown with various color accents.

“I have wanted to change back to all white but needed ideas to avoid a completely “washed out” look. Varied surfaces, tones of paint color, accents, etc. are among suggestions that work well with white and offer many great ideas.”

3. Living Life Beautifully $14 On Amazon

Christina Strutt Living Life Beautifully tells the story of how Christina founded legendary fabric company Cabbages & Roses and grew it into a lifestyle brand. Christina talks about her inspirations and influences, and how she works these into her products. Christina gives the reader a look behind her home where she designs her fabrics, experiments with her new wallpapers, and gathers all her favorite antiques. 

4.  La Vie Est Belle: The Elegant Art of Living in the French Style$18 On Amazon

The book is arranged by region and offers a privileged glimpse inside dozens of French homes, from chateaux to farmhouses, as well as the regions in which they are set.  Interior colors are more simple and muted that what we use here in our American country homes

Ginger Barber's Rugged Texas Home House Beautiful Magazine July 2009

Ginger Barber’s Rugged Texas Home

1.  Cotswold’s Barn Conversion comes from Light Locations.  Inside, the home is saturated with shades of whites.  Take notice of it’s whitewashed rustic oak beams, the neutral decor scheme and open plan interior.  Decorated around minimal decor, this home has rustic furniture, industrial pendant lights, linen bedding and furniture and huge picture windows.

See more of this home at Light Locations

2. A Chattahoochee River Home, decorated by designer Amy Morris, was seen in Atlanta Home Magazine.  This home is decorated around the neutral palette, with soft creamy whites and touches of gray, green and blue.  In the entry hall, we see the start of a theme that continues throughout the house….  “Rustic and elegant“.  A herringbone-patterned brick flooring, combined with country distressed furniture is very welcoming.  What makes this house appear warm and cozy are the fabric choices and old world color choices.  One of the designer’s favorite style secrets involves using outdoor fabric in busy rooms…… “I typically use a polyester, which looks like natural velvet,” she says. It looks great and no one knows.

View more of this interview in Atlanta Home Magazine

View Designer Amy Morris Interiors

3.  Ginger Barber’s Rugged Texas Home.  This home was featured in House Beautiful‘s July 2009 issue. As you enter her 180-acre property you see a beautiful white farmhouse, which is Ginger’s main house, and across the pasture, is her 1850s guesthouse.

When they decided to renovate the guest house, they worked with an open design scheme.  It has a combined family and dining room, along with a master bedroom and bathroom.

She choose to work with a soft creamy gray for the color scheme.   Going with a lighter color palette helps the rooms feel bigger.  In addition to keeping it brighter, they boarded every wall with reclaimed wood and whitewashed the boards for warmth.

Ginger Barber On Lived-In Rooms

On Patina “A nice wide table with the paint peeling off. It’s got great lack-of-paint, doesn’t it? I love chipped painted things; they feel more natural, softer, more inviting. And that washedout Swedish cupboard in the main house’s living room is so wonderfully dull—I love that, too. I’ll even take a new piece and work on the finish to get the look I want. If you look at that pine table in the main house, you’ll see it’s stripped raw, rosy raw. I used white chairs around it because I love the back and forth of crisp white against old and worn”

On Slipcovers- “Again, you’ve got to live. You’ve got to be ready to throw the slipcovers in the wash andbe done with it. My work is 90 percent slipcovers. I mean, this family’s got two Jack Russell terriers, and they’re always on the furniture.”

Simple Linens- “I think a person gets sick of a floral sofa in six months, tops. And in a small space it probably takes even less time to get tired of too much color. The accessories are what give a shot of color to my work, and their shapes and textures add personality. A simple purple-striped coverlet does amazing things for a white bedroom like this guest room, doesn’t it?”

View more of this article in House Beautiful Magazine

View Designer Ginger Barber

Johan and Ingrid Lagerfelt's Home In Veranda Johan and Ingrid Lagerfelt’s Home In Veranda

I have been holding on to Veranda’s November / December 2011 issue which featured an 18th century manor situated in Sabylund, 2 hours west of Stockholm. Built in 1780’s in the Gustavian aesthetic, the house has stayed virtually intact as it was back in the 18th century.

In the red room, chalky white finished chairs with gilt wood embellishments are covered in Chinese red damask. A Swedish day bed functions as a sofa and a bed, and is accompanied by a table surrounded by Gustavian white painted chairs. A Swedish Kakelugn stove has gold painted garlands on the tile. A number of small rectangular portraits hang on the wall.

In the main room, light blue painted walls are framed with wall moldings, and hand painted garlands add a romantic feel to the walls. Sheer drapery allows the light to come into this room.  A settee and Louis XVI chairs with a blue and white stripe slipcovers form a seating area with a Empire table and crisp white tablecloth.  A pale light blue and white scheme pull together a soft, yet delicate look for this room.  A pink rug, and lighter pink upholstery seen on the backs of the chairs offer up a subdued, yet tender room to lounge in.  Large gilt oval portraits add a historical feel to the room.

A grand library filled with the owners original books offered a taste of the high life.  Books were so much more valuable in the 17th and 18 century, and having a library filled with them, suggests the owners were well off.  A 1799 white stucco medallion mounted on a simple wood frame depicts the houses first owner.  A Dutch or German table centers the room, with English cane chairs backed to the books.  Swedish pewter candlesticks sit on the table, along with a brass telescope for viewing nature.  The shelves are painted in a blue/ gray, houses natural leather books adding such rich contrast.  Furniture is left in it’s natural wood, which adds a rustic effect.

The most interesting thing about this house is that it has actually been lived in all these years” says Johan who owns the house. His wife Ingrid Lagerfelt and their two children live in this home currently. Their ancestor inherited the house from the original brother and sister who built the home. Johan is a doctor, and his wife Ingrid farms the estates 2,500 acres of land.

More from Veranda:

Johan and Ingrid Lagerfelt's Home In Veranda 6

Johan and Ingrid Lagerfelt’s Home In Veranda

Johan and Ingrid Lagerfelt's Home In Veranda 5

Johan and Ingrid Lagerfelt’s Home In Veranda

Johan and Ingrid Lagerfelt's Home In Veranda 4

An Up-close and Detailed Look At The Wall Painting

Swedish Nordic Homes Seen On Skona Hem 3

The Swedish interior decoration magazine Skona Hem had a wonderful write up on an English family who transformed their home into that of a Gustavian period style.

The home is largely based around a white palette, anchored by distressed wood floors which create a down to earth family feel. While many of us wouldn’t have access to an authentic Swedish tiled stove, we can incorporate the lines of the furniture that were seen through this time frame.

What To Look For….

– Straight Or Curvy Lines– Look for Rococo, Louis XVI furniture that has straight lines.  Look for straight chests which you can add round ornate pulls, and round keyholes to. Victorian furniture also can be painted and re-upholstered to achieve that Swedish appeal.

– Mix And Match Styles– Don’t be afraid of mixing in a variety of country and formal styled furniture. You can see in this home, mixing and matching is very appealing.

– Go Authentic With Patterns- Work with country throws, and rugs to bring in the authentic patterns of Sweden.

– Wallpaper Is A Great Investment– Wallpaper can really transform a room, as seen in this home.  Go for white based wallpaper with a geometrical or floral based patterns.

-Lighter Everything–  Work with lighter colored fabrics, with an airy feel.  Go for thinner fabrics for the summer, and collect natural based thicker wools for the winter time.

– Faux Painting and Stenciling- Create faux molding with paint.  Here we frames on the walls, used in combination with stencils to give a whimsical, feminine look to the walls.  As you can see, they pick a very light blue for the frames, and all the stenciling is done in a couple shades lighter and darker than the base wall colors.  This look is very easy on the eyes.

– Crystal Chandeliers Everywhere– Chandeliers can really make a difference.  In this home, almost every room has a crystal chandelier.  Get the Swedish look by changing out your light fixtures to something more classic.  It will instantly change the space.

Related Articles:

-40 Tips – How To Choose The Perfect White Paint Hersite

-Darryl Carter’s Paint Line For Benjamin Moore –Her Site

– 198 Pictures Of White Interiors –Her Site

-Stephen Shubel’s 1906 Fishermans Cottage Home in Sausalito Hersite

– 20 Seasoned Designers Reveal Their Best White Paint Shades Hersite

– Shabby Chic Decorating: Borrow Rachel Ashwell’s 3 Signature Looks –Hersite

– The White Dresser- A Website Based around All White Furniture – The White Dresser

Swedish 1900's Decorating

This Swedish home takes several chairs and combines them with a day bed.  One way to unify several pieces of furniture is to simply paint them the same color, as they have done here.

“Söderbo” is a summer home, and perfect for all those who love history, because this home is practically untouched.  Nothing has changed since the house was decorated in the 1920s.  In fact, every piece of furniture, every picture, and the decor is such as it was in the early 1900’s.  The interior lets in lots of light as large windows reveal the beautiful greenery outside.  Elegant white painted furniture makes the home larger than it really is.  Reading a book, playing a few games, and having a hot bath might be what you would do in this home in the summer months.  Although you may have to haul in the water, and manually heat it!  The modern amenities of the home are missing, but that doesn’t stop the owners from getting away and enjoying all the life that this property has to offer.  Water must still be carried out and the food collected in the root cellar, so the children of the home don’t have to wonder how grandma and grandpa did things, the old way of live is very evident in the day to day functioning of the home.

“Söderbo” in the past was only used as a summer house. Servants were brought out into the country with lots of luggage, and the residents from the big city enjoyed the summer life to rest and enjoy the rich fresh air, and all that the countryside could offer. Besides the main house, the property is equipped with a boathouse pre-existant from the mid-1800s, a root cellar and a cabana by the water.

Inside the house,  white painted wooden furniture shows a classic Swedish design which can be seen throughout the home.  The furniture was originally purchased back in the days of the era’s most fashionable department store NK. The various pieces of furniture are seen in the country style which if fluent in the dining room, bedroom, desks, chairs and shelves. The kitchen is set up to function for food preparation, such as cooking, baking and canning.  The upstairs of the home is mostly how it was originally.  Some fabrics have been worn through time and replaced, but the beautiful Art Nouveau wallpaper in the parents’ bedroom are original. Gather some ideas from this time period for your home.

Images and full article found on husohem.se Swedish 1900's Decorating
“Söderbo” A Home Untouched Since 1920

Swedish Art Deco

A rare pair of Swedish Art Deco 2-arm mirror sconces designed by Gustav Bergstrom. Frames are gilt over pewter and Incised with a serpentine pattern.The frame tops are decorated with a sculpture of a lotus flower flanked by 2 mythical sea creatures. Candles are newly wired for candelabra bulbs. Mirror glass is original and show highly desirable movement in the reflection. Sconces are the perfect example of “Swedish Grace” style.

Swedish Art Deco

Delicate gilt wood Swedish Art Deco wall mirror with cared details depicting a sunburst and ancient oil lamps. Mirror glass is original and has a one inch beveled edge

Swedish 1900's Decorating

“Söderbo” A Home Untouched Since 1920

The indoor dining room features doors painted by an artist who lived in the home
in the 1930s. Wallstreet Journal

It is no doubt that the hottest designers are using distressed Gustavian furniture in their own homes. Designer Daniel Romualdez is one of those designers.  His Montauk, New York home also shows off a captivating white based interior.  Romualdez breathed new life into the home using only splashes of blue, white and black.  The main dining room shows a beautiful collection of seashells in weathered frames.  The room is furnished with 18th century Gustavian furniture with a geometric blue and white upholstery.  Most of all the pictures we picture below are credited to the Wallstreet Journal.  Here are a few links to this homes interior from Corbis.  Here is a picture of the stairway that was installed in limed pine, in line with the Swedish styles found through the house.

Decorating with seashells can add a natural touch to your home.  Here are 10 tips to getting a high end look with seashells:

1.  Paint your walls in soft pastels. Keeping the wall color light will create a serene feel and allow you to play off the colors found in the lighter natural tones of seashells.

The ocean and the sky are both blue, so blue should be incorporated into the color scheme. Borrow looks from Daniel Romualdez’s home by choosing upholstery in blue and white.  White based backgrounds for upholstery choices keep within the classic textile choices found in Sweden.

-Light blue or green walls are also great colors for a room decorated with seashell decor.

-If you do use brighter blues, consider using it in an accessory as Daniel Romualdez’s does with a vibrant floral centerpiece.  Add layers of duller blues in your rooms with accents of brighter tones of blue sparingly.

2. Mix in reds, oranges, and golden hues within your home decor to provide a contrast to the white walls, and white shells such as what Daniel Romualdez’s does with the black hand painted doors, and black frames on the walls.

3. Consider installing wall panelling, which can be stained in a soft cream or white.  Wood adds an organic layer that is commonly found in Swedish decorating. Clean, brilliant white walls make a great backdrop for bold color splashes or natural wood accents.

4.  Sofa or floor pillows incorporate the feeling of comfort.  This Sea Shell Linen Pillow Cover with Jute & Mother Of Pearl Embroidery has both the linen fabrics found in Swedish decorating, as well adds a bit of the pearl shine we find in the sea.

5.  Cover furniture or home decor with shells.  A neoclassical bust with smaller seashells is a sophisticated approach to using shells in your decor.  All you need is a nice looking neoclassical bust, hot glue and a variety of seashells.

-Make a crown for the bust or display it on it’s own.

Here we see a rustic bust, with a seashell crown.

Here we see a mirror made with hand collected shells and Ikea mirror frame.  All the shells are facing the same direction rather than the sporadic placement that we see with seashell art.

Here we see a beautiful floral display with an urn decorated in seashells

Plaster Busts on Ebay

7.  Consider presenting your collection of shells as a display on your wall with corbels.  Instead of displaying the smaller shells, collect the larger seashells, which can make more of an impact.  Swedish decorating is known for clean, uncluttered looks, so bigger shells are better in a Swedish scheme.  Corbels can be rather expensive, but there are ways of getting corbels that match without spending $300 on each corbel.  Make your own shelves for pennies with concrete molds such as this one from Mold CreationsConcrete Success has the perfect mold shelf featuring a sea shell in the design, selling for $34 dollars.  This allows you to make endless shelves for your collections, without spending any more than for the mold itself, and the plaster or concrete.

Interesting Finds on Ebay And Amazon

This square sea shell mold would be a rather interesting texture to cover an entire accent wall in a bathroom with. It has a rather primitive fossil quality to it.

-Silver Tone Decorative Spiny Jewel Nautical Sea Shell Home Decor $27

-Luxury Lane Hand Blown Art Glass Seashell Centerpiece 7.5″ tall by 12.5″ long $25

-White Pearlized Chambered Nautilus Sea Shell Decor 5″ – 6″ $25

-100% Real Sea Shell-4.5″ Original From Haiwaii,$9

-Small Brass Compass Rose Nautical Wall Plaque $50

-Bathroom Decor- Set of 3 Decorative Clear Glass Bottles with Nautical Sea Shell $71

-Luxury Lane Hand Blown Art Glass Seashell Centerpiece 4.5″ tall by 9″ long $25

-Aluminum Sea Shell Decor 4″H, 10″W $36

-Round Rustic Wooden Nautical Porthole Mirror– $70

-Set of 2 Seafoam Green and Cream Sea Shell Pattern Rustic Aged Decorative Bowls $110

-Gorgeous Set of 4 Mini Sea Shell Covered Spheres $48

-Decorative Wooden Paddle  $19

-Wooden Nautical Sailboat Yacht Model w/ Shell Sail $24

See our other post Daniel Romualdez’s Breathtaking Late-Eighteenth Century Farmhouse

Daniel Romualdez’s Montauk Home-www.williamwaldron.com

Another View Of This Room From www.corbisimages.com

You can see the trim was painted blue, and the floors limed.  In addition, the doors were touched up.

In a corner of the living room, a 1940s mercury glass lamp stands on a rough, round Empire-style table next to two 1920s Scandinavian painted chairs. The graceful wing-backed chaise dates from the 1930s and is upholstered in simple white canvas duck, with natural linen pillows from Ruby Beets.- House Beautiful Magazine

If you haven’t ever seen Ruby Beets home, you are in for a treat.  Featured in House Beautiful Magazine back in July of ’06 , this house has the perfect mix of old world charm,and rustic surprises that make it very interesting to the eye.  The raw painted furniture, iron decorative items, wood panels and paint color choices are particular elements of the interior styles found in Sweden.

If you enjoy the country cottage looks, but want something more upscale, borrow ideas from this home. Here are a couple suggestions from this interior.

1.  Have Slipcovers Made- Spend the extra money and have tailored slipcovers made that will give you the comfortable feel like this home.  Swedish textiles were mostly made from organic materials.  Consider materials like muslin, duck, or canvas.  Many people are taking drop cloths sold in hardware stores and bleaching them.  Today you can buy pure white duck or canvas cloth in off white, and various shades of cream, and blue amongst other colors.

2.  Invest in Great Antiques– I am not one of those people who are afraid of touching antiques.  My best advice, is if you find a sensational chair, improve it and make it your own.  Buy the upholstery fabric that makes you happy.  Buy the hardware that you will enjoy looking at day after day.  Make it YOU!

It is amazing what a strip job will do for your wood furniture.  Taking off the varnish will allow the paint to sink into the wood, that when you do to distress the wood, the overall finish looks so much better than painting it alone.  For years I have used a chemical stripper until I bought a heat gun, and I never knew that stripping furniture was soooooo easy and fast!  If you want to get a rustic look for your furniture, working with the bare wood is the ticket to high quality Swedish looks.

3. Use Black Somewhere- Swedish interiors are usually based around light colors such as blue, light greens, gray and so forth.  You would be amazed how nice black stands out against a lightly colored wall.  I used to love black painted furniture, that everything was painted black until I fell in love with lighter painted furniture, and all of our furniture was repainted in white or gray.  Our walls in our house are painted a light blue, and after debating what color to paint a hallway floor clock, I decided to plunge for black, and was it ever a great decision!   Everyone comments on it, because it sure stands out against the lighter colored walls.  Contrast can be a surprise!  Black colored furniture looks exceptionally well in lighter interiors.  Even if you have just one piece in black, it can look sensational!

Here are some of the comments from Ruby Beets featured in Home Beautiful that were particularly interesting

“I was a vintage clothing dealer in the’70s. I’ve been buying old stuff forever. Ruby Beets used to be about the found object school of antiques. My partner and I would buy a dresser and it would have peeling paint and we thought that was romantic. But now we want the drawers to work—enough with the drawer bottoms falling out! The new store is a cleaner, more modern and edited version of what we used to do. My house is too. Life is irritating enough at a certain age. Anyway, I like a lot of white, you can see that. All the furniture is slip-covered in muslin or cotton duck so I can remove it and wash it, which I do every six weeks. I guess, unless something horrible happens. I like big graphic shapes. Those white dishes and things in the kitchen cabinets, some are vintage and some are new ironstone, which we carry in the store. That cabinet we
bought from the local hardware store here. It went out of business, and they had 52 feet of glass cabinetry that we took and put in the kitchen. ”

“When you walk in, you don’t know what age the house is, but it feels like something old. I love it because it feels transparent inside. Hie boards are painted gray like the sea in winter, and because we have no near neighbors we have nothing on the windows—you can see from the front door all the way through to the water at the back. You can see a lighthouse in the distance. The girls used to say they lived in a lighthouse.”

“My husband is an obsessed fisherman, but he’s catch-and-release. He also collects taxidermy fish. He probably has 50 or 40 in his office.”

What is the significance of the name, Ruby Beets?-“Oh. I don’t know. I made it up years ago. But it’s catchy, right?”

The Dienst’s Home

A Baroque Wing Chair Upholstered In Gray Linen, sits beside a Baroque Chest

In Sweden, the Middle Ages lasted for approximately 500 years, until Gustav I of Sweden seized power in 1523. Most all of the buildings were constructed out of timer, until the 12th century, where stone became the predominant building material for the construction of the churches. Lund Cathedral, and Husaby Church are excellent examples of this style. The Gothic style brought brick to Sweden as a new fashionable building material, and many of the cathedrals were fashioned out of brick, while others were made of limestone. 1,500 of Sweden’s 4,000 churches from the Middle Ages survive from this period. The 13th century city walls around Visby are some of the best-preserved medieval city walls in Europe, and in fact, the street layout of Stockholm’s Old City still can be seen designed with a medieval flavor.

Sweden rose to a great Power in the 17th century, the privileged class and government began to build again. The idea of the architect and designer was established and the profession developed. During this time works of Simon De la Vallée and Nicodemus Tessin the Elder became well known in Sweden. The work of Nicodemus Tessin the Younger moved the architectural development in Sweden during this time into High Baroque, such as Stockholm Palace.

As we discussed in Part 1, a notable example of the Baroque style in Sweden was seen in Strömholm. In part 2, we discussed King Gustav Vasa, whom was the ruling power at the time, and how the Catholic church dominated the design circles which influenced art across Europe and abroad. In Part 3, we discussed both Skokloster & Steninge Palace as striking examples of the Baroque style, which architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger was responsible for. In part 4 and 5 we hope to inspire you to achieve this look in your own home looking at an example of a collector of Swedish antiques and what they did for their own home working with Baroque Swedish antiques in particular.

Jill Dienst’s owner of Dicost + Doner specializes in Scandinavian antiques from the 17th century to the mid-20th century.  Jill Dienst’s passion for collecting for her own home over the years paved the way for her success as an antique dealer.   Before opening up her own business, Jill Dienst spent decades at some of the finest institutions in the art, which allowed her to gain an appreciation for antiques and design world.

All images and information from Martha Stewart.

The centerpiece of the living room is a Gustavian sofa, which has been
upholstered in plain linen.

Mid-twentieth-century pieces by Danish designer Poul
Henningsen are mixed into the room

The simple, roll-up window shades are the same kind used in Swedish manor
houses, but these are made from a sheer fabric.

The living room walls and mantel were painted slightly different variations of
the same color. 

The painting is a 1911 portrait of Swedish boys in school uniforms sit above the mantel.

The statues came from a rustic church in southern Sweden.

The candlesticks work beautifully with the gilt portrait of the Swedish boys