Category: Guides – Nordic Decorating

Decorating With Blue: Swedish Style Decorating Ideas

There are so many shades of blue, which one do you pick? Swedish decorating is known for their partiality towards the color blue. Blue is one of the staple colors in 18th Swedish century decorating, so if you plan on decorating with this style, we can give you a few ways to incorporate the color blue into your design scheme.

First decide if you want a formal or country appearance in your home. Knowing which look you are attracted to can help determine accessories, furniture, drapery and wall treatments.

1. Formal Blue Interiors – Blue-gray, painted finishes became popular after King Gustav ruled in 1772, and since then they still remain fashionable.

Formal Swedish Tips- Line Furniture Up Against The Wall- This is a classic Swedish touch that can give the look of finer living. If you have a room where you can line a set of three chairs against the wall, or a pair of chairs and a accent table, this will always give your room that refined, superior Swedish appearance. Push your furniture in the middle of the room, and if you have a tv, consider hanging it on the wall. I find that this arrangement always gives the look of more space. You can never have too many chairs. Collect furniture that have fluted legs, such as side tables, benches, or chairs.

Formal Swedish Tips- Buy A Long Oval Table – Here is a Henredon oval table selling on ebay for just over $1000. Strip off the finish and paint it gray. A long, dining table echoes the simple curves of early Gustavian style. Dress up your furniture in light, greenish blue-gray paint finishes to get the high end looks found in the Swedish castles. Consider investing in a crystal chandelier, which coordinates with white or really pale blue or pastel walls and work with white upholstery. Squared picture moldings, and sconces really can add to this formal Swedish appearance. Consider stenciling your walls with green-blue leaf patterns along the inner edges of the walls, and collect old styled portrait oil paintings with dark grounds which give rooms a dark accent.

Formal Swedish Tips- Go For Gold Accents– Dress up your furniture with furniture appliques and ormolu mounts. You can make any picture frame seem so much more expensive by adding gold leaf. Gold leaf is really simple to apply. Follow this link, and I show you where I buy my gold leaf on ebay. Buy a sconce and gold leaf it. Get ideas from this post, where I wrote about the sconces that are the most sought after from collectors world wide. A thin rectangular mirror on ebay can be a great look, which you can then add on a brass candle holder. This DIY project will give you the Swedish look for less.

– Decorative Mirror Molding, French White Bow- $21 Buy it on ebay

– Decorative Scrolls For Mirrors, and Dressers – $40 Buy it on ebay

– Ribbon Bows Mold, Decorate Mirrors and Furniture- $13 Buy it on ebay

-Ormolu French Gilded Furniture Ribbon Large- $35 Buy it on ebay

Louis XV Antique GILT WOOD handcrafted CARTEL WALL CLOCK estimated $1200- buy it for $350, buy it on ebay

Antique Gilt Wood Cartel Clock $450 on ebay– buy it on ebay

– Formal Swedish Tips- Go Brighter With Bright Blue and White- Go for a home that has white accessories and upholstery. Don’t be afraid to go with bolder blues for drapery, upholstery and bed linens. Brighter blues look great in formal settings.

-20 Yard Bolt – 44/45″ White Polycotton Liberty BROADCLOTH- $61 Buy it on ebay

– Solid Poly Cotton Fabric In Bright Blue – Buy it on ebay

-Fabric By The Bolt – 40 YARD BOLT $190 on ebay- Buy it on ebay

-Sunbrella Canvas Air Blue Outdoor Fabric $21 dollars a yard- Buy it on ebay

Cane Back Cushioned Seat Side Wood Chair Fluted Distressed Hammered Nailheads

(Paint it gray, white, blue or what ever colors you are working with. Great frame, great price)

Swedish Country Rustic Styles

2. Country Keys- Rustic Architecture – Country Swedish style is beautiful and worn. The countryside contains a mixture of rustic elements. Go shopping in architectural salvage yards and collect things that are worn. Wood is the key to getting the look. An old wooden door can be replaced by those builder typical doors you see in new homes. A old ladder can lean against the wall. Paint it in a darker blue and distress the heck out of it. Ceiling beams in their natural wood give an architectural feel to a home. Add some faux hallow wood beams across your ceiling. Get the look without having to hire 5 strong men to anchor it in place. Work with light wood flooring, and natural materials.

–Country Keys- Country Textiles- Skirted sofas, slipcovers in natural blends and textured walls are classic marks of styles found off the beaten path in Sweden. Ebay sells a number of Restoration Hardware’s stone washed Belgian Linen products new in their packages. You can buy new pleated drapes on ebay, along with bedding, pillow cases and more for half the cost in the stores. Raw and natural textures are the key to this look. I ordered this heavy oatmeal linen for several of my drum lamp shades which I am re-covering. The material is heavy, and would be terrific for upholstery.

– Heavily distressed Mora clocks such as these on ebay, give your room that traditional Swedish look.

– Warm Old Barn Finish Table (paint it, and change the color) – $229 Buy it on ebay

– Reclaimed Salvaged Fir End Side Table- $564 on ebay here

– Country Keys – Go For Color On The Rustic Side– Muddy shades of blue work with the country styles. If you like the lighter shades of baby blue, distress your furniture more than you normally would. This certainly helps when the furniture’s wood is raw and stripped. The paint will blend nicely with the raw woods surface giving you a more authentic appearance. For complementary shades, pair blue with orange-red accents, along with shades of green-blues. Gingham upholstery also looks terrific in a country home, along with florals. Work with carvings, such as art that can be hung on the wall, and accessories that are carved such as standing wood birds which are painted and made from wood. Dala folk horse carvings are a Swedish country favorite. Pillows with embroidered blue-and-white folk patterns nicely work in a country home. Think about hand crafts, such as hand embroidered artwork, quilts, delft fireplace tiles, over-sized ginger jars, and colored glass.

Restoration Hardware Shower Curtains

Carved Mango Wood Accent Table Mindi Veneer Hand Finish Robin’s Egg Blue, this table sells for $229 on ebay Buy it on ebay

This Weathered Solid Fir Fireplace Mantel could be used as a bed crown for a rustic country Swedish look. All you need to do, is attach the drapes. Sells for $739 Buy it on ebay

This chair features the pretty shaped backs we see in the Swedish style with a new edge to it. This chair sells for $595 Buy it on ebay

-Hand-Turned Hardwood Accent Table $439 on ebay here

Beige Stripe Loveseat $1500 Buy it on ebay

Buy the matching chair here

– Blue Makes Everything Appear Larger- “Shades known as cool blues―like cobalt, turquoise, and ice blue―have yellow in them and tend to recede, or back away, which can help a small space look bigger. Color experts explain that cool blues encourage calmness (which is nice for a bedroom) and focus (say, in a home office). Sometimes cool blues can go a little further and be cold. But in a bathroom, where you want a crisp, clean vibe, that can be a good thing” Real Simple Magazine

– Decorate With Blue Slipcovers, Drapery, and Linens– One of the easiest ways to decorate with blue is to do it through throw pillows, slip-covers, linens and drapery. Bed coverings are simple to find in the Swedish style. Every time I am at Ikea, I notice their beautiful printed bed sheets. They have a variety of newer patterns, shapes and designs that would work with a Swedish design perfectly. Florals, stripes, and plain sheets are always a design that never goes out of style. If you love the rococo looks like I do, go for florals. Blue and white florals always take the edge of a room, and make it feel more comfortable.

– Dye Your Existing Fabrics Blue– Rit came out with a color called aqua-marine. The color is bright, and light. If you have old fabric that you no longer have use for, or the patterns colors simply aren’t your style anymore, consider dying it. The aqua-marine color can be tinted a slightly different shade by adding a bit of purple to the mix. Their royal blue also is sensational. The ability to dye fabric has been used since ancient times. The earliest record of the use of natural dyes was found in China around 2600BC. Indigo, a blue dye had been known throughout the ancient world for its ability to color fabrics a deep blue. The dye was extracted from several plants, and was imported from India. The shrub was found in India, and was quite expensive to import, so England began growing the plant. Prussian Blue came about in 1774, which was created by mixing iron salt and prussite of potash and aniline and bleaching powder to create bright blue. By the 1800’s, Prussian Blue was known as one of the earliest known chemical dyes.

– Finding the right hue of blue for your room is simply found by what color you enjoy the most. Then, work with the darker and lighter shades of your preferred choice for the trim, drapery, bedding and upholstery. For my bedroom, I found a set of pleated drapes on ebay in blue, and I had my paint colors matched to the drapes. It gave me a starting point. Most important, choose a color which you adore. It makes living in it day after day so much more enjoyable!

– Never Discount A Nice Quilted Throw “Benjamin Moore’s Ashmead Gray transformed the master bedroom’s mahogany Henkel Harris four-poster. Custom drapes from Calico Corners add a hit of pattern, and an antique leather trunk provides extra storage. The duvet and shams are by Area.“– See The Picture At Country Living See beautiful quilts like the one in the picture here……

-Show Off Blue, Brown, Lilac Transferware – “A white background, with hints of pretty gray-blue, is a great backdrop for displaying collectibles and antiques. This dining room’s built-in cupboards show off some of the owner’s transferware collection” View The Picture at Country Living

– Go Bold In The Bathroom With A Bright Shower Curtain. In this photo, a shower curtain has three different white trims stitched on top of it. Borrow this look for your own home by purchasing a plain shower curtain, and dressing it up with ribbon.

-Use One Color Throughout – “Although singular in hue, a monochromatic color palette can have multiple dimensions. Using one color in a room creates a sleek, sophisticated look, but including a few variations on the featured hue will boost character. In this cool blue living room, vivid shades of sky blue pop against blue-based neutrals” See the picture at Better Homes and Gardens

– Cool Tones With Other Cool Toned Pastels “If you like the idea of adding more color to your room but want the bright blue to blend into the overall design, decorate your walls with items in cool colors. Because blue is a cool shade, you’ll create a soothing, cohesive look for the room by incorporating colors like green and purple. Look for prints and artwork that feature shades like sage, mint or hunter green to dress up the walls, or try hanging vinyl wall decals of purple flowers and green leaves. You can even frame squares of fabric with green and purple patterns for a simple but colorful piece of artwork to hang on your bright blue walls.” – Home Guides

– Paint Your Architecture Blue– I saw this picture above on This Old House, and it immediately caught my attention. It is a breathtaking laundry room, isn’t it? One of the best elements about this room that I love, is that the cabinetry, and the walls are painted the same color. Architecture can stand out, even if it is painted the same color of the walls. Doesn’t this look fantastic? Adding extra architectural elements such as crown molding and wainscoting can give your room additional intrigue. Getting the style of furniture to fit into the desired period is often half the battle. Swedish style borrowed much of its style through this time from France, so the two styles mix together quite well. Furniture can always be painted, and dressed up with hardware, so don’t discount a piece of furniture because it is not painted, instead, look at the lines of the furniture, because everything can be altered. Borrow this look by painting a piece of furniture in your room the SAME color.

– Leave Your Furniture Raw With Bold Blue Interiors– With bold punches of color on your wall, consider leaving solid wood furniture in their natural state. No makeup needed! Natural wood when paired with blue, gives a room warmth, because blue often falls in the cooler tones. Having that bit of warm contrast, doesn’t make it feel like an ice palace. In fact, gold, brown and cream can also be neutrals in a brightly painted room. Adding a pretty console table that has been painted and accented in gold can unite the room giving a really elegant feel. Accessorizing with some bergere chairs framed in gold really does wonders for pulling all the elements together.

– How To Use Several Shades Together All At Once “The gentle progression of color in ombre suggests the transition from wakefulness to slumber, especially in soothing shades of blue. The headboard slipcover and matching pillowcases are shrouded in sky-blue linen that’s dyed a deeper, sea-inspired tone, embodying the spare beauty of a monochromatic palette.” Check out the picture at Martha Stewart.

– Display A Collection Of Wedgewood “Tin containers have been manufactured in a very cool color of Wedgwood jasperware. For display on a neoclassic sideboard, we’ve chosen grays, blues, and greens. Symmetrically arranged with eighteenth-century formality, stacks of the circular “Wedgwood” tins can be used for storage. On the wall, a row of lids is displayed like a collection of antique plates or prints.” See the picture at Martha Stewart

– Find Vintage Neoclassical Lamps Which Can Be Painted- In this picture (1 of 9) a classic style lamp is painted a slightly more vibrant shade seen in the wall color. Painting something the same color as the walls allows you to add more accessories to the room without it appearing to be busy.

– Work With Blue Upholstered Furniture, And Then Determine Your Wall Colors – “Keep the background pure with the same color on all four walls and add unexpected pops of color using pillows,” designer Steven Gambrel recommends. Here, aqua paint is just a supporting character; the real conversation pieces are the cerulean sofa and powder-blue-and-white patterned rug.” See the picture here (picture 3 of 9)

– Dark or Light, That Is The Question You Must Determine First “The hardest thing about decorating with blue is that blue can be a hard color to nail down. Blue’s variety of shades can either feel reserved or expressive, subtle or loud. And depending upon the undertones, blue can run the gamut from warm to cool, which change the entire dynamic of a room. When decorating with blue, consider these tricks and tips to creating an interior space that reflects the best of blue’s characteristics” Read more here

– Confused With Color? Work With The Color Wheel- “Complementary Colors- Complementary colors are directly opposite of each other on the color wheel. You can create bold, yet pleasing, color combinations. Nature provides some beautiful examples: the red rose with green foliage, a monarch butterfly against the blue sky, or a purple petunia with a yellow center” See more about this at Home Decorators

– Use 3 Shades To Put Together A Blue Room“Using different shades of blue will work beautifully in a room as long as they complement each other. Blue comes in many different shades from a greenish blue to grayish and purplish tones. One should keep within the same palette, or harmonizing tones, when decorating in several shades of the same color. Use the odd number rule, such as three, when mixing shades of a color.” Examiner

– Create A Bed Canopy And Add Blue Fabric– In this photo, a bed crown is paired with a slightly more vibrant shade of fabric than what is seen in the walls. Curtain hardware nicely hold back the drapery. Borrow this look for your own home.

69 Inspiring Pictures Of Nordic Country Style Decorating

Bogstad Manor is a protected cultural monument and one of the few country estates in Norway. The history of the estate dates back to 1649, while Norway was still Catholic the land was rented out to tenant farmers by Hovedøya Monastery. After the reformatin in 1536 it was confiscated by the Crown. It was then in 1649 that the Danish-Norwegian King Fredrik III sold Bogstad and number of other farms to Morten Lauritzen. This land provided great timber for sawmills which was rapidly expanding in the 17th century.

The Manor remained in the same family from 1649 until it was left to the Bogstad Foundation in 1955, administered under the Norwegian Folk Museum. The museum has left the estate authentic to the original time period, leaving a monument that shows layers of layers of history.

Peder Anker, became the first Norwegian Prime Minister in Stockholm in 1814 during the union with Sweden (1814-1905). From 1773 to 1780 Peder Anker made some alterations and additions to Bogstad Manor’s main building. He designed the ballroom with inspiration from Versailles, bought a huge collection of paintings in Rome and created the first English landscape park in Norway.

Bogstad Manor is open to the public throughout the year, as well as guided tours of the main buildings are offered from May-September. Bogstad Manor also has copies of artifacts for sale in the museum shop that relate to the history and tradition at Bogstad manor. The museum shop sells glass, pewter and porcelain.

The gardens at Bogstad are sensational to see. The baroque garden was established in the first part of the 18th century. The English style park was created by Peder Anker around 1780 and has canals and ponds for carp and ducks. Peder Anker introduced more than 400 rare trees and plants from abroad. This park became a model for number of parks in Norway.

Bogstad Manor In Norway

Stave church, Rollag, Buskerud, Norway

Picture Credit Visit google.no

Røldal stave church, Hardanger region in Norway. The church was built at the end of the 13 th century and is famous for its crucifix. According to legend it sweats once a year (July 6 th), and the sweat has healing power. After Trondheim (Nidarosdomen cathedral), Røldal was the most important site of pilgrimage in Norway during the middle ages.

Garden Snails – Cepaea Hortensis (Detail) New painted ceiling on antique floorboards.

Peter Korver Amsterdam 2008

Visit ljo-s.blogspot.com

Norwegian cubbord beds adorned with wood carvings and Rosemaling

Visit milan.govoffice.com

The colorful knotted throw was created to compliment the wall painting.

Visit homedesign.marthastewart.com

“The lady’s bedroom at Skogaholms herrgård (Skogaholm Manor), Skansen open air museum, Stockholm.” Visit upload.wikimedia.org

Antique 1840-1870 Swedish Mora Clock Visit seattle.craigslist.org

Swedish Antiques Visit bukowskismarket.com

Stora Nyckelviken, Stockholm – Visit upload.wikimedia.org

Hall (ivistoga) with intricate rosemaling; Yli farm in Telemark

Skansen Museum in Stockholm- See More At New Girl’s Accessories Blog

Länna Prästgård, Norrtälje Visit homedesign.marthastewart.com

Skansen Museum in Stockholm- See More At New Girl’s Accessories Blog

Two Scandinavian Homes Visit inspiracionline.blogspot.com

Lone Ranger Antiques 321 Walnut Street Hollywood, Florida, 33019.

Swedish Palette – A Galvinized Pail Is Used As A Vase

Näs herrgård, Norrtälje, Uppland –Wikipedia

Skogaholms Herrgård, Skansen, Stockholm.

18th century weeks at Skansen by Johanni on Flickr

Sunlight in the dining room at Haga, Haga Pavilion, Late 18th century, Gustaviansk or Swedish Neoclassicism Photograph by Magnus photo Seen on Pinterest

Sweaters by Designer Solveig Hisdal

Traditional Swedish Nordic Dining Rooms – Visit solgarden.se

Visit knowingtheroyals.wordpress.com

Adolf Frederick was born, 14 May 1710 -12 February 1771) was King of Sweden from 1751 until his death. His father was Christian Augustus (1673—1726) duke and a younger prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp, prince-bishop of Lubeck, and administrator, during the Great Northern War, of the duchies of Holstein-Gottorp for his relative Charles Frederick. His mother was Albertina Frederica of Baden-Durlach. On his mother’s side, Adolf Frederick descended from king Gustav I of Sweden and from Christina Magdalena, a sister of Charles X of Sweden. From both his parents he was descended from Holstein-Gottorp, a house with a number of medieval Scandinavian royal dynasties among its ancestors. Adolf Frederick was also a 13th-generation descendant of Erik V of Denmark; a 13th-generation descendant of Sophia of Denmark and Valdemar I of Sweden; and an 11th-generation descendant of Euphemia of Sweden, Duchess of Mecklenburg and her husband the duke Albrecht.

Pair of Swedish Baroque Commodes created in the 1850s. Unknown Dealer

Nordic Architecture Visit homedesign.marthastewart.com

Sarah Richardsons Country House Visit houseandhome.com

GRUVGATAN 13 Blog Visit gruvgatan13.blogspot.se

The pale colors and bare windows give this room a Swedish feel….Colefax and Fowler

18th Century French Carved Wood Louis XVI Panel

18th Century Giltwood Barometer with Allegory of Science

This comfortable and fresh vacation home displays simple palette combined with clean lines and rustic finishes. In place of a traditional oil painting, designer Jessica McIntyre created an art installation for the dining room with wall brackets from Ballard Designs, pewter chargers from Pottery Barn, antler trophies from Two’s Company and antique Chinese water vessels from Club Cu. The rustic Durango light fixture by Arteriors Home contrasts nicely with the more traditional Zentique dining chairs. The tonal damask rug is from Shaver-Ramsey.coloradohomesmag.com

A Swedish Farmhouse- Source: Skeppsholmen.

Lennart Castelius Antiques & Interiors- here

Lennart Castelius Antiques & Interiors

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How To Decorate With Botanicals

Today Linnaeus’ Hammarby is one of Sweden’s most accurately preserved eighteenth century farms, with household items, clothing and art from Linnaeus’ own home. Carl von Linné (Linnaeus) bought the farm in 1758, and it became the Linné family’s “summer residence” . The family was able to keep animals and grow vegetables, grains for bread, and tobacco. Carl Linnaeus, papered his bedroom in plant posters, of the works by the French botanist Charles Plumier (1646-1704) and British Georg Ehret (1707-1770). Sängförhänget is a print based on his favorite flower “Linnaea borealis” – in short, the Linnean. Linnaeus’ study appears today, much like it would have looked when he was alive, with walls papered with flower illustrations.

In the 1600s, botanical artists were thought to lead an exciting life. Many left on expeditions to exotic locations around the world, devoting their lives to documenting plants, bulbs, and flowers in some of the most breath taking gardens around the world. Publishers would issue their etchings as part of an encyclopedic or scientific project. Wealthy people then would subscribe to a series, and whole collections were often displayed and bound into books.

Johan Wilhelm Palmstruch (1770-1811)

A Swedish artist’s most famous work is the “Swedish Botany,” which consists of a total of over 770 posters, which appeared in books between the years 1802-1843. Each image is hand-colored with great care and skill, and printed on fine paper. After Palmstruch death, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences published a series of booklets in 1843 with Palmstruch’s art along with a table of contents.

Cover A Chest With Botanical Prints

Martha Stewart had a 8 page article about this very topic in her September 2004 issue of Martha Stewart Living. She showed how to pull this look together using two different techniques. The first technique showed wallpaper which was cut out, and glued on to a piece of furniture, while the second technique glued selected sheets of botanical prints to a chest.

Project 1 shows a large wardrobe, which botanical wallpaper was carefully cut out. Images were arranged on the wardrobe using the placement seen in the original wallpaper pattern. In the article they suggest using one sided tape to arrange the graphics, which then can be removed later to glue each graphic down. Another easy way of doing this is to lay the wardrobe down on the ground, and then glue each motif in place. Remove air bubbles, which may squeeze out glue from under the image. Simply use a damp paper towel to wipe away any access glue. Touch up the edges with glue to seal any places around the image that might have been dried up. Let the glue dry overnight, and then apply water based satin polycrylic to seal the graphics.

The second chest which is featured shows botanical prints which were measured out, and glued to a chest. In this instance, botanical prints were measured and cut to size. Martha suggests using craft paper which show the measurement of the drawer, which allow you to determine each prints dimensions. Cut prints using a sharp utility knife and metal ruler. Plan your design by laying out each print on the dresser, arranging the prints before you glue them in place. Next, brush mod podge glue on the back of the print, and apply it to the drawer. Smooth the image out, removing any air bubbles. Repeat the process with all the images, and let the glue dry over night. Add a water based polycrylic clear coat, and either several coats of thick mod podge, or gloss epoxy as a finishing touch. Add new hardware, or attach existing hardware to complete the look.

Gustavian Decorating November December 2010 Veranda From Wilson Kelsey Design Blog

This lovely Uttermost Ava Table is an iron table with a marble top, perfect for seating in the kitchen or living room. The lovely scrolled iron legs are a bit of a break from wood. Uttermost sells this table for m$355.

Uttermost sells a lovely set of Leaf Botanical frames in a set of Nine. This set features a wide array of leaf prints, this art is accented by frames that have
a champagne silver leaf base with a gray glaze & light black distressing. Uttermost sells this set for $306.

Uttermost Set of 6 Ferns I-VI Botanical Wall Art Prints by Uttermost- Each of these six framed botanical wall art prints presents a beautiful illustration of a fern with its scientific name. Frames feature a champagne silver leaf base with brown and black wash and a gray glaze, and the prints are presented under glass. A fantastic accent for your walls from Uttermost. Set of 6

Orange Florals 18×14 Framed Wall Art I, II, III, IV, V, VI (Set of 6) by Uttermost These floral prints are accented by wooden frames with silver leaf inner and outer edges that have a light brown wash. Center section of frames have a sage green base with a heavy brown wash. Prints are under glass.

Set of 6 Wheat Grass Art Accents Sold through Uttermost– This set of prints features wooden frames finished in bronze undertones with brown and black distressing and a gray glaze. Prints are under glass.

Universal Lighting and Decor also sells a lovely iron table which features dainty iron legs with organic curves that lead to a decorative finial. These curved legs are topped with a round, limed pine wood table top. Lamps Plus sells this table for $355

Make Your Own Botanical Plates

Annekata Blog walks us through step by step how to make your own botanical plate using decoupage techniques. Being that there are plenty of royalty free sources containing vintage botanical, animals, and sea life art available for download, why not dress up a set of plates found at your local thrift store, or estate sale?

They suggest working with a glass plate. Simply lie the glass plate face down onto the paper you’ve selected, and center the pattern, and cut around the plate. Draw a line around the plate roughly 0.5 to 0.75 inches out. Next, relax the paper in water for 30 seconds. Glue up the bottom of the plate, and then center the wet paper face down on the bottom of the plate and carefully smooth out any air bubbles. Annekata Blog gives us some visual aids to show where to cut the print around the plate for the botanical print to best adhere to the glass without bubbles. Next, trim the rim with your scissors, and once it is dry, the plate can be hung on the wall.

Another way of creating botanical plates is to start of with a set of white plates. Simply cut out the images with a pair of fine scissors, which then can be glued on to the plate. First soak your prints in water, then add mod podge glue to the back of the images. After your images have dried, paint on a thick layer of gloss epoxy, to get the sheer glass look.

Frame Botanical Art

Create a collection of Botanical prints on your wall by using vintage frames found on ebay.

– For a classic Gustavian Swedish look, consider using round or oval frames. Many sellers are selling sets of Homco oval and round frames that you can gold leaf. Consider displaying a collection of 9 prints on the wall in matching oval or round frames.

– Making a large scale gallery wall using botanical prints doesn’t have to cost you a fortune. Dollar Tree on occasion has WOOD 8 x 10 rectangular frame that can be painted and distressed, or gold leafed. They sell them for just one dollar. You simply cannot get better than that! The item number of the ones I purchased are 639277459237 . If they are out of stock, the number will not show up on their website, although you can order them with a customer sales rep.

– MCS Industries 12-Pack Bulk Frames Available on Amazon

– Picture Frame Room 6 Panel Divider 387.00 + Free Shipping- Amazon

– Frames 4 Art on Ebay sells their beautiful frames in lots- Ebay

Botanicals: Butterflies & Insects- – Buy it on Amazon $44

The Golden Age of Botanical Art Buy it on Amazon From $23

Albertus Seba’s Cabinet of Curiosities Buy it on Amazon From $23

-The Art of Natural History in the Age of Discovery Buy used on Amazon from $12

-Birds: Mini Edition: The Art of Ornithology-Buy it new used on Amazon from $19

Botanical Books

Botanicals: Butterflies & Insects- Including more than three centuries of drawings culled from the rare books library of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, each page in Botanicals explodes with rich colors and lifelike details. Exquisite flowers, delicate fruits, and exuberant butterflies are among the jewels of nature that come to life in this unique compendium. Featured are works by leading botanical artists, including Maria Sibylla Merian, a revolutionary female entomologist and natural historian of the seventeenth century; E.A. Seguy, whose are nouveau-era work serves as inspiration for many contemporary creative directors and designers; and Dr. Robert John Thornton, a British visionary renowned for his interest in botany– Buy it on Amazon $44

The Golden Age of Botanical Art-The seventeenth century heralded a golden age of exploration, as intrepid travelers sailed around the world to gain firsthand knowledge of previously unknown continents. These explorers also collected the world’s most beautiful flora, and often their findings were recorded for posterity by talented professional artists. The Golden Age of Botanical Art tells the story of these exciting plant-hunting journeys and marries it with full-color reproductions of the stunning artwork they produced. Covering work through the nineteenth century, this lavishly illustrated book offers readers a look at 250 rare or unpublished images by some of the world’s most important botanical artists. Buy it on Amazon From $23

Albertus Seba’s Cabinet of Curiosities is one of the 18th century’s greatest natural history achievements and remains one of the most prized natural history books of all time. Though scientists of his era often collected natural specimens for research purposes, Amsterdam-based pharmacist Albertus Seba (1665-1736) was unrivaled in his passion. His amazing collection of animals, plants and insects from all around the world gained international fame during his lifetime. In 1731, after decades of collecting, Seba commissioned illustrations of every specimen and arranged the publication of a four-volume catalog–from strange and exotic plants to snakes, frogs, crocodiles, shellfish, corals, birds, and butterflies, as well as fantastic beasts, such as a hydra and a dragon. Buy new on Amazon from $25

-Amazing Rare Things: The Art of Natural History in the Age of Discovery-The book focuses on an exquisite selection of natural history drawings and watercolors by Leonardo da Vinci, Alexander Marshal, Maria Sibylla Merian, and Mark Catesby, and from the collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo—works all held in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle. Buy used on Amazon from $12

-Birds: Mini Edition: The Art of Ornithology- This breathtaking collection of important and beautiful ornithological art from London’s Natural History Museum traces its development from the Renaissance through the scientific approach favored in the Age of Exploration. Included are brilliantly reproduced artworks by the world’s great naturalists and scientists such as Audubon and Humboldt, along with the legion of Victorian explorers who catalogued the world’s avifauna before photography finally prevailed as the primary means of recording the natural world. Buy it new used on Amazon from $19

A Guesthouse Decorated in The Swedish Style

In the August 2010 issue of Home Beautiful, an editorial was written up on a garage in Salt Lake City which was transformed into a relaxing guest house with an overall Swedish design. Designers Marshall Watson and Jeffrey Kilmer took the everyday average space we all forget about and utilized the property in an entirely new way.

This concept of using the garage space has become even more popular in recent years as the need to accommodate “boomerang” children and aging parents has made many of us re-think the space we already own.

Many homes have attached or detached garages, and these spaces can be turned to very nice living accommodations. As with any project, you’ll want to make sure that you comply with local ordinances and building codes before undertaking such a project.

When converting a garage into to livable space, there’s always the issue of what to do with the garage door opening. A good solution is to keep a garage door in the original opening. By doing so, you can keep with the overall exterior look of the house.

Another option is to install carriage-style garage doors which feature decorative windows. These doors allow you the functionality of windows on the inside while maintaining the original garage look on the exterior. Another option is to replace the garage doors with large scale windows or doors which will fill the opening.

One of the most challenging aspects of this sort of renovation is the option of a bathroom. Additional plumbing requires tying into the existing plumbing lines which can be problematic and challenging. An additional bathroom is always a nice amenity to have for those additional guests, so investigating ways to add this possibility is worth doing.

About the Swedish Salt Lake City Garage Transformation:

After looking at the pictures of the Salt Lake City interior, one would never suspect it was a garage to begin with. Bead board paneling frames a fireplace where a gilded 19th century Italian mirror gives the living room a refined look. Porcelain garden stools are scaled perfectly for a pair of 18th century Swedish chairs. A Swedish sofa with embroidered crewel work add a natural, yet refined look for this room. A traditional mora clock in the entry way sets the mood for the whole guest house.

Subscribe to Home Beautiful- House Beautiful (1-year auto-renewal) $15 dollars ($1.50/issue)

Borrow Elements From This Home:

– Pairs of French Bergeres- Ebay

– Gingham check black curtain drapes W46 X L42 $25- Amazon

-Ivory & Orange Faux Silk Checks Curtains 52″W X 84″L – $38- Amazon

-Juliet Heavy Satin Embroidered Faux Silk Curtain Panel 52″W X 108″L – $295 Amazon

-Howard Elliott Bright Gold Lead 37″ Round Wall Mirror -$299 Amazon

-Uttermost Valent Blue Accent Table- $217 Amazon

-Two’s Company Gold Leaf Round Wall Mirrors, Set of 3- $136 Amazon

-Hickory Manor Round Rose Mirror, Cream Gold Silver- $292 Amazon

-Howard Miller Grandfather Clock $3K – Amazon

-Howard Miller Joslin Grandfather Clock- 3K Amazon

-Traditional Grandfather Clock with Chime from Coaster $230 Ebay

-Uttermost Cadey Side Table-$283- Amazon

-Howard Miller Chili Red Mora Clock For $1K Amazon

Commentary from the House Beautiful article:

FRANCES SCHULTZ: Sometimes the guesthouse is the second-Hand Rose of decorating, but this is a little jewel box.

MARSHALL WATSON: The owners treat their guests like family, and most of the time they actually are family. Between them they have seven children-two still at home and five grown and away who return frequently to visit.

Jeffrey KILMER: She wanted the house to be a fantasy escape, for her visitors to have a feeling of being transported into a foreign environment that
was cozy and warm.

FRANCES SCHULTZ- That Swedish Mora clock as you enter really sets up the whole scheme.

MW: You also feel, ‘Boy, I’m entering a really special space.’ You’re enthusiastic and drawn in. Even though you enter directly into the main room, it creates the feeling of an entry distinct from the room.

IK: And as opposed to a painting or a mirror, the clock is three-dimensional, so it adds depth and enhances the sense of space.

FRANCES SCHULTZ- Small spaces allow the luxury of less. And yet there seems to be everything here you need.

IK:- It’s laid out comfortably. The living room and dining room pieces are small scale, but still very comfortable. There’s not a lot of stuff here, but everything
has its function. We’ve kept the seating arrangements pulled away from the walls. If you create space beyond the furniture, it adds volume to a room.

MW: And there’s no upholstery to the floor. There are a lot of legs, and that creates that air space, which in turn creates an open feeling. But you have to be careful. In a large area a lot of legs will look like too many ballerinas on tiptoes.

FRANCES SCHULTZ- That elaborate gilt mirror is a bit brazen for a Nordic country cottage. Did it come from an ancestor’s castle?

MW: Well, it’s from somebody’s ancestral castle,and it works here for several reasons: It’s in a rather squashed space, so to put a square mirror there would not have been nearly as interesting. Also, a bull’s-eye expands the room. As for its elaborateness, you know the mantel was—and [still is—the place where you put your best pieces.

So the idea is that this was handed down through generations, and it was going here because it was the finest thing given to us by Grandmother.

FRANCES SCHULTZ- The lanterns seem to be the only place in the room where you’ve played up the scale. How big are they?

JK: About 18 inches tall and 13 across. There weren’t a lot of lamps, and we needed something to anchor the space. The two large lanterns delineate the living and dining spaces and give an intimacy to each,but at the same time pull them together.

MW: We also used downlighting in this room,and rather dramatically on that wonderful wall of wood that’s the fireplace wall. There’s a hidden door at the left of the fireplace to conceal a closet and television—that’s easy to do with beadboard.

It was typical of both Swedish and American Colonial houses to have wood paneling on the fireplace wall, since it was the focus of the room, and the rest of the room would be lath and plaster. We added beams also to give that cozy feeling of a very old
house with low ceilings.

FRANCES SCHULTZ– The kitchen blends so seamlessly into the room that
I almost missed it.

M W: We love to do kitchens, but we hardly ever do a ‘normal’ kitchen. We try to find an antique and adapt it to a kitchen cabinet door-front, whether it’s a rustic couple of boards from a wash stand or a wonderful Gustavian sideboard, which is what these were inspired by.

FRANCES SCHULTZ-There’s an element of depth in everything, from the fabrics to the furniture to the layers of color and glazing on the painted surfaces.

MW: In a small space you view things close at hand,so in many ways the detail is more important than it might be in a grander space.

FRANCES SCHULTZ- Which is not to say you don’t have elements of grandness. The clock, the mirror, that amazing headboard. Talk about going for Baroque.

MW: And if it ain’t Baroque, don’t fix it. Isn’t it fabulous? It was part of a large cartouche that came from Austria. It’s pine, and in two pieces mounted directly to the wall. We thought it was reminiscent of a chalet in Europe where you’d throw this one
enormous piece in a room. It makes the room feel a little larger, and everything else holds together.

FRANCES SCHULTZ-The house may be small and relatively sparse, but there are big gestures.

MW: You don’t have to have a lot of pieces in the room if the pieces have a lot of character. We do many large projects, and it’s wonderful to have these great, large rooms for entertaining. Yet invariably the couple finds the smallest, coziest study or
library to live in. In our everyday lives we want to feel enveloped and protected, don’t we?

The surprise of a gilded 19th-century Italian mirror “gives the living area a great jolt,” Watson says. Porcelain garden stools are perfectly scaled for the pair of 18th-century Swedish chairs.

The house is on a promontory that overlooks a canyon: “There are several resorts in the region, so it gets a lot of use, winter and summer,” Kilmer says. Seating is arranged away from the walls, giving the room an airy, open feel. The cushion on the painted antique sofa is covered in Hinson’s Classic Crewelwork and shaped to follow the lines of the wooden seat. Curtains are Mariefred by Country Swedish. Sofa and drop-front desk from Evergreen Antiques.

Beautifully effecting patina and age, decorative painter Judy Mulligan applied multiple layers of pigment and glaze to kitchen cabinets and walls. The narrowness of the Dennis & Leen Formations dining table “allows for intimate, lively conversation,” Watson says. English Hepplewhite-style chairs are covered in La Seyne by Brunschwig & Fils. Sub-Zero refrigerator with custom panels; Viking range and hood.

Gustavian Three Seater Sofa By Gustavian sells a traditional Swedish 18th Century sofa made from solid birch wood with hemp fibre in supporting weave. Seat and back cushions in natural rubber and coconut fibre. Hand carved floral pattern on the front. Price: £3,200.00

White Painted Gustavian or French Style Carved Wood Sofa – A very decorative white painted Gustavian or French Style carved wood sofa, modified to accept comfortable upholstered cushions $4,950.00 FS Henemader Antiques

50 Examples Of Swedish Folk Country Interiors

Interior archive is one of those sites where you can spend hours on. Looking through their dozens of pictures, there are a number of beautiful pictures that present a country look from Sweden. Here are my favorites:

A Swedish Interior Design Country Folk Art Home Photographed By Tim Clinch

The Interior Archive showed some beautiful pictures of a country house in the folk art Swedish style. A simple kitchen is furnished with antique wooden furniture. A hand-painted Swedish Mora clock stands against a distressed orange wall in the kitchen. Here, we see the detail of the hand-painted decoration on the chair that sits in the kitchen. A wall-mounted corner cupboard provides ample storage in the kitchen.

Swedish Country Home Designed By Van Breem

Photographer Simon Upton captures a guest bedroom is painted a pale grey and the bed is from van Breem’s line of reproduction Swedish furniture. A pair of rustic wooden chairs flank a console table and a Swedish Baroque mirror in the yellow painted hallway. The dining area in the kitchen has a wooden trestle table and Swedish grandfather clock and is full of spring flowering bulbs. The large range in the kitchen displays a collection of Swedish copper pots. A painted yellow Swedish sofa from 1760 and a dresser in the living room. Outside we see a Swedish bench and lantern infront of a shed with a blue door.

A Swedish Home Designed By Lena Renkel-Eriksson

-Lena Renkel-Eriksson has used shades of white, blue and dove grey to recreate the classic style of her native Sweden in her Surrey home Here she creates a unique space around the color blue. A blue-painted cabinet in the kitchen was custom made by Swedish carpenters and the swedish country chair was painted in a richer more saturated blue and distressed. In this photo, we see a yellow painted doll’s house flanked by tiers of battered leather suitcases in a nursery. This spectacular photo shows off a dining area designed around the Swedish styles. A Swedish bench is paired with white painted Swedish gateleg table, and two classic swedish side chairs. The wooden floor of this hallway has been hand- painted in a yellow and white harlequin pattern. In the attic bedroom, white is the dominant color. A white wooden desk and Gustavian-style chair are placed infront of the window. A country styled white painted chair sits in the corner of the living room, where beautiful painted walls steal the attention. An oval Gustavian bow mirror is painted in white on the wall shows this room is decorated around the classic Swedish styles.

Noteworthy Beauties:

-A Rustic Lars Sjoberg Home shows a Swedish mora clock which stands on the stone staircase.

-Designer Lena Proudlock shows a solid blue-painted Swedish mora clock which stands on a blue-painted wooden floor.

-Mish Tworkowski designs this rustic styled living room that sits an antique spoolwork armchair
and a re-upholstered French chair in an orange velvet. In the room sits a cream painted 19th century Swedish cabinet. White washed wood walls give plenty of light to this sitting area.

-Miguel Flores Vianna shows a spectacular Swedish kitchen with a wood burning stove, with country Swedish chairs. This kitchen has many rustic elements to it. A light blue is painted on the walls breaking up

– Christian Kain positions two pairs of boots on either side of a carved painted console table in green the hallway.

Picture Credits:

Jeff R Bridgman American Antiques

Swedish Interior With Slat Wood Walls- Tumblr

Swedish photographer Anna Kern.

Norrlands Chairs Lucas Antiques Blog

Swedish photographer Anna Kern

Swedish photographer Anna G. Tufvesson ,

Swedish antiques from Gudrun Ödmann Antikhandel gudrunodmann.com

Picture Credit-masterhenriks.blogspot.com

Swedish photographer Anna Kern

Corner cabinet in red, white and green with a built in Mora style clock. Tumblr

Swedish Bench- Live Auctioneers

Sandemar, Sweden, 17th Century

Swedish Gustavian Style Gilt Bronze Cartel Wall Clock,circa
1860, having a heavy bronze case in the form of an anchor draped with a
laurel wreath mounted on a blue painted wooden plaque; the white
porcelain dial has a blue Roman numeral chapter ring encircled by an
Arabic numeral minute ring, marked Knut Svala / Stockholm

Scandinavian Bed

Folk art painted step back hutch with adjustable shelves, two drawers and two doors.

Scandinavian room scanned from BOOK: The Perfect Country Cottage by Bill Laws

Featured on Glenda’s Blog The Paper Mulberry

A Rare Swedish Gustavian Red Painted Sofa circa 1790 Reupholstered by Talisman

The Swedish Country House By Susanna Scherman- Buy It On Amazon

Original Pictures Seen On Martha Stewart

A remarkable late 18th Century Marriage Cupboard, in the Folk Art tradition, made in two vertical sections and surmounted by an arched molded cornice, all retaining the original painted decoration and hand wrought iron hinges. The original painted surface shows some appealing evidence of wear and age and the subtle original polychrome colours have softened and patinated to a delightful chalky dry surface.

Marriage Cupboards of this scale and importance were generally made to special commission for young married couples and were frequently offered by their families, containing woven, homespun and embroidered fabrics. They are also known as “Dowry”, “Brides” or “Wedding” Cupboards and are often associated with the Scandinavian Countries, where there was a strong tradition of Paint Decorated Furniture of this type as in other European alpine regions. The reason they are made in separate sections is so they could easily be de-assembled and transported up to the mountains in summer months, when the agricultural folk would take their livestock up to new pastures.

The extraordinary artwork seen in this social gathering space was painted by Jonas Hertman in the 1770s. The subjects of the murals depict cherished images and events in Swedish culture.

Original Pictures Seen On Martha Stewart

The colorful original paint has been well preserved on this lovely chest. The monogram and date of 1848 indicate it was likely a wedding or anniversary gift.

Scandinavian style bed stuffed with charm –Flicker

Segreto Secrets Blog

Swedish Folk Art Style- Space For Inspiration

Lucas Antiques Blog

Primitive Corner Cabinet With Astonishing Blue Paint, 3 Beautiful Country Chairs,

Red Antique Chest, -Swedish Wedding Chest Lucas Antiques Blog,

The beauty of a Swedish Mora clock such as this is found in the lovely
curves of the piece itself. In addition, this one had been painted a
deep shade of red and has intricate floral and leaf flourishes in gold
and green (note, paint is newer than the clock case, painted
approximately 100 year ago).

Swedish Mora Clock In Red From Scandinavian Antiques

Swedish Kakelugn Stoves

The “Kakelugnar” stove is a Swedish tiled stove whose design is still in use today. This classic stove dates back to the eighteenth century, and adds a historical element to a Scandinavian room. These tile fireplaces usually resemble a column, while the shape is generally very simple. The most popular designs tend to be round or rectangular, and are generally white, and are placed either in corners or against a straight wall. The heights of the stoves range everywhere from six to ten feet or more. The stoves often feature two small folding doors where the wood is placed, and the top of the fireplace forms a crown.

Fire was essential for warmth and food in the Nordic region a century ago. Over time, we have lost some of survival techniques that were passed down through generations. Houses were smaller, and fires were first and foremost placed in the kitchen areas, where the cooking was done. The very first buildings were designed as one large room. An entire family lived in one room, than having many rooms to heat. Today it is fashionable to have vaulted ceilings, and large rooms, but the very opposite was true in throughout history where smaller rooms retained their heat better. Families often slept in the same room to conserve t the warmth, and be near the fire to keep warm through the nights where the temperatures dropped. The earliest homes had no windows, but rather a modest opening to let any smoke out. It wasn’t until the 1600’s when the chimney was invented, and the fireplace was designed to let smoke out of a chimney through the roof.

Above Picture Credit Gullesen Masonry Stoves

The Kakelugn stove’s design first came about when a shortage of wood became a crisis. In an article written by Stone Mason, they describe what prompted the stove design: “The period between 1500 and 1800 was known as ‘Europe’s little ice age’. In Sweden, where it was even colder than it is nowadays, it was clear that the constant use of fireplaces from morning till night would eventually lead to the total depletion of the nation’s forests. It was most fortunate, then, that in 1776 Adolf Frederik, the King of Sweden, commissioned Carl Johan Cronstedt to develop a stove that would make better usage of the country’s timber resources.”

The winters were colder than normal, and the people at this time needed to get as much heat out of the wood as possible. The problem was, too much wood was being consumed, that the government needed to intervene before the forestry was used up. Carl Johan Cronstedt and Fabian Wrede, had received a government mandate to try to find more fuel efficient solutions, and ended up inventing a fuel efficient tiled stove which burned the wood slower, and retained the heat for hours.

The Swedish Kakelugn stoves are a distinguished piece found in the Nordic countries. You won’t find these stoves in Canada, where the winter temperatures are just as cold. During the latter part of the 1800s, the stove found a prominent place in rich mansions and palaces. Beginning around 1830-1840, large farms were being equipped with stoves which soon lead to the countryside and middle class.

Swedish Kakelugnar stoves produced by Swedish Camina, are one of market leaders in Sweden who make stoves. Lindholm Kakelugnar also sells stoves in their original design. Lindolm Kakelugnar, based in Sweden, has been selling and building antique tiled stoves for the past 45 years. The company stocks a range of pieces, including a selection of stoves manufactured from the 1860s to the 1920s, or buy a modernized version from Contura.

The beauty of these classic stoves is that they retain the heat for long periods of time. New modern stoves often heat up fast, but once the flames die out, the stove cools off quickly. The “Kakelugnar” stove burns wood for a period of 1-3 hours, and then provides even heat for several hours after the fire has gone out. In fact, these classic stoves have a better design than the modern day stoves that are produced today.

Read more about the tiled stove visit alltomkakelugnar.se

Antique Kakelugn
Fritz von der Schulenburg, Interior Archive
The Swedish Country House By Susanna Scherman- Buy It On Amazon
Svindersvik Featured On Wikipedia
Kakelugn Stove- Vía: Hus & HemA Swedish apartment for sale through Bolaget.

The 1700 Collection Swedish Furniture

The 1700 Collection Swedish Furniture produces furniture that combines the elegant shapes of the furniture found in 18th century Sweden. With the cooperation between the Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts and furniture manufacturer MOVE Möbler & Bohag, they created several authentic replicas of selected pieces of furniture originating from Swedish castles, manors and salons of fashionable health resorts.

The craftsmanship behind each handmade piece remains true to the original. Skilled woodworkers sign each piece next to the seal of the National Museum of Fine Arts. The furniture is made from the woods found in Sweden such as birch, alder and pine.

If you are hoping to purchase a reproduction that is as close to the original antiques, the 1700 collection is deeply rooted in the 18th Century. The collection is a preservation of the Swedish cultural heritage, also giving you an elegant piece of furniture from this era.

Möbler AB
Smyge
Strandv. 71. SE- 231 79 SMYGEHAMN.
Sweden

Swedish Plaster Medallions

Make this bee mold for just dollars. Find the original listing here

Everyone has their favorite interiors, and one of mine happens to be Ekensberg, a home owned by Lars Sjoberg also featured on the cover of the book Paint And Paper In Decoration . Ekensberg, completed in 1790 is a three-story neo-classical building located on the banks of the Lake Mälaren, about 40 km away from the Swedish capital Stockholm.

Lars Sjoberg is well known in Sweden for the restoration of many cultural sites. Half of all the cultural sites he restored he saved from demolition. His passion for 18th century classical buildings was something he did professionally and outside of work. He invested in a number of classical buildings, in which he restored to the classic 18th style. As a senior director at the National Museum, he was one of Sweden’s leading authorities on Gustavian interiors, architecture, décor, furniture, paints, and everything associated with the reign of King Gustav III. So naturally, all of his homes were restored to the Gustavian style of decoration. This post shows the interior of this home from several angles. His book Classic Swedish Interiors features this home in detail. Interior Archive also gives us a new glimpse into the interior showing many views of this spectacular home.

Here are some of the photos I haven’t seen before.

-Detail of the patterned blue and white fabric of the bed canopy and curtains- here

– An armchair with a red and white gingham cover adds contrast to the otherwise blue and white colour scheme in this elegantly proportioned bedroom- here

– Detail of a distressed wooden tray table used for serving tea here

-To the left of the canopied bed in the master bedroom stands an 18th century dolls’ house-here

– Detail of the end of a wooden sofa with a worn leather seat and carved border- here

– Detail of a wooden chair in front of a distressed wooden door with a bowl of fruit on a tray table in the foreground- here

– View through open double doors into the master bedroom with its canopied four-poster bed here

– The French Directoire wallpaper pattern reflects neoclassical influences from the early 19th century here

-A pair of plaster medallions by Johan Tobias Sergel, a leading Gustavian sculptor, hangs in the dining room- here

-A pair of gilt-framed plaster medallions hangs on the worn walls of the second floor sitting room – here

– A chair in front of a wall lined with hand-painted linen canvas panels and Gustavian plaster medallion- here

Portrait medallions were originally mounted around the public buildings in Stockholm , Sweden. It has been fashionable to use these medallions on the walls inside the home. Portrait medallions in Sweden often are seen round in shape and have a decorative edge much like a round picture frame.

Acquired Objects blog wrote a post showing some of the prettiest plaque pictures which have been seen on Tone on Tone Antiques, Master Henriks Blog, Trouvais Blog and Splendid Willow Blog; all Swedish inspired blogs. They all have great information and exceptional pictures.

Paint And Paper In Decoration – David Oliver

Classic Swedish Interiors By Lars Sjoberg

Make your own or sell them….Pastic mold concrete plaster mould $49 on ebay.

This medallion comes from Go Statue on Ebay, You can find the original listing here

Get The Look Yourself

Many of the Swedish Gustavian furniture sites will occasionally have these medallions for sale. Ebay is another place to find wall plaques.

One word of caution, many plaques and busts do feature false gods, so you have to be careful what you purchase and bring into your home. Personally over the years, I have had to throw out many plaques and busts, later to find out they were statues of Roman deities. Before you buy, research what you are buying.

I have found many beautiful plaster plaques with fruit and flowers. The larger medallion molds are harder to find, although you can find some beautiful flower styled plaques on ebay which are quite affordable, and look just as nice.

Instead of one large plaque, consider collecting a series of 9, 18, 27 ect smaller plaques which you can feature on your wall.

Here are some examples:

– Set of 2 metal wall hangings, plaques made in England, Found On Ebay, Pinned to Pinterest

– Vintage Fruit Chalk Ware Apples & Plums, Found On Ebay, Pinned to Pinterest

– Vintage Turner Cameo Wall Plaque, Found On Ebay, Pinned to Pinterest

– 10 inch White Resin Cameo Art Nouveau Head, Found On Ebay, Pinned to Pinterest

– Furniture Appliques From Do It Yourself Chic

Swedish Decorating Gustavian Furniture From Lars Sjoberg
Featured On Tweedland & The Gentlemans Club Blog
Swedish Decorating Gustavian Furniture From Lars Sjoberg
Featured On Tweedland & The Gentlemans Club Blog
My Own Molds, Yaley Round Basket and Flower Molds on Amazon, Judges Plaster Mold Ebay

Consider Making Your Own Art

–This article has some amazing inspirational photos of what can be produced with the plastic throw away containers and lids from found at your local bakery. In one photo they create a round plaque possibly from plastic margarine containers. Who knew!

– Mid-century plastic plaques can be antiqued by an application of paint. Simply mix together non-sanded grout and white paint and brush on. This look shouldn’t give away that your plaque is plastic.

– Make Your Own Round 11 Inch Fireman Maltese Cross Cement or Plaster Mold

– 6 3/4″ round Concrete, Baking, Plaster Plaque

– Dogwood Wall Plaques- here, Architectural Plaques, here

– 3 1/2 x 2 7/8 Square Frame Molds. Mount different shells and hang them on the wall.

– Oval Flower Plaque– Make Your Own Chocolate, or gifts with this Swedish looking mold

– Set of 6 Designs For Chocolate or Plaster Molds Here, and Here

– Perfectcast– The professionals choice for casting medium, PerfectCast is five times stronger than any other regular plaster. It is AP Non-Toxic and it reproduces intricate detail identical to the original mold. The only substance you need to add is water. PerfectCast produces a perfect cast every time

Here are a couple resources found around the net:

-A magnificent Gustavian portrait medallion by Sergel , royal sculpture to King Gustav III of Sweden. These medallions were mounted around the public buildings in Stockholm , Sweden. The portrait is of renowned Swedish composer Sergel. It has a steel hook fixed to the back for easy suspension. $785

-A portrait medallion of the famous Swedish Gustavian musician and writer Belmann. This is a museum casting in plaster as the original is in marble and still attached to Stockholm castle. $785 AUD

-This stunning cameo portrait medallion was made by Wedgwood & Bentley c.1777, modeled by William Hackwood. Wedgwood & Bentley was in operation from 1769-1780 preceding Wedgwood. The highly detailed portrait and is applied to a rich solid blue jasper plaque. The portrait is in quite high relief.

-Portrait Medallions – Set of 5 in blue and white jasper. ArtValue.com

-A portrait medallion in plaster of King Gustav III. Reproduced after an original 18th century medallion. –Real Gustavian

-A plaster medallion of Charlotta De Geer of leufsta Manor house Sweden- Real Gustavian

Noteable Links:

-Lars Sjoberg’s Swedish Style- The Swedish Furniture

-Lars Sjöberg and his Swedish manor Ekensberg – Belgian Pearls Blog

– Lars Sjoberg, hero of Swedish Heritage Conservation Tweed And The Gentlemans Club

-Lars Sjöberg Trouvais Blog

-Style I Love: Classic Eighteenth-Century Swedish Interiors- The Style Saloniste

-Decorative plaster – Plaques From www.grandissonstoves.co.uk

-Casting Plaster Plaques-westerntractmission.org

Cecilia Dahlback, owner of Country Swedish, moved to the United States with her parents as a teenager and, after studying international economics and marketing at Georgetown University, discovered that what she really liked was interior design. When the family friends who owned Country Swedish retired, Cecilia saw an opportunity to move into the design business.

The Country Swedish Collection includes a variety of Swedish styled interior furnishings. Their Gustavian reproduction furniture includes a wide selection of chairs, dressers and chests, desks, daybeds, and sofas. Shop some of the finest Swedish wallpaper selections for a quick transformation for that special room in your home.

Gustavian reproductions are made in Scandinavia by craftsmen who continue to preserve the centuries-old traditions of Gustavian Swedish furniture making. The furniture collection begins with beech, birch and pine from Scandinavia. Since most of the pieces are painted, the company has its own paint shop, which guarantees the consistency of the 30 available colors and finishes.

Country Swedish furnishings are sold through designers and architects, but the showroom in Norwalk is open to the public for viewing.

Classic Swedish Interiors By Lars Sjoberg
Ekensberg –gal.zhulong.com
Ekensberg –gal.zhulong.com
Ekensberg- Belgian Pearls Blog
Ekensberg –gal.zhulong.com
Ekensberg –gal.zhulong.com
Lars Sjoberg- The Style Saloniste

Nordic Style Drapery And Window Coverings

Authored By Curtain Pole Wizard

Rooms with a Scandinavian style white and blue are great colour choices for bedrooms. White-washed floors, walls and high vaulted ceilings are the quintessential hallmarks to classical Scandinavian style.

Blue checked fabrics mixed with stripes adds a fun element to the room. You could also add cross-stitched hearts for bed pillows and for hanging as decoration. Homely, with a fresh clean look is predominant in this interior design style and you can make the rooms as folksy as you wish to make your guests feel welcomed in your home.

Twin beds are a great idea if your guest room is up in the loft space and lend themselves to being placed at either side of the room. A ‘privacy’ curtain is a great idea and enables guests to have their own space. Simply use curtains or make your own and hang them from wooden curtain poles painted white. Add simple curtain rings or use tab top curtains to slide the curtains across the curtain pole. Use the same technique for the window curtains to create a balance and cohesive look to the room.

If your guest room has a double bed a similar look can be achieved by adopting a twist on four-poster beds. Use curtain poles and curtain pole spares to make a simplistic frame around the bed from which you can hang curtains. It’s a fairly straightforward task and well worth the effort to get the look.

Add floor rugs, along with bedside table lamps and storage space for your guests. Make sure they have a warm duvet, ample pillows and extra blankets to hand should they need them. A pile of fresh towels laid on the bottom of the bed is a charming addition to making your guests feel welcome in your home.

Try not to let your spare room become a dumping ground – always have it clean and ready for unexpected guests to stay the night. Simple wall paintings can be used to add a touch of soft mellow yellow to bring a warm glow to the room. Hand-made cross-stitched samplers also make great wall hangings which give the room a friendly, family touch and is a great way to keep with the Scandinavian style of mixing old with new to create a welcoming ambience.

Furniture- solarssonstilmobler.se
Hotel room at Tällbergsgården in Dalarna
Carolina Herrera Creative Director Hervé Pierre’s Bedroom
Wallpaper from Colefax & Fowler. skonahem.com
Hotel room at Vadstena Kloster Hotel in Vadstena, Östergötland
Gustavian Interiors With Drapery –18thcenturyblog.com
A Gustavian Manor- Featured On WREN Handmade
The Widows Palace – Flicker Germany

Hotel Wreta Gestgifveri- A boutique hotel located in beautiful surroundings, Wreta Gestgifveri
offers charming guest rooms that mirror different epochs from 17th
century Baroque to turn-of-the-century Romanticism.

Simple Swedish Room With Sheer Drapery

A Country Styled Room With Sheer Drapery- Lowcola’s photostream

Photographer Carolina Romare

Swedish Cupboard Bed With Drapery

Cupboard bed from Norway, dates to early 1700s.

Extra Photos

Go Bold With Red- Part 1 Grand Sophisticated Interiors

French Commode Lacquered Red From Live Auctioneers

The color red is grand, and is a color everyone considers for their home at one time or another. The color red is a symbol of privilege and wealth. Official seals often use the red, as a gesture of confidence and authority. Red can make a statement in your home in a very powerful way, although it can be hard to execute. We show you 5 ways to pull off this color with success.

5 Ways Of Using Red In Your Home

1. Use Red In The Kitchen Or Entry Way

Red is the color of passion and has been known to stimulate blood pressure and heart rate. Red also sparks passion, love, and enthusiasm, so it is color often used in romantic restaurants. What better place to encourage conversation and hunger, than at the dinner table.

Consider painting your dining room table red. Instead of painting the whole table red, leave the top untouched, in it’s natural wood state. To add a Swedish touch, consider painting the details in gold. In this post, you can see how lovely a red can look in a country provincial style.

2. Use Red In A Pattern on Decoupaged Furniture

There are many ways of decorating with red other than painting your walls. One way of doing this is decoupaging furniture. Decoupaging is rather easy, and you can execute the process a number of ways.

One way is to use cut outs. Simply find an image you like from a magazine or on the Internet, and photocopy it several times over, which you can then cut out, and apply it to a piece of furniture. This Swedish tiled stove would be an excellent example of how lovely a red floral pattern would look on a chest.

You can even take fabric and glue it to a chest, with modge podge glue. Add pattern into your home, or finish off a room based around patterns by decoupaging your furniture.

Inspirational Posts On Decoupaged Furniture

How To Decoupage Furniture– The Swedish Furniture

Louis XV Style Red Lacquer Side Table From Hastening Antiques – Provincial Furniture

4 Easy Steps To Decoupage Beautiful Furniture– The White Dresser

Decoupage Is Simple! Update Your Kids Furniture– Kids Room Decor

Swedish Interiors: How To Decorate With The Color Red– The Swedish Furniture

3. Use Red In Acessories

-Add a bit of a modern glam using abstract art with bold touches of red. Consider using a heavy ornate frame with a modern poster. Modern Styled Paintings or Posters would add a modern touch in a home with plenty of antiques.

–Juju wall hats are a perfect way of adding a bold touch of red in a room. You can purchase these hats in a number of vibrant colors, which can be placed above a dresser, a console table to add in a bold touch of color into your room.

-Below you see the Stockholm apartment in Sweden with the red room. Below it shows a picture of the living room based in white with natural wood furniture. If you want a room based in lighter colors, consider a large area rug in red, like they did. An over-sized floor rug can make a bold impression.

– Another way of adding saturated color into your rooms is to accessorize with red wool blankets. Point blankets can add a rustic touch to your home, and can be thrown over the sofa, or used on the bed, or stacked on a shelf.

– Chairs are a great way of implementing red into a room. Chair frames can be painted red, or upholstered in red fabric.

-If red walls are a bit too risky for you to consider then why not consider red and white bedding? Paint your bed-frame red, with touches of gold, and consider getting a comforter, sheets,a pillowcases all in red. Or paint the frame gold and red, and go with an all white sheeting as you see below.

Audience room in Gripsholm Castle, Mariefred, Sweden
Gripsholm Castle – Here
Gripsholm Castle- www.flickr.com
Mauve Colored Walls- Gripsholm Castle- members.virtualtourist.com
Mauve Colored Walls- Gripsholm Castle Here
Original Photo From Lars Bolander’s Book- Scandinavian Design
Jacques Jean Baptiste Tilliard Settee The Getty Museum
Mariedal Castle
Governor’s Palace in Stockholm.
Stockholm Sweden Wallpaper-toptravellists.net
A visit to Cottage And Garden in Newport,Henhurst Interiors

Velvet Covered Chair- The Getty Museum

Michael Perlmutter Architectural Photography

Swedish Apartment In Stockholm, Sweden

Old fine Gustavian Chairs- Buy them at Scandiadecor

Swedish Apartment In Stockholm, Sweden

Mrs Blandings posted some beautiful pictures of a home decorated in the Swedish style that originally was featured in Veranda’s July/August 2001 issue.

You can see the house is based around whites with accents of green. A solid red upholstery on a white painted chair can look amazing.

A White Gustavian Chair is upholstered in red fabric. Look how the frame is distressed.

Featured on Karina Gentinetta’s Blog

Stunning Swedish Upholstered Headboard From Wreta Gestgifveri

LOUIS XV Bureau with red lacquer finish- From Cote France

Krafft, Per (1724-1793)
Portrait of Carl Mikael Bellmann (1740-1795) Gripsholm Castle
Collection

Mauve Painted Door With Rust Colored Ribbon- Martha Stewart

Commode in Red- French Furniture From Cote France

A Fine Russian Neoclassical Commode – Chest Greenwich Living

Red high gloss lacquered bombay chest. Design by Laserow Antiques & Interior Design. See this chest together with art by Carolina Gynning and sculptures by Agneta Gynning at the exhibition Gynning X 2. Featured on Old Vs New

Get THIS Reproduction of King Gustav III-Magnolia Box

Swedish Looking Black and Gold Chair With Red Upholstery From Chintz & Company

Antique Swedish White Chest of Drawers, circa 1750

This striking chest of drawers sits on cabriolet feet, the serpentine front adding to its strong appeal. The chest is oak, and was just given a white painted/distressed finish in the Gustavian style. Please note the close up photos to examine the superb painted finish; in person the piece is truly striking and one is drawn in with a desire to touch it. The chest of 4 drawers is one piece and rests upon the base and feet, which is how these large chest of drawers were designed. Scandinavian Antiques- Denver CO

Swedish mahogany commode. The piece features three drawers, brass trim and pulls, fluted sides and legs, and a white marble top. $39,500 Newel – New York

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