Light and white seems to be the trend among blogs and online magazines, especially Lonny. If its white you love then it is the Swedish style you are after. I believe that many of those simple and clean interiors that are all over the blogoshpere
are just more eclectic manifestations of the Swedish style. If you don’t know what “The Swedish Style” is, all you have to do pick is pick up a copy of Veranda magazine. That have captured the simplicity and nostalgia of this style and made it the face of their magazine. As with most styles (excluding the Baroque) most styles develop from need and function and that is definitely the case for the Swedish style. In Sweden, the summers are beautiful and short and the winters are long and cold. The light coloring of Swedish style interiors comes from the desire to keep a sense of brightness year round, and to emphasize the little light they receive in the winter. Along with white, Swedish style interiors have been none known to use creams and off whites as well as natural and earthy tones like beiges, taupes, and green. This is because of a strong respect for nature and desire to bringing natural elements indoors.
One thing about a Swedish interior that is unmistakable is the sense of clean. A traditional Swedish interior would have light colored pine or birch on the floors and most furnishing would be white washed, enhancing that pristine cleanliness. These light woods are symbols of Swedish design even today. Since the understanding of paint and synthetic dyes wasn’t developed until the late 19th century, the white washing of the furnishing easily chipped away and had to be repainted every year. This is why in the Swedish style many of the furnishings are distressed and the best Swedish interiors use antiques. The simplest way to add a little Swedish to your interior is to declutter. The Swedish desire for clean and simplisticty has lent itself to some of the BEST modern design in the world. Add a little white and some wooden furniture and you will be singing Wiener Bonbons with the best of them.
