Thursday, September 13, 2012

Swedish Stove Mania

There seems to be renewed interest in Swedish tiled stoves these days.
I have been in love with them since I was turned on to their very existence in the early 90's while in interior design school.  I fell head over heels with Swedish Gustavian style with the light, bright colors, the painted furniture and down to earth fabrics.

I have longed for a Swedish tiled stove for almost as long - and now that they are getting more attention, why doesn't a company start up that sells to the American public?  I guess demand might be low, after all, its a very specific, narrow niche!  LOL

I will have to live with my old-fashioned black wood stove for now (which I might paint either red or oxford blue next year...we'll see) but I still long for a slender, rounded stove in the corner adorned with lovely blue and white floral tiles.

Then the other day I thought to myself "I don't have a Swedish tiled stove, but I do have a large armoire I am painting white, which is screaming out for some decorative paint work".
Now, I ran my own decorative painting business in the early to mid 90's called "a Gilded Vine".
I have painted a few pieces since then, but only for myself.  My hutch (still in progress) and my bedside table (finished) and now this large, squared armoire which I needed to house coats and such near the front door to Elinor Cottage, given we have no coat closet!

I have decided to paint the armoire to look like a blue and white tiled Swedish stove!
I am going to get to work on it tonight, designing the layout, what each tile will look like (probably all florals) and drawing up my prototypes on transfer tissue.  I am very good at trompe l'oeil painting.  That's what I used to do with "a Gilded Vine".  I will make the tiles really look like old tiles with weathered grout...just wait and see.

Stay tuned for future photos as I work my way around this monstrous piece of furniture, transforming it into a trompe l'oeil Swedish stove.
After all, the Gustavians did it too - if they wanted to balance a room using the symmetry of Neo-Classical design, they'd put a large cabinet on the opposite wall or corner from the stove, and paint it to match!  I have seen and read about this in the many Swedish Gustavian books I've collected in these 25 years or so!

Enjoy these blue tiled beauties while I go get to work on my own!

















2 comments:

  1. So pretty! What color paint do you use now that RH Atmospheric blue has been discontinued?
    I'm trying to achieve the sweedish blue look on some furniture.
    Thanks,
    Virginia

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    1. Hi Virginia! I have yet to find a replacement for Atmosphere Blue. Honestly, I haven't looked yet as I had plenty of cans stock piled in my studio, HOWEVER, my last big can is now gone and I am left with one small sample can. I will paint the last of that on to as clean/white board as I can and go have the color scanned at Lowes or Home Depot as a custom color. When I get the formula, and I approve of it, I will post the formula here so those who loved that color as well, can go have it made up at their local paint store. ;)

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