In winter, Sweden starves for sunlight. A December day in Stockholm may bring five hours of light; go farther north, and the sun won’t bother rising until spring.
(People here in the Chicago area may relate. According to Tom Skilling, chief meteorologist at WGN-TV in Chicago, December in these parts typically has just four cloud-free days, and when the sun does shine, the light is less intense than a spring or summer sun.)
The Swedes decorate to combat darkness with reflected light, a sense of grace, copious storage to banish clutter, and an appreciation of half-empty space.
They also have a secret ingredient: paint.
“During the winter, when what little sunshine there is bounces off the snow, subtle Gustavian whites and grays help to maximize that light,” writes Katrin Cargill, author of “Creating the Look: Swedish Style” (Pantheon Books, $27.50). In more rural homes, she writes, “the clear yellows, blues and greens of painted walls are reminders of summer.”
To grasp the effect, which is not restricted to winter, imagine a boathouse on a fine estate. It might hold glimmerings of grandeur–like antique chairs with reedy, fluted legs. But the chairs would be dressed down with yellow paint, not shined up with gold leaf. Floorboards might be rubbed with white paint. Fabrics would run to gingham and ticking, not silk or brocade. In such a space, with furnishings kept spare and pressed back against the walls, a visitor can truly breathe.
I wish I’d had Cargill’s book in my last New York apartment, which faced a concrete courtyard laced with razor wire. I painted the walls yellow, but it came out pallid and slightly muddied–even indoors, it seemed about to rain. The Swedes know better. Their delicate grays are more air than cloud; their yellows could have been cut from an ear of corn.
Even in summer you can borrow from this 200-year-old sensibility because it embraces sunlight and beach-house simplicity. Consider the mere act of leaving open the doors between rooms, so light can filter through. In such small details, Swedish style takes a stand against gloom whether the darkness emanates from long winter days or an urban air shaft.
“Because it is so unpretentious,” Cargill writes, “even the most timid decorator can achieve a similar effect. Drape a plain muslin swag at the window. Put a coat of paint on a shabby old piece of furniture. For skirtings, doors and window frames, use the distinctive pale gray that has come to be associated with the Swedish look.”
What makes it elegant is the underlying neoclassical style, adapted from the French court of Louis XVI. But where the lavish Louis liked glitter and gold leaf, Gustav preferred visual economy and paint–particularly the soft blues and pearl gray that made the style his own.
Cargill picks out some of the sweeter touches, like hand-painted lettering on furniture, or wall panels defined by painted stripes, and gives do-it-yourself instructions. And her text is rich in specifics, right down to furniture arrangements and dinner plates.
The goal, as she puts it, is a “composed calm” that can make a sanctuary of even a sunless room.
HOW TO COPY SWEDISH STYLE
Following are some key ideas that the Swedes use in decorating to combat darkness, as suggested by Katrin Cargill, author of “Creating the Look: Swedish Style” (Pantheon Books, $27.50) and Sasha Waddell, author of “New Swedish Style” (Rizzoli, $24.95).
– Start with a Gustavian Swedish palette. This one, using Benjamin Moore colors, comes from that company’s color and merchandising manager, Kenneth X. Charbonneau. His advice: Test colors first. Save pale hues for walls and moldings, darker ones for accents like painted wall panels or stenciling.
China White, No. 74; pale lavender, No. 1438; pale blue-gray, No. 1585; pale green, No. 528; dark green, No. 482; yellow, No. 277; lilac, No. 1403; periwinkle, No. 823; dark periwinkle, No. 1426.
– Leave plenty of floor space unclaimed. Chairs, tables, even beds in a classic Swedish home tend to be backed up against the wall, with much attention paid to symmetry.
“Framing a window, for example, with two chairs is a simple device that lends a refined sense of balance and order,” writes Waddell.
– Place something grand next to something simple or rough.
“Painted rustic furniture beneath a grand gilt mirror is a characteristically quirky but delightful visual mixture,” Waddell writes.
– Pare down. You’re not aiming for the rigor of minimalism, but the pleasure of breathing space. Set the table with a single white flower in a glass, suggests Cargill, rather than a full bouquet.
