Swedish Inspiration

I thought I'd share some of the photos I took last summer whilst visiting Halsingland in the north of Sweden last year. The trip was organised by Nordiska Museum as part of the International Wallpaper Conference. We visited a number of 18th century farmhouses which all had roomfuls of beautifully preserved wallpaper. This was due to the fact that many of

the farmers became wealthy because of the value of their crops of flax. 

They built separate "summer houses" for parties and family events and this was where they hung the wallpapers. Because these summer houses were only used for special occasions the wallpaper has remained relatively undamaged.

Everything has stayed the same,with nothing thrown away over the years. A rarity these days in our throw away world!

Visiting Halsingland was a highlight as only a few months previously I had been intrigued  by some photos  in the March 07 issue of World of Interiors showcasing fabrics in some of the farmhouses.

I hope you enjoy the following photos, 

I want this china!

I love Paul Smith stuff, especially his range of china! It's gorgeous!

The ultimate dog bowl!


All photos from www.paulsmith.com

Handwoven Silks in Stockholm

The Nov/Dec issue of Selvedge magazine last year ran an article on the Almgren Silk Mill in Stockholm, which was founded in 1833. Sadly, it closed in the 1970's but was turned into a museum. I visited the museum last year and had a lovely few hours wandering around the old mill.

loom with silk being woven



Jacquard Loom

Nothing has been changed, apart from the top floor, which is now the actual museum, and you can walk around and see all the machinery as it would have been up until it closed. Weaver, Sonja Enbuske, talked me through the whole process of weaving from the winding of the silk onto the skeins to showing me how she worked the 140 year old loom. The silk she produces is stunning -

handwoven silks - love the purple & yellow

reels of silk for the ribbons

I opened up drawers and found all these beautiful ribbons,

mouthwatering colours

more ribbons!





I especially like this one

I had to show you this photo of some traditional Swedish boots which were part of an exhibition on at the Nordiska Museum - they are so gorgeous!

Hand made wallpaper

Last year I was lucky enough to be awarded an ISS institute Fellowship to research printing techniques for wallpaper. I spent a week at Allyson McDermotts studio in Gloucestershire learning about hand made wallpaper. Her studio is set in the grounds of her beautiful Tudor house.

Allyson McDermotts House

  I only found out about her work when I read an article in the December 06 issue of World of Interiors, [I love that magazine!] and she was happy to let me work in her studio for a week.

 It was a great week and I learnt so much. Early wallpapers were actually just sheets of paper stuck on the wall, this progressed to pieces about 3 metres long, [this was because the paper was hung above the Dado], and was made up of smaller sheets of hand made paper stuck together with rabbit skin glue. 

hand-blocked wallpapers

These sheets were then "grounded" with hand made distemper.

This is wonderful, it has a life of its own, so different from modern paints. Apparently it's to do with the amount of pigment in it.

 

sheets of wallpaper grounded with distemper and hung to dry.

Allyson has developed her own paint range based on historical colours. The colours are lovely and contain 4-5 times more pigment than normal, so look amazing. 

beautiful colours!

Next came the hand blocking- it's pretty physical and very time consuming! The majority of  blocks are still hand carved in the traditional way from pear wood, which makes them very heavy. 

hand carved printing blocks

While I was here Allyson was sampling for a paper for Temple Newsam in Leeds. This was a

 flocked paper, which is even more tricky as the design has to printed on with a special glue and  then immediately put into the flocking box before it dries out. 

 block ready to print with

There is something very special about hand printed wallpapers as opposed to machine printed. They have a texture made by the ink sitting on the surface rather than being part of the paper which happens with most machines, apart from the Surface Print machines, [more about that in a future post], of which there are only a couple left in operation in the world.

Allyson also undertakes a lot of conservation work and this is one of a pair of antique panels, dating to around the 17th century, [from what I can remember]. 

love the chalky colours.

After experiencing the whole process of creating hand made wallpaper it became very obvious as to why it's so expensive, but so worth it!

Africanissiomo!

I brought a May issue of House & Garden South Africa back with me recently as I love the way animal hides, leather and indigenous pieces are used together. Liz Morris, the editor, calls it "Africanissiomo". It makes for a very eclectic look but sophisticated look.Just a couple of pieces can make an ordinary interior become interesting .

This is a house in Little Venice, London decorated by Hubert Zandberg Interiors. A lot of the art was bought in South Africa.

Photograph is by Pieter Hugo whose work you can see at the Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town. Have a look as It's fantastic.

Also love the table in the style of Gio Ponti.

Beautiful Brazilian Art Deco leather couch and chairs.

The paint finish on the walls is apparently like Chinese lacquer work, giving them a"glazed" look. The walls are all painted in a grey with aubergine undertones. Works well as a back drop to artworks. Love the Etro cushions and citrus ottoman.

Aren't these antique mirrors beautiful? More lovely cushions, this time from Paul Smith.

Great combination

Love the combination of leather & velvet on this chair, taken in the library at Serra Cafema, Namibia.

photo from May edition House & Garden South Africa.