Eye For Design: December 2019

Friday, December 20, 2019

My French Living Room- An Antique French Aubusson Rug Changes Everything!

I published a blog post about my French living room several years ago. But that was before I finally found the pièce de résistance I had been searching for that would put the finishing touches on the room and change the whole look and feel of the space. I was thrilled to have found the perfect French Aubusson needlepoint rug at an incredible (almost unbelievable ) price at an estate auction. The colors are lovely and muted to just the right shades on a wonderful cream background and the floral and fruit filled center oval was made for the room. I had a beautiful antique oriental rug down in shades of muted madder red, navy, gold and green but it didn't do for the room what this rug does. I know now that it is true, an Aubusson on the floor or on the wall changes everything!!

Lisa Farmer-Eye For design

My husband Tim laying the rug after I returned from Columbus Ohio. It was a six hour trip but the rug was worth it. Can you believe I got this beauty for $108.00?

Lisa Farmer-Eye For Design

The Aubusson rug softened the room, made it lighter and appear larger. The mantle was not in the house when purchased. I found it at and old antique/flea mall. Hard to see here but it has shields carved into it. All other mantle in the house work but this had been covered up with drywall. I bought an old tin summer cover and then faux painted tile around it.

Lisa Farmer-Eye For Design

The chair had been natural wood but the new look called for it to be painted. Rooms will talk to you you know. Since I only paid $20.00 for it at a yard sale I didn't mind painting it. I painted it three shades of cream topped of by wax. I also had to redo the silk flower arrangement in softer colors.The seat I upholstered with an old tapestry that I was not using. Part of it is now on the bench in front of the window. The little footstool is needlepoint and many people have said it reminds them of a cameo.

Lisa Farmer-Eye For Design

Tapestry and trumeau mirror were purchased at estate auctions. You can find unbelievable prices at these!!

Lisa Farmer-Eye For Design

This images give you a good look at the corner designs on the Aubusson. The piece in the corner was the first antique I ever bought at 19 years old. My first paycheck went to put it on lay-away at a local antique store. On the top is a recent great find at a fabulous price. It is two French military hats, sash, gloves, and epaulets..... all in a leather case. The large one sits atop an antique milliners linen head for wig displays.

Lisa Farmer-Eye For Design

Here you can see just how pretty the center medallion of the Aubusson is.

Lisa Farmer-Eye For Design

I also added the French altar candelabra this year. It is actually one of a set, the other is in my bedroom.

Lisa Farmer-Eye For Design

Another fun find is this beautiful accordion that I found in the basement of an old antique mall in Georgetown, KY. It was in the 50% off corner. It was filthy and after a good cleaning has become display worthy.

Lisa Farmer-Eye For Design

It is made by Augusto Torio and Sons, NY. Torio came to America from Italy and became one of the first accordion manufacturers in New York City.

Lisa Farmer-Eye For Design

Here you can see the border of the Aubusson rug. You can also see out into my hall from here. I faux painted the walls to resemble limestone several years ago.

Lisa Farmer-Eye For Design

Behind this desk is a French curio filled with my collections of Limoges boxes, antique compacts, various miniatures, and my favorites, the petit point purses. I love the French inspired ones with Watteau style images of lovers in pastoral settings. The style and colors of these purses are another reason the Aubusson needlepoint rug looks so good in here.

Lisa Farmer-Eye For Design

The purses are so beautiful, wish you could see them in person. They are each approximately 5 X 6 inches and so delicate, some with beads, and intricate clasps.

Lisa Farmer-Eye For Design

I love needlepoint and the smaller stitches of petit point and collect all I can find whether it's purses, pictures, tapestries, covered chairs, or rugs. I have some great antique compacts too.

Lisa Farmer-Eye For Design

I have collected these for years and was able to buy them at a fraction for what they are now.

Lisa Farmer-Eye For Design

Here is an image of the living room during Christmas this year. I was always one who decorated three trees and my philosophy was "go big or go home." That has all changed the more old world my interiors have become. We like the simpler Christmas look now.

Lisa Farmer-Eye For Design

The Corinthian column top table was a fabulous find at a strange second hand shop most would be afraid to go into. I kid you not. My son was with me and even he was apprehensive. But look what I found for $25.00. It was paid for and in my SUV before you could blink your eyes!!

Lisa Farmer-Eye For Design

I just decorate my mantles, stairs, etc with greenery, lights and bows. Saves time and my back!! The picture of Marie Antoinette's children is in needlepoint and came from an old farmhouse in England.

Lisa Farmer-Eye For Design

Click here to see the previous post

https://eyefordesignlfd.blogspot.com/2019/12/decorating-with-eighteenth-century.html

This blog post was published by Lisa Farmer

Monday, December 9, 2019

Decorating With Eighteenth Century Swedish Tile Stoves ( Kakelugns)

If you love old world Swedish interiors you have to have fallen under the spell of the gorgeous tile stove called a kakelugn. Considered an icon of Swedish design, you will find them in almost every picture of an old world Swedish/Gustavian interior you see on social media or in decorating magazines. Built from bricks with clay sealed joints these Swedish stoves are then covered with beautiful tiles. Whether plain or exquisite, these tiles give the kakelugn a charming and graceful appearance that, like a work of art, makes it suitable for the most refined and elegant Swedish interiors.

That being said the Swedish tile stove was a virtual workhorse when it came to keeping it's homeowners warm on those cold Scandinavian nights. The real beauty of the Swedish tile stove is the fact that, once it gets up to temperature, it continues to give out heat as the bricks cool slowly over a period of ten or twelve hours, long after the fire itself has died down. That means the stove does not have to burn continuously to heat the room but at best only twice a day - in the morning to heat the room through the day and in the late afternoon or early evening to bring the bricks back up in temperature to heat the room through the night.

I hope you will enjoy the lovely images I have gathered as well as a bit if history about the Swedish tile kakelugn.

tdclassicist.blogspot.com

At the beginning of the 18th century, North Eastern Europe and Scandinavia experienced a wood shortage due to the simple matter of deforestation. Once depleted, the trees couldn't grow back quick enough to sustain the need of wood for heat, paper production, and construction. The timber industry was pushed to its limits.

From The Swedish Country House by Susanna Scherman, photographs by Åke E:son Lindman

This scarcity forced the government to look into ways of redesigning existing forms of masonry fireplaces. In 1767 the king of Sweden commissioned architect and member of the Royal Academy of Science, Count Carl Johan Cronstedt, and Field Marshal Fabian Wrede to develop a stove that would burn fuel more efficiently. They brilliantly redesigned the traditional stove and made the kakelugn about eight times as efficient as the ordinary wood stove.

via Pinterest

In the lower part of the Swedish tile stove there is a fire box where wood burns at a very high temperature. Gases (and heat) that normally would go straight up the chimney were redirected through a number of flues around the outer edge of the stove before finally being drawn out through the chimney.

via Pinterest

Stone requires more time to heat up, but once it has, it holds the heat much longer. This is called radiant heat.The bricks themselves warmed up and the heat they retained radiated from the masonry to the floors, walls, ceiling and the furniture. In other words it warmed up the entire room instead of just the air like our forced air systems today do.

sv.wikipedia.org

I understand radiant heat because our 130 year old house uses the old cast iron radiator system for heat. I love it because it is stays so warm and since it is a boiler system that heats the water in the radiators, I don't have to worry about dry skin which is caused by modern forced air systems.

sturehov.se

A tiled Swedish oven stove is only fired for a short time, from a quarter of an hour to one or two hours, and then it radiates heat for at least 12 hours. These hand painted tile stoves look so beautiful in spaces with painted panels.

www.allas.se

The tile stove radiates heat all day and night from just two fires per day. Firing the heater only twice a day means much less wood is used.

via Pinterest

Oven stoves are large, heavy and slow, but they offer so many advantages. They are low maintenance since they only have to be fired twice a day, no smoke leaves the chimney so there is less air pollution than conventional wood burning appliances, and since masonry is only just warm to the touch, you won't get burned. And let's not forget how beautiful they are!!

tweedlandthegentlemansclub.blogspot.com

Because of the tiled kakelugn the Swedish people didn't have to stay glued to their fireplaces to stay warm. Now they had some of the warmest homes in Europe!

Classic Swedish Interiors’ published by author/curator/Lars Sjoberg. Photographs by Engallil Snitt

petitehaus.com

cotedetexas.blogspot.com

Although initially only wealthy Swedish homeowners could afford these new tiled stoves, eventually the "new technology" was made affordable for poorer Swedish households as well. By the 19th large upper class homes might have a stove like this in the corner of every room.

commons.wikimedia.org

Stoves in the most elegant rooms were decorated with multicolored hand painted porcelain tiles and were prominently put on view in a specially designed niche emphasizing its beauty.

vk.com

Like a treasured piece of furniture the Swedish tiled stove was proudly displayed in a corner or in the middle of a wall.

vk.com

In the late 18th Century the Marieberg faience factory in Stockholm was where the most famous of all the hand-painted stoves in Sweden came from. They were known for their white backgrounds and beautifully colored tiles.

countrylifeimages.co.uk/ photographer Will Pryce

sivcmode.site

Solid white tiled kakelugns were used in all types of Swedish interiors from the classic and elegant.........

agedandgilded.typepad.com

to the more modest rooms. Thought of as plain in the 18th century, we now find these extremely charming and beautiful.

This image and the one above it features Swedish kakelugns in Sabylund Manor, considered the best late 18th century Swedish house to be built outside of the royal circle.

issuu.com

via Pinterest

The tiled stoves that were the typical heating device in 18th century Swedish homes are being produced again due to the recent rise in popularity.

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Today 's Swedish tile stove renaissance is causing the industry to manufacture new tiled stoves. Also antique stoves that are in perfect working condition are avidly being sought after for their aesthetic value as well as their functionality.

via Pinterest

These wonderful tiled stoves are being saved from old 18th and 19th century homes and buildings that are being demolished. Collectors are literally standing in line!