Reflections on Swedish Interiors
By Rhonda Eleish and Edie Van Breems
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About this ebook
A well-designed Swedish room, whether an antique-filled country home or a contemporary industrial loft space, has a calm and feel-good quality that literally permeates the atmosphere. See how some of the most authentic advocates of Swedish design are using these ideas in their own homes, places of pure beauty and simplicity. The fundamental concepts of Swedish design are in full play at each location featured and are important qualities to incorporate into a home-those of functionality, quality of materials, light, preservation, art, eclecticism, color, sense of place and a deep reverence for nature.
Featured in the book are projects by designers Eleish van Breems, 2Michaels, Liza Laserow, and Jonas Wickman with a look into the private homes of Barbara Paca and Philip Logan of Preservation Green, Mick Aarestrup and Paula Batali of Lief, Tara Shaw of Tara Shaw Inc., Jill Dienst of Dienst and Dotter, Ann Ljungberg and Rajesh Kumar of Just Scandinavian, international stylist Ingrid Leess, and designers Patricia Fischer of Patricia Fisher Interiors and Linda Kennedy of Meredith Baxter Home. The elements of Swedish style are broken down for the reader with inspiring photos and directives and a Resource Guide is provided for further exploration.
Forewards by Brad Ford and Keith Granet.
Rhonda Eleish and Edie van Breems are the founders of Eleish van Breems Ltd., a company whose approach to design stems from a modern application and interpretation of historic Scandinavian interiors and form. Their design work has been featured in House Beautiful, Elle Decor, Veranda, Glamour, Country Living, Gods & Goddar, and the New York Times, among others. Both live with their families in southwest Connecticut and travel extensively in Scandinavia, calling Stockholm their home away from home.
Rhonda Eleish
Rhonda Eleish and Edie van Breems live in Woodbury, Connecticut, and opened the doors to Eleish van Breems Antiques in 1998. They specialize in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Swedish antiques and offer compelling examples of Swedish design and lifestyle.
Read more from Rhonda Eleish
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Reflections on Swedish Interiors - Rhonda Eleish
Acknowledgments
Foreword
by Brad Ford
Born and bred in Arkansas, I was always surrounded by the most beautiful and incredible natural resources. From the Ozark Mountains to the Mississippi River, every turn offered a breathtaking landscape more striking than the next. I spent countless hours hiking through the woods behind our house or swimming in the local lake where I came across such rich earthy colors, textures and tones that forged a genuine impression on me. This upbringing certainly influenced my own aesthetic, but looking back I realize it also deepened my appreciation for Scandinavian design. Often inspired by nature itself and many times handcrafted using the finest organic materials, the creations coming out of this region have a certain warmth and beauty I not only appreciate but also remind me of home.
A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to visit Copenhagen for the first time. It is a town very far and quite different from my southern roots, but a place with an equally warm soul. I remember as I strolled the city streets and ambled along the harbor being amazed at the Danes’ genuine passion for design. For them, it’s a way of life. Whether it be the subdued hues found in Salto’s glazed ceramics or the gentle curve of a Wegner armchair, every piece is crafted with careful thought and deliberate intent.
The highlight of that trip was being able to tour Finn Juhl’s house. For me it was like walking through a poem teeming with skill and grace. The colors, shapes and texture were all so perfectly blended that from the rough-hewn wood floors to the shapely furnishings, each room was equally sublime. And although it was clear that the home had evolved over time, the overall result appeared effortless. But like most creations coming out of Denmark and Sweden, once you really study them you begin to recognize how much sincere thought went into every decision. This is something I always strive for in my own work, and I’m certain the Swedish-inspired interiors, as shared by Rhonda and Edie in this exciting new book, will no doubt leave you with an equally aspirational objective: Design that is simple and uncomplicated, yet functional and stylish.
Foreword
by Keith Granet
Arriving in Stockholm for the first time by boat from Denmark was an indelible memory for me. I was struck by the beauty of the harbor the buildings lined up like little soldiers waiting for this young man with a passion for architecture to explore. I arrived after visiting Finland and Norway, where the architecture, the colors and the light were familiar yet different. Sweden is one of those places you think about because it is always associated with beauty; it is always associated with the word crisp—crisp weather, crisp clean lines. For me it means natural, an appreciation for a sustainable lifestyle long before it was fashionable to even care; it seems like the Swedish people have always cared. They have always appreciated beauty in everything they do and everything they make.
When Rhonda Eleish and Edie van Breems asked me to write a foreword for their third book, Reflections on Swedish Interiors, I was honored, mostly because I adore these very talented women and secondly because they have become the experts to everything Swedish in the design world. Their own talents are spread across the pages of their three books along with their appreciation for the other designers, whose work are graciously displayed, communicating this beautiful, minimal, sumptuous lifestyle.
Rhonda and Edie have taught me that everything Swedish is designed yet never over-designed. The care of how a utilitarian tool looks alongside a beautifully designed piece of furniture is of equal importance. The Swedish movement has been so important to American design and Reflections on Swedish Interiors will continue to bring to light that importance. I know it may sound trite to say that Swedish design follows Virtruvius’ three conditions of firmness, commodity and delight, but, when you look at a Swedish home or furnishing or a simple dish towel, it all carries that same level of care and comfort that makes you yearn for a home filled with these beautiful objects.
The gift that Rhonda Eleish and Edie van Breems have brought us to through their books, designs, and love of Sweden lives on in these pages and will be appreciated by all who read on.
Introduction
by Edie van Breems and Rhonda Eleish
When you walk into a good Swedish-designed room, whether it is an antique-filled country home or a contemporary industrial loft space, there is a serenity, calm and feel-good quality that literally permeates the atmosphere. Spend any amount of time in these rooms, regardless of location, and it becomes evident that Swedish interior design is not just a term—it expresses a tangible reality and a community of ideas that is no longer bound by simple nationalistic borders. Here, we share and reflect on how some of the most authentic advocates of Swedish design working in America, many of them Swedes, are using these ideas in their own homes, places of pure beauty and simplicity. The fundamental concepts of Swedish design are in full play here and are the qualities we always make a priority of incorporating into our own design work for clients—those of functionality, quality of materials, light, preservation, art, eclecticism, color, sense of place and a deep reverence for nature.
Our two previous books, Swedish Interiors and Swedish Country Interiors, took a more academic approach, discussing at some length the origins of Swedish furnishings and design philosophy. Scandinavian design has since been embraced globally and has permeated into our American consciousness in ways we had not imagined as our own notions of lifestyle and eco-consciousness grow closer to those of the Swedes. We are excited to present this new book as a touchstone and compendium of pure visual inspirations and concepts with wonderful commentary from some of our dearest and most admired friends and colleagues. By gathering and holding a mirror to these concepts in this book, we invite you to reflect, dream and perchance steal some of their magic for your own home, purpose and happiness.
As they say in Sweden—Good Design for Everybody!
—Edie & Rhonda
Graceful Living
2Michaels
Twin sisters Jayne and Joan Michaels are the principals of the New York–based design firm 2Michaels, and are long-time advocates of Scandinavian design. Their studies of Scandinavian design masters have left a lasting impression much in evidence in their approach to their work. Quite simply, Jayne states, The unsung hero is how deceptively simple Swedish design looks. Yet it’s utterly complex. To me that’s genius.
Jayne described their early influences: "We lived in Palm Springs, California, from the age of eleven through eighteen. The desert landscape was pure and graphic, the clarity of light vivid and strong, and the houses were low and modern. Joan and I then lived in Italy from the age of twenty-two to twenty-six. In Milan, we became friends with Franco Albini’s son Marco and ended up living in