The Little Shop(s) That Could + Did / Day 3 -- KLARADAL (Olney, MD)
LarsSjoberg18cSwedishMansion imagecourtesytrouvaiscom Peeps, Gleaning through the IKEA catalogue, and numerous design blogs devoted to the 'Nordic Style,' I assumed that all interiors followed the sparse format with pale grey/beige/white walls, stream-lined furnishings, scrubbed table-tops, and undressed windows; not so, shared Sue (Susan Kopperman) who owns the charming Swedish shop called Klaradal, located in Olney, MD. Sue had spent quite some time in Sweden and explained that all Swedish interiors are not pale and filled with painted white furniture, light fabrics, worn surfaces, and bereft of ornamentation. Historical Swedish interiors reveal an amalgamation of influences: French love of curves and carvings in the style of Louis XIV/XV/XVI (Baroque and Rococo); German and Eastern European love of heavy pomp and solidity via the Biedermeier style; the arrival of the exotic via blue and white ceramics and textiles from the Far East; exposure to...