Swedish Style Light Floors

Yes, I love light-colored floors! And I often receive questions about our bleached floors. So let me share what I know. Let's get started!

Whitewashed floors have been around for hundreds of years in Sweden and Scandinavia. Because the Nordic winters are so long and dark, having light-colored floors help to keep interiors bright. They are also quite versatile, and can work with traditional or modern furnishings.

Throughout Ekensberg Manor outside Stockholm, Sweden, many of the pine floors were whitewashed (above and below photos, both by Simon Upton for House Beautiful). Built in 1790, Ekensberg is being restored by Lars and Ursula Sjoberg, both respected scholars on Swedish antiques and the decorative arts.

The pine floors above and below seem to have a lyed soap appearance. Both photos scanned from the book: Rum for Mobler by Lars and Ursula Sjoberg, photography by Staffan Johansson. 

Scandinavia is covered in spruce and pine forests, and much of the flooring comes from these blonde-toned woods. Staining these woods can be problematic as the sap from the knots tend to create blotches. Instead, the floors are often given a clear wax finish or whitewashed treatment involving a lye soap mixed with chalk / lime pigments, calcium carbonate, etc. The combination of the lye (sodium hydroxide) prevented the wood from yellowing while the chalk / lime pigments left a whitewashed appearance. I do not know the exact formula.....anyone? I do know it requires upkeep and refreshing often.

What I love most about this look is its quiet texture. Unlike painted floors, which are opaque, the variation of the grain and character of lyed wood are all there, only lighter. I find that bleached floors have a similar appearance, and require less maintenance. Let's quickly compare the two:

 In the above kitchen, the knotty pine floors have a milky finish. In the dining room below, the hardwood boards (most likely oak) have been bleached, whitewashed, and oiled for protection. We had pine floors in parts of our former home, and it didn't bleach well - a bit streaky and peachy. Therefore, I suspect the pine floors above have been lyed due to its consistent appearance.

Notice how lovely the light-colored floors look in modern settings. Quite different from the 18th century manor homes above, but equally beautiful and appropriate.

 From the airiness to the furnishings, I love everything about this modern home by NORM Architects in Copenhagen, Denmark. All photos from NORM.

 And for comparison, below is a drawing room with painted floors designed by Albert Hadley. See how the monochromatic painted finish is different from bleached and lyed surfaces?

When we renovated our home, Tom and I installed new 7" wide white oak boards in random lengths. As with the floors in our former home and many of my projects, I entrusted the finishing work to Classic Floors.

Our floors were sanded, cleaned, bleached (to lighten the wood), stained white twice, and sealed with a Danish oil treatment. Here are some tips:

1) Order extra stock as there will be unattractive boards which should be rejected.

2) Try placing darker boards in the centers of the rooms which will be covered by area rugs.

3) Try bleaching darker boards twice, but be sure to do a test as over-bleaching can turn the wood green.

4) In lieu of an oil treatment, bleached floors can be sealed with a water-based urethane in satin finish.

5) Stay away from red oak which tends to bleach pink!

     

In our family room, the floors are complemented by a neutral Oushak. The painted sideboard and trestle table are both Swedish from the 1800s. To keep the room from being too pale, I included a few iron pieces with blackened finishes.

Darkwood furniture looks even more stunning on light-colored floors. The chestnut sideboard is French, and the oak child's posture-correction chair is English Victorian.

At our shop, we have a small room with bleached floors. Sometimes, I like to leave it bare, and currently, there is an antique Oriental rug that is beautifully worn.

Do you remember Michelle and CD's home which I decorated? Look how beautiful their bleached floors are with an antique Oriental.

In Linda and Kit's former home, I had the bleached floors sealed with a water-based urethane. I love the serenity of this home which is decorated with Swedish antiques from Tone on Tone. A big thank you to photographer Lydia Cutter for sharing these photos from Home and Design Magazine. Lydia was such a pleasure to work with, and her portfolio is amazing - check it out here!

I hope you have enjoyed this post. If you have information on light floors, please feel free to share! Thanks!!
Loi
PS - Bleached floors are quite easy to maintain, and require very little dusting!

Luncheon at Our Home

Thank you all for leaving such wonderful and positive comments on my last post about the new shipment. Tom and I are grateful for your support and feedback! All of the new inventory will be posted to the website soon. I've been busy cataloging, pricing, and photographing each piece.

Recently, I hosted a casual luncheon at home for Bethany Brower, Nancy Powell, and Kerry Steele - all friends and blog authors I met last summer.

Nancy and Bethany are a talented, creative, and dynamic design team, and they write daily about design, art, and more on their site: Powell Brower. They are also mother and daughter.

Kerry is an amazing artist, and author of Design du Monde. Her abstracts on linen are quite lovely! Check out her new site here.

As I do not cook much (at all :), I enlisted Tom to prepare lunch. We enjoyed his Chesapeake Bay crabcakes, tomato, mozzarella and basil salad, and simple mixed greens. Many thanks, Tom!! For dessert, I picked up a summer fruit tart and macaroons from a local French patisserie.

 Setting the table can be so fun! In my china closet are antique and new creamware, ironstone, and other simple dishes.

 Above photo: French creamware pieces in an unusual pale blue color by Creil (top row). Creamware and ironstone serving pieces (second row). Dinner plates, soup bowls, dessert and salad plates, and other small dishes (bottom row).  

I ended up using these vintage Swedish ironstone plates with beaded rim. They are the perfect luncheon size. (The little footed bowls are French coffee bowls from the early 1900s.)

Also in this closet are linens, trays, and vintage baskets stored in old French laundry baskets.

For a casual look, I selected French olive wood flatware, rustic washed linens, and abaca woven place mats. Both the flatware and place mats are from Crate and Barrel.

Here is the table all set up! The footed cakestands are French from the end of the 1800s. In the photos at the beginning, you'll see a stack of three, which I assembled over a period of time. Limelight hydrangeas are from our garden.

Here are Nancy, Bethany, and Kerry in the family room. Thanks for coming over, ladies. I had a great time :)

And now is a good opportunity to share our new Swedish Mora clock from the end of the 1700s. Just over 100 inches, this is the tallest Mora clock I've come across. To read more about Mora clocks, please visit this post from last year. The antique coffee table is from Belgium, and is slightly taller than today's coffee tables.

That's it for this post. Hope you'll visit my friends' sites.
Bye for now! 
Loi 

What's New at Tone on Tone?

What's new at Tone on Tone? Or should it be what's old? :) Well, the container that came two weeks ago has FINALLY(!) been unpacked. Now I'm working on tagging, upholstering, setting up shop, and uploading photos to our website. Sorry for the delay. I've been swamped with multiple project deadlines and endless spring garden chores.

Here is a quick look at the shop and preview of a few new pieces. I'll be adding more photos directly to our website in the next couple of weeks. Thanks in advance for checking it out!

 This pair of Swedish painted armchairs is actually from our prior shipment. I had sent them out to the upholsterer, and they just came back with their new greige linen upholstery. I love the downswept arms and pierced fretwork backrest.

 Above: A mix of Belgian, English and French pieces all in different finishes - just the way I like it! Anchoring this vignette is a mid 1800s French fruitwood farm table with a long end drawer (not shown). On top is a pair of 20th century oil and acrylic on paper paintings. The centerpiece is a fabulous antique English copper fish poacher. And the painted footstools, newly upholstered in linen with nailheads, are from Belgium.

 Another look at one of the stools next to a mid 1700s French walnut commode. The rug is 19th century Persian....just a bit worn and tattered.

 Lots of tabletop accessories in this shipment, including these antique English ivory accessories.

 A couple of Swedish Mora clocks.

 A sculptural Swedish bow front chest with three graduated drawers and cabriole feet.

 This French chestnut and oak sideboard with its fabulous long hinges and hardware just arrived. On top is a collection of creamware.

 Below: A French Directoire style fruitwood sideboard with handsome proportions.

 All French here! This type of French mirror is known as a bistro mirror. The flame top carved marble finials and soup tureen are also from France. One of my favorite pieces from the shipment is this striking marble top pastry table with its old white painted iron base.

 An antique English mirror with a frame of acorns and oak leaves.

That's it for the shop tour!

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What else is new? I'm working on a lovely Ca. 1860s home with this stunning conservatory addition. We are repainting the walls, ceiling and trim, and this photo was taken prior to painting.

A peek at my board for the conservatory: many shades of blues, tans, browns and greiges. The pottery bowl is from John Rosselli. So are the Lisa Fine and Michael Smith fabrics. The wall paint color (background) is custom and the trim will be BM's White Dove. 

 While shopping for pieces for the kids rooms, I came across this awesome collection of glass bottles at West Elm. Kinda reminds of a Morandi still life!

 I'll be sharing more photos of this home on Instagram (user name: loithai) and here on the blog. Thanks for following along :)