Home Decoration « Nona Hyytinen Portraits

: Carl Larsson’s home decoration

One of my influences is the much loved Swedish artist, Carl Larsson. He had much in common with other artists of his time who wanted to develop the unique national character of his homeland through his paintings and his home decoration, but he had that added advantage of marrying another artist, Karin Bergoo. Karin was educated at the Arts and Crafts School in Stockholm and went on to study at the Art Academy there. She met Larsson at an artist’s colony in France, outside Paris. (The protean William Morris of England is another of those who spring to mind as endeavoring to bring their sense of beauty and utility to bear on every aspect of their life, including home and business. His wife became the muse and model of Dante Gabriel Rosetti and is probably the most famous “face” of the PreRaphaelite movement.)

In their wake, I continue to decorate my home. I’m currently redecorating my kitchen. When we built the home in 1991, I painted and fired the tiles that surround our zero-clearance wood-burning stove. Later I painted more to create a backsplash beneath our cupboards. Much later, I painted Gothic Arches around my living room and foyer to evoke the English cottages I so love. Last week and this, I have been painting scrollwork around my kitchen. The walls had been a sponged parchment color. Now, it is pale blue (with a violet cast) and I have been painting a bright yellow scroll of my own design.

Kitchen Scrollwork

I sort of create the designs as I go, judging what is needed. It is, of course, much easier to judge whether something is pleasing or not once it’s been done, but fortunately I’ve liked everything so far. The plate rack is my favorite “moment” in the kitchen so far.