Holiday Decorating in a Swedish Home
Interior designer Edie van Breems welcomes the spirit of Christmas past, celebrating the season and her Scandinavian heritage with time-honored decorations, food, and traditions.
Interior designer Edie van Breems welcomes the spirit of Christmas past, celebrating the season and her Scandinavian heritage with time-honored decorations, food, and traditions.
1
Dining Room Wreath
A Scandinavian-style wreath of boxwood and dried wheat hangs above a 19th-century painted-wood bench in Edie van Breems's dining room.
2
Holiday Treats
Van Breems celebrates Christmas Eve with a buffet of sweets, including marzipan fruit adorning a goose-feather tree.
3
Table Setting
Hand-carved dining chairs — reproductions sold at van Breems's shop, Eleish van Breems — pair with a farm table purchased from a local antiques dealer. The early-19th-century pine case clock hails from Sweden.
4
Baking Cookies
Van Breems joins sons Lars and Martin in the kitchen for an afternoon of cookie-baking.
5
Staircase
A garland of pine and wheat drapes across the banister, just above a 200-year-old dowry chest from Lapland.
6
Living Room
Decked out in shades of gold, white, and blue, van Breems's Christmas tree shines in the living room. The armchair dates from the 1930s. Van Breems found the 19th-century child's table and antique ebonized mirror in Sweden.
7
Side Table
A 70-year-old clam-shucking table, once used in an Atlantic City seafood restaurant, now stands in the dining room.
8
Holiday Greeting Cards
Sprigs of holly make a holiday-card display even more festive.
9
Blue-and-White Bedroom
Van Breems painted her Gustavian-style headboard white, in the Swedish custom of using pale colors to combat winter darkness.
10
Clock
Park Hill Collection's whitewashed Gustavian-style floor model mimics van Breems's priceless antique. ($595; 888-603-3334)
11
Table
Made of pine salvaged from distilleries, this six-foot-long table delivers a whole lot of farmhouse chic. ($1,295; sundancecatalog.com)
12
Chair
This Queen Anne-style charmer follows the same curves as van Breems's dining room seats. ($249; potterybarn.com)
13
Chandelier
Glow big with this painted wood-and-steel fixture — a shining example of Shaker-inspired lighting. ($299.95; irvins.com)
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