Swedish Country Nursery

I didn’t have a name for it back then, but now I know the style I’ve always loved:

Swedish country.

We live in California, but these photos of Forest’s old nursery remind me of some of the Swedish nurseries I’ve seen recently.

Swedish country decor is my absolute favorite, since it combines all the things I love:

• Natural, earthy colors
• Cozy kitchens with antique dish racks and potted flowers
• Lots of blankets and candles
• Natural wreaths
• Meaningful wall galleries, with mementos, old black and white family photos, art with a story behind it, tiny cabinets, and other interesting bits of this and that. Never glittery canvas art from a brightly lit store.
• Wallpaper
• Handmade furniture
• Tiny wall cabinets that are mostly decorative and hardly useful
• Things your grandma would approve of, such as: doilies, lace valances, and embroidered cushions

Graeme and I made this house shelf a few years ago, and then added a few to our Etsy shop.

This little wall cabinet would go well with Underbara Clara’s style.

It would also look good in Johanna’s Swedish country home. Both these ladies have wonderfully cozy country homes in Sweden and their style is timeless and beautiful.

Our little house shelf looks especially cozy at Christmastime.

A few years ago, I donated the last of my store bought canvas art and started gathering meaningful wall decor instead.

In Forest’s nursery wall gallery, there is:

• A very old Beatrix Potter painting that has been in the Shoebridge family for at least thirty years
• A painting we bought in Kilkenny to remember our Irish trip
• A painting of Miss Moon, Dog Governess
• A small frame with an antique hand-drawn picture describing vowels
• A tiny box Graeme made, containing some of our tiny childhood toys

The little gray bench in the first (and last) photo was also handmade by Graeme and my brother. Graeme and I made the quilt that is folded on the bench, and Graeme’s mom made the afghan draped over the crib.

The little bench actually started off as a co-sleeper, and then we shortened the legs when we realized sleeping next to a baby isn’t very fun.

Graeme also made these cornices! Aren’t they beautiful? They don’t look very Swedish to me, but I still think they were great in this room.

This lovely lovely rug is from Overstock, where we’ve gotten most of our rugs for under $300! Check out this other blue rug we have in our entryway. Can you have too many blue rugs?

I don’t think so.

Old books, childhood toys, an antique rolling basket…so many meaningful little things we wouldn’t quickly part with. Isn’t that the best kind of decor?

We don’t live in this house anymore, but we definitely enjoyed our time here and I have very fond memories of this nursery and the little boy that went with it.