A Pair Of Stinky Tables

I recently was given a gift of a pair of 18th century Swedish Gustavian demilune tables! They are gorgeous! What a score!

Until I got a whiff of them. These tables are notorious for having been sold by the best antique dealer in town to a lady for $5,000 or so. The dealer had fumigated the tables with a chemical to get rid of wormwood, and all seemed well, until the tables were enclosed in the customer's house, letting off the most awful stinky stink. Of course the tables were returned.

The once stinky Swedish table in the home of the Visual Vamp
I spy an Anne Harwell painting!

They kicked around at a huge discount to a number of local decor mavens. A thick coat of white Kilz paint was applied. But still the stinky tables, as they have become affectionately known, were returned to the seller time after time.

The seller was moving and I always loved these tables, so he just gave them to me knowing I was fully aware of the issues.

The smell really was intense. Like chemical urine. It had seeped into the centuries old wood, and the prevailing humidity in New Orleans did not help matters. They even stunk up my back enclosed patio area outside, and they nearly gassed the poor seller when he drove them over to my house in his SUV, even with the windows open!

18th century Swedish demilune table with 1960's mod table layered under it
photo: Visual Vamp living room

I had nothing to lose so I did some Google research. The underside of the tables had been left unpainted, and unfinished. Basically bare wood. So I doused it with white vinegar and waited 24 hours. The tables didn't smell as bad, but they smelled like a giant pickle. Then a kind person emailed me a suggestion to use denatured alcohol. I doused the tables a couple of times, again with 24 hours in between treatments. This worked the best, but the stinky stink crept back, though much more faint. But even faint, trust me you do not want to smell this in your house!

My next trick was to spray them with a citrus orange oil room deodorizer. Again I waited 24 hours. This worked really well, as the oil soaked into the wood, and took over as the top note.
Then I painted the undersides of each table with three coats of white Kilz paint, and touched up the rest of the tables with more Kilz. I waited 24 hours. I sniffed them. They did not stink!

Glorious Swedish demilune tables at chez Visual Vamp!
I took this photo at 7 AM this morning

So I brought them in the house! Even though I am not an antiques maven, I seem to have alot of antique pieces in my vampy mix. I do love antiques, but I am not one for the strict period look of a room. So far so good. The tables are magnificent, and once in awhile I get a whiff of orange blossoms. I have sprayed them with Lysol, and this has helped tone down the orange scent too, and I think this stinky pair has at long last been tamed to be able to live indoors.



And for the fun of it, here is a mini round up look book of some antique Swedish demilune tables.

From Velvet and Linen HERE - Brooke is the Swedish expert for sure

via La Pouyette HERE
My pair of demilunes have brackets on the back so I can make one round table

From Inspiring Interiors HERE

via House Beautiful

via Karina Gentinetta HERE

Visual Vamp 18th century demilune tables

Do you guys have any stinky furniture stories and solutions to share?

A Swedish/French Style Chandelier You Can Afford!

Gustavian Swedish style derived from French elements has gone mainstream. Even if you don't go for the whole smorgasbord of Swedish furnishings, certain key pieces are used in rooms that have a mix of styles and era.

One of the most beloved items is the wood turned chandelier. By and large they hover in price around the $2000. (and up) price range. For most of us this is too pricey. Many regular folks can furnish a whole room for $2000.

Mariestad 12 Light Chandelier - HERE
30"H x 28"Diam. LC584 - $299.00

But now...drum roll...the good folks at Ballard Designs offer the first affordable Swedish style chandelier I have ever seen. Believe me I know because I have searched on behalf of clients and customers and friends who want one, but cannot afford the going rate. Even at wholesale cost you can pay around $800. - $1000.

Mariestad 6 Light Chandelier - HERE

25"H x 26"Diam. LC583 - $199.00

It looks great in the catalog, just the perfect color and proportion. If it looks too new to you, you could always do a little antique-ing with paint.

So at $199. for the six arm model, and $299. for the twelve arm model, you can own a great piece of style.

It would look great in any room in the house.
You can dress it up with little wooden drops from Aidan Gray.
Aidan Gray also has some wood turned chandeliers for around $800.

Fancy and expensive - but check out the wooden drops
Also study the finish on this chandelier
You can do this to the budget one
photo from Cote de Texas

They are currently sold out of the gray drops, but have the gold. If you want them right away, I would buy the gold and just paint them, or maybe gild the candle cups and see how the gold mixes and matches with the gray paint on the body of the chandelier.


Happy Weekend!!!!

Christmas At Edie's Swedish House Of Style

Even those who love Swedish design have told me it's fried, died, and laying on its side. Well she was more ladylike than that, and her identity would shock you. But I think I'll keep it to myself...

However when you see photos like these in the December 2009 issue of Country Living, you know you just have to love Swedish style interior design just a little longer.

Actually this home transcends the trend, and is just beautiful and stylish no matter what you label it.

The fact that it's furnished with some lovely Swedish antiques and reproductions is not really the issue. The issue is this: it's well designed and lovely.

All decked out for Christmas, this home in the Connecticut country side couldn't be more charming.

Winter light never looked so good, so cozy, so hot!

And here she is (drum roll), the lady of the house, Ms. Edie van Breems!

You can read her behind the scenes back story of the photo shoot (on her blog) that resulted in these luscious images HERE
And you can read the entire Country Living article HERE

Shop Keepers Homes 5

In this edition of Shop Keepers Homes, I give you Andrew and Shannon Newsom, proprietors of the online emporium Wistera. They also have a blog HERE.


These two have impeccable design pedigrees that come down family lines. Andrew's is Lisa Newsom, editor of Veranda; and Shannon's is Jane Moore, a Houston interior designer and antiques dealer. The couple also share a dedication to social change, evident in the catalog's devotion to a different nonprofit group in each issue.
They are experts at romancing the home.


Once upon a time this newly married couple looked for, but couldn’t find, beautiful antiques and decorative objects to furnish their first home—at least, not at a price they could afford.

So they got the idea of starting a catalog to offer such merchandise, which became a web site, and, in classic Internet start-up style from its earliest origins at a kitchen table, Wisteria.com was born.

Wisteria.com got started on this kitchen table

Wisteria.com marries high-touch sensibilities that distinguish its catalog to the high-tech sales medium of the web.

Andrew is president of the company, and co-founder Shannon, writes most of the catalog copy that also goes on the site. She brings a distinctive first-person voice to the company that offers a tip of the hat to the early Banana Republic and J. Peterman catalogs in its ability to not just sell, but romance a product.

Inventory is sourced from around the world. By finding small, local suppliers in Third World countries, the Newsoms have found a way to keep prices lower than for comparable goods produced elsewhere, while offering the unusual and unique in a spare, clean-looking and easy to navigate site.

“Pottery Barn sells great products, but given the measure of their business, they have to be standardized in what they sell,” Andrew says. “We are small enough that we can find and sell 200 to 400 units. A huge company couldn’t do that.”

The artful photography that characterizes the catalog loses nothing in its translation to the web site, and the web medium makes contributes of its own: incremental sales and a younger customer.

Market research had determined that Wisteria’s core customer contains a large group of those in their 50s. “That catalog buyer has both disposable income and time,” says Andrew. “My sense is our Internet audience has disposable income, is decorating their first home, but doesn’t have a lot of time. They get online at night after they put their kids to bed and they shop then, because it’s more convenient.”

Internet sales are increasing in dollar volume and as a percentage of overall sales.
“There’s an opportunity here to go deeper than our catalog in telling more about the products and the story of the brand,” says Andrew.

All images (except for the top three which are from the Wisteria catalog) are of the home of Shannon and Andrew Newsom, and are from the hot new design book Swedish Country Interiors by Rhonda Eleish and Edie Van Breems. The book is not only filled with beautiful images, but with very insightful writing on the subject. You'll really learn something when you read this book by two of the foremost experts on 18th and 19th century Swedish antiques. Buy it HERE or at your local book store.

Some of this post is excerpted from various web sources.

Book Signing At Tara Shaw New Orleans - Swedish Country Interiors

We have been waiting for this event for months! The lovely Tara Shaw is hosting a book signing for two of our favorite people, authors Rhonda Eleish, Edie Van Breems, who will be at Tara's shop to talk about (and sign copies of ) their #1 best selling decor book: Swedish Country Interiors.

Book Signing at Tara Shaw New Orleans


1240 Camp Street | New Orleans, LA 70130 | Voice: 504.525.1131


Saturday, October 24


2 - 5 PM


Come early to shop


Meet Rhonda and Edie authors of Swedish Country Interiors
(buy a book and have them sign it!)

Swedish Country Interiors Part 2 - How To Do This In Your Home

Here are some more great images from the hot new design book Swedish Country Interiors which you can get HERE.
It is such a wealth of inspiration, and any one of these images is sure to give you some ideas as how to bring a little Swedish Country into your decor scheme.
Click on images for a larger view.

Swedish decor is all about color
The fabric on the settee is Ralph Lauren, and very much like a Swedish textile

Take note of the checked curtains

This kitchen is the epitome of a simple well designed space
Add a sink skirt and open shelving in your own kitchen

Mora, mora, mora!
These clocks are THE signature Swedish design element

Love the floors, the old armoire, and the white bed linens
All key ingredients for a Swedish interior

Even the bathroom can have a touch of Swedish design
Add a painted Swedish antique table for a pop of color

An old painted Swedish chest, a simple rag rug runner
You can do this!

All the classics make this dining room perfect
Use upholstered chairs with a farm house table
Note the seagrass rug under the table

Two demi lune tables pushed together and an old oriental rug
Do this is your entry hall for some Swedish love!

The painted armoire is a key element- overpaint one you already have
Note the old bench and the blue buckets

This office space comes alive because of the old factory table
Check out the white accent pieces

A rare 18th century Swedish corner chair and small table, both with the original paint
Using one or two special pieces like this will give you an instant aura of a Swedish interior

This unpretentious kitchen is wonderful
Clear pine cabinets and white appaiances are refreshing
The skirted table is a nice unexpected element in a kitchen
The Gustavian style chairs are so Swedish

Bare floors are another element of the Swedish interior
A piece like the 18th century game table is another grace note that can transform a space

A pair of white upholstered arm chairs convey the simple symmetry of Swedish design

The ubiquitous white slip covers are something you may already have

Do you collect antique linens?
Showcase them in an armoire for a terrific statement

White painted built-ins, and the white painted table
Infuse your home office with Swedish Country styke this way
Check out the bright plaid on the chair seat

What can I say?
The perfect painted chest defines the Swedish interior
The graphic wall paper has birds among the vines, a classic Swedish motif

More clear pine and a farm house table are something you may already own
Bring it out of storage and use it for instant Swedish style

Huge armoires and chest on chests like this are something to invest in if you want a Swedish interior design

Sprigged floral fabric is another way to get instant Swedish style

Blue and white tiles on the fire place echo the look of an old Swedish stove

Such a modern looking room made Swedish by using double chandeliers
and of course the Mora clock and white slipcovers drive it home
Note all the blue fabric and the trunk used as a coffee table

Another perfect antique chest with a pair of Gustavian chairs
Over paint a pair of chairs and add check slips

If you have French things you can move them into a Swedish interpretation
The red check seat slips and the blue over painted furniture are very Swedish

Pare down the collections on display
Swedish style is a clean calm look

These old rakes are extraordinary
I love the decorative paint on them
Stencil an old rake for the same effect, and scour the market for rakes like these

This collection of busts along with the aged map
is a continental style that looks so right in the Swedish scheme of things
I spy a turned wood chandelier, another popular Swedish element

Please get the book and read all the details of the homes pictured above. There are so many interesting back stories of each one of these unique Swedish Country Interiors, and many more images that I haven't shown to you.
Nothing can ever replace holding a book in your hands.
I just wanted to share another little look book with you, in case you feel like styling a room or two this weekend.