Fjorn (Scandinavian Textiles)
Speaking of Klippan in my earlier post showing pillows from Frances Rose, their table linens are also worth a mention because they're perfectly Scandinavian in all the ways we love. Simple yet elegant with bold colors and adorable patterns against white or linen.
I figured out why Scandinavian designs appeal to me just recently when I thought about why I liked them so much. And I think it's just part of my nature to always ask why, as I'm constantly looking to know more about the world around me and I'm not scared to admit it when I don't know. I believe that asking questions is the only way to understand the world around us, and that sounds like the most reasonable thing in the world, but oddly most don't ask. They assume. Or they just don't go there.
It's almost like we come into this world asking our parents, "Why is the sky blue?" and "How are babies made?" and then we reach this point somewhere around 11 or 12 years old where we start to become independent and asking just isn't cool. We take this into our adult life because we're told that asking shows that we don't know the answer and we never should admit something so tragic as not holding ultimate knowledge! It's this thing we have about asking for help that I think is rooted more in our fear of losing independence somehow. Like asking means needing help and needing help shows weakness. Not true! When it comes to design, I'm asking myself more and more the question, why? Understanding if I genuinely like something by asking why helps me to explore that. Is this making sense? Am I taking things too seriously?
Whether I am or not, I still asked myself why I liked Scandinavian patterns. Is it because every other blogger does? Or because we're seeing them everywhere? There's no doubt that peer opinions are strong influences because it's part of our nature to want to be a part of the crowd. (Have you heard of influencer marketing?) But I discovered that I really do like Scandinavian patterns and traced this back to my childhood because my grandmother had them everywhere in her home.
I like patterns that are geometric, orderly, like apples in a row or beads or lines. (Also explains my interest in Japanese fabrics and the latest collage art techniques out there.) And I like the images to be somewhat cute or strong and bold (think of Sanna Annukka) or a bit more free form and organic (Lotta Jansdotter), but still have some order to the overall design because things that are busy make me feel very distracted and stressed. Scandinavian design uses a lot of natural materials and neutral backgrounds, which I think is nice because it's simple and earthy and I love things when they are laid back and close to nature.
If you're looking for Scandinavian textiles online, visit Fjorn. Something about their site felt familiar to me, so I think I've written about them before. But I don't remember so maybe you don't either, which is why they deserve a mention. They carry Klippan and also a more tradition design house called Ekelund, as well as a few others but those didn't strike me the same as the Klippan stuff and the Ekelund table runners.
(images from fjorn)