We are in March and its pretty chilly in Los Angeles-the rain has been relentless! The rest of the world laughs, as we Angelenos suffer with 40°weather. Its actually insanity in this neck of the woods. Freezing, really. What more could be done, except stay holed-up indoors and internet spiral on all things warm. Or hot.
I fall in love with the Swedish stoves, naturally. Kakelugn, specifically. Not available at Ikea & of course we’ll never (legally) have them in California, as they have banned wood/gas burning anything. sad. But everywhere else, I do believe you can and should swing one of these beauties and tuck them in somewhere in your space.
Interestingly enough, they are incredibly fast and efficient at warming a space, using the most minimal amount of wood and intelligent infrastructure. These beauties were born out of a crisis-often times the case with many things great. Inspiration or desperations pivotal. No pressure, no diamonds, right?
In the 1700’s the forests in North Eastern Europe were near depleted and a wood shortage was a big problem for a truly chilly climate. In 1767, Swedish King Adolf Frederick (interesting story with that man…) held a contest of sorts- the winner and whiz was Carl Johan Cronstedt, an architect, redeveloped the traditional warming stove and made these gems 10x more efficient than the old stoves. One tiny fire and a few pieces of wood, would warm the space for half the day! The beauty of ceramic, is that it holds the heat-vs. a fireplace, where the majority exists through the chimney.That and the zig-zagging of the interior structure that slows the heat movement.The next level beauty is the gorgeous and vibrant tiles that decorated these stoves- outlasting any plaster or wallpaper finish. Fabulous florals, classic blue and white, saturated pigments, brass and gold details and more- see below! When central heating moved in, the Kakelugn, largely moved out. Many of the old estates and handfuls of homes still have these in place and working. a spiral of your own is absolutely approved. While a trip to Scandinavian regions would be dreamy, you can see examples of these in Minneapolis-naturally, as there is a pretty large community of Swedish Americans! The ASI- American Swedish Institute has the largest collection of Kakelugn in North America, all housed in the most charming Turnblad Mansion, turned museum.Wonder if they have Swedish pastries hanging around…If you’re in the market for one, www.gabrielkakelugnar.com (a few of their lovelies below!) is a seemingly authentic source in Sweden and in the US,New York based retailer, www.nycfireplacestore.com has some pretty ceramic stove options as well.
If you’re looking for a place to stay and experience one authentically, the Eta Hem in Stockholm is looking like a stellar choice! www.etthem.se Designed by Ilse Crawford/photo by Paul Massey
Ett Hem Hotel/ Ilse Crawford. photo by Paul Massey
