Sunday 24 March 2013

Making a Kakelugn (Swedish Tiled Stove)

This weekend I started working on the kakelugn, or tiled stove for the dinning room of my Swedish dollhouse. I wanted it to sit in the corner and look something like this: 


I started with a piece of old floorboard I found in the shed, it was about 3cm thick. I cut it to a rectangle and also chamfered the edges to get the correct shape. 


I cut the piece in half and trimmed the back off the longer piece so it would be set back from the bottom piece when I glued them together. 



I glued them together using a basewood backing (which allowed me to pack out the bottom piece just a smidge more. 



Kakelugn stoves were tiled, so I cut out about 50 "tiles" from which card in order to give the effect.


I glued the tiles on and also edged the corner and base of the bottom piece with pre-milled timber trim. 



These stoves also sat on little legs, so I rummaged through my off-cuts/scrap box and found these balustrading  pieces I had kept when I shortened some for the American house. The little end bits were perfect legs. 




For the first coat of paint I used spray paint. I did this because if I had used a water based paint it would have damaged the card tiles. 


I fashioned the top, but left it plain without any embellishment  This was partly because I haven't yet quite worked out how to do a bit of a fleur de lis. I used a cornice piece upside-down to do this. 




I like how it fits in the room. 



Now all that is left is to make the door and other brass parts, paint the flower design on it and spay it with a clear gloss spray paint (to get the effect of shiny tiles).  

Stay tuned! 

16 comments:

  1. I love the look of your Swedish house and the kakelugn turned out really well, I look forward to seeing it painted. And in regard to your query about my settees, I built them from kits which are limited edition, they're no longer being made and one would suit a Swedish decor. I love Gustavian style.

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  2. I love the stove so far! (BTW, nice chandelier too!) Why did you decide to paint the flowers on the tiles after you have stuck them on the stove? I know you put a layer of spray paint on as a base, but I would be worried of ruining those lovely tiles. You're very brave painting them in situ!

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  3. I am so impressed. I just love the first coat of spray paint. I do that, too, after having my cardboard 'tiles' swell and warp. Can't wait to see the finished product!

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  4. I'm hooked on your blog now. I love Swedish interiors, and I can't wait to see what you will be doing.

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  5. Thank you so much for this most helpful tutorial of a Swedish stove. I collect Kim Jacobs calendars and she often includes them in her home scenes. One of my dreams is to reproduce one of her scenes with such a stove in it. If I can just get past this dollhouse I'm trying to finish! I was a bit mixed up at first as I thought that the first photo was of your stove but now I realize that it's not because you want to have the fleur de lis. I look forward to seeing it in its final form.

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  6. Thank your for showing your working process on the stove. It looks really good, fits perfectly in the room. I am looking forward to see it when the tiles are painted.

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  7. What a fantastic job you have done! It looks perfect, you would never know it was originally floor board. I look forward to seeing the end result!

    ML Fi xx

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  8. This is excellent work, it looks perfect. The tiles are very realistic, I love to see the end result too!
    Hugs, Ilona

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  9. Wow, wow, wow. This is a gorgeous stove, even in its unpainted state.

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  10. It's beautiful already. You must have a very steady hand to decorate them after glueing and spray painting them. What if something goes wrong? Maybe you don't have a cat or dog or other distractions?!? I'll keep my fingers crossed that it all goes swimmingly!

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  11. That looks very impressive even without the added details and it was nice to follow the step by step process.

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  12. Hello Emily,
    I swear I want to shrink down and visit your dollhouse! THe stove is looking wonderful. y uo really choose wonderful details to reproduce and you do a great job of them each time.
    Lovely.
    Big hug,
    Giac

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  13. Quelle pièce magnifique!!! elle s'intègre parfaitement dans votre maison!
    isabelle

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  14. Hello Emily! I am so impressed with the tile stove and the way that you composed it. My word but you are good! I am also curious about the chandelier, did you make that piece too because it looks custom made for this room?
    Wonderful work!

    elizabeth

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  15. It's incredible! Fantastic work!

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  16. I just found this, it is great.

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