With the holidays and our first snowfall, winter has surely settled in. The colder days ahead shorten the pattern of light penetrating our windows. For those of us who live for sun and warmth at home, it's really hard to imagine any designer style originating from the North Pole. And yet I must confess - I love everything Swedish. Since the winter sun rises at 8:47am then sets a scant six hours later, Swedes do everything possible to capture and enhance the amount of light in their homes and lives.

Interiors are always light and airy. Swedish colors reflect the soft palettes of the Earth, using subtle blues, grays, whites, pale greens, pale yellows, red and ecru, but never harsh or stark whites.

The Swedes fashion their fine homes with a delicate understatement, furnished with down-to-earth elegance. Their style has been described as "modest majesty with a grandeur not relying on size for its effect." Walls are typically tongue and groove wainscoting. But rather than elaborate wood molding or ornamental plasterwork, this effect is achieved more easily by painted linen or canvas panels to imitate neoclassical designs or aubusson tapestries. The Swedes love symmetry and order and so they often outline their walls with pretty painted borders.

When wallpaper is used, the most popular colors and themes reflect their preference for off-white and light colors with fine, classic medallion patterns within an overall striped motif. Softwoods such as Scots pine and Norway spruce fill the Swedish countryside. As you might expect, virtually all furniture is made of these basic materials. However, Swedes have developed unique techniques for painting to make their furniture sophisticated and refined.

Floors in Swedish homes are often scrubbed and bare, but can be painted in white or silver grey, or otherwise with simple geometric shapes with roots in folk art traditions. Window treatments, upholstery and bedding are almost always cotton or linen. Fabric patterns are woven checks, stripes and delicate florals. The overall effect is minimalist, but never boring. As the Swedish style is not particularly prevalent in our area as compared with fine homes in the Upper Mid-West, here is a real opportunity to differentiate your home. Swedish style is the perfect counter to our stressful American living. I have been incorporating a mix of English and Swedish elements into my new kitchen design and am really enjoying its peaceful sense. Finely crafted reproduction furniture and paint colors are now becoming available to the rest of the world.

It's fun to uncover style ideas from unusual places and unexpected origins. As it gets colder I have a much greater appreciation for the emphasis on scarce sun light and uncomplicated elegance from our friends to the North – they should know.

Wanda Crossley is the owner of The English Manor in Leesburg, Virginia