Revisited for the 10th Anniversary issue of NYC&G. Previously featured in the September 2016 issue of NYC&G. Read the full story here.
EDITOR’S NOTE
At some point along the way, the enduringly popular “Swedish style” hit critical mass among the decorating-obsessed, so it was a distinct pleasure to publish the real deal: Gun Nowak’s 1870 farmhouse in Germantown, in Columbia County. Who better than the founder and CEO of the cosmetics juggernaut Face Stockholm, which is 40 years old this year, to show readers how its done? Naturally, white-painted floors, furniture in faded hues, cane-backed chairs, and gilt accents were in abundance, but I remember most the unexpected array of Buddhas, prayer beads, and religious totems, souvenirs from Nowak’s extensive travels to India. —K. C.
A lantern hangs above the rustic wood front door.
The living room features a cast-iron table and various seating pieces upholstered in silk. Religious totems are displayed throughout the home.
An antique French book cabinet occupies a corner of the living room.
Mirror-image love seats in the sitting room are upholstered in a floral print; the fauteuil is covered in velvet.
Striped silk curtains frame a marble-topped table in the downstairs bathroom.
A Swedish farm table has been repurposed as a desk in the home office.
Chalk Paint lends patina to the cushion fabric on a pair of Swedish chairs and an ottoman in the primary bedroom.
A walk-in closet inhabits a former bedroom.
The circular cast-iron clothing rack in the master bath is American.
A Swedish armchair sits next to an American armoire in a guest room.
Gun Nowak’s 12-acre spread in Germantown, New York, overlooks the Hudson Valley and the Catskill Mountains.