Scandinavian

The well-dressed living rooms of 1990 will be sporting animal print fabrics and tapestry patterns, deeply cushioned sofas with curvy lines, and a well- chosen 18th- or 19th-century reproduction or two. To anyone who has paid attention to interior design in recent seasons, none of these things will come as a surprise. The message that what's old is new was repeated in showrooms throughout the International Home Furnishings Market, the semiannual exhibition of furniture designs here that ended Oct. 27. An estimated 30,000 retail buyers were in town viewing and placing orders for goods that will arrive in stores next spring.

Dust off that floral-chintz chair your grandmother gave you and brush up on your painting techniques. Stow your brass-and-glass coffee table in the attic for a while and replace it with one framed in iron. Forget American style and think of the English, French and Scandinavian countryside. That's the news from the Southern Furniture Market, where manufacturers recently introduced their fall showing of furniture and accessory designs for 32,000 retail buyers. With 1,600 exhibitors, there was something for every taste level and budget, but upscale country looks and dressy upholstery designs dominated.

A remarkable show of decorative art from Finland is on view at the Hagley Museum. "Art by Design: Reflections of Finland" offers a good chance to see a strong 12-artist show of about 50 textiles, ceramics, glass and pieces of wood featuring sculpture and functional items. The traveling display was organized by Katonah Gallery of Westchester County, N.Y., in collaboration with the Finnish Society of Crafts and Design, to mark the U.S. National Year of Friendship With Finland. Certainly as hunters of Finnish design's big game, this show's organizers have done uncommonly well.

Do hotels float? They sure do, every day between Finland and Sweden. Plush is the word for most of these giant cruise ships - don't dare call them ferries - that ply the Baltic Sea between Helsinki and Stockholm, day in and day out, the year-round. The overnight mini-cruise is a popular trip for tourists, because these vessels are really deluxe cruise ships, built by Finland's renowned Wartsila Shipyard, with the finest of amenities. The impressive, marble-lined lobby of the Viking Line's Olympia, for example, boasts a huge crystal chandelier that weighs in the tons.

The battle raged for hours. Armed with their knowledge of etymology, 43 stood against one another. In the end, only one was left. He was 11-year-old Eric Braverman of Cherry Hill, and for the second year in a row, he proved he was the ultimate Word Warrior among his peers in South Jersey and Delaware. He did it by correctly spelling dalliance. Seemingly unperturbed by the crowd of 300 that looked on, Braverman won the 22d Annual South Jersey and Delaware Spelling Bee yesterday sponsored by The Inquirer.

Iceland is not the first place most people think of when they start contemplating a vacation. Or the second. Or even the third. Too bad. It is about as different and unusual a place as you could hope for and still be in the civilized world. The always cool summer air is pristine. It has the smell of wilderness about it, even in downtown Reykjavik. A 20-minute drive out of the capital takes you into more than just wide-open spaces. The two-lane roads traverse primeval volcanic and mountainous landscapes where there is not a single house or car or service station or, most of the time, even a single tree.