Comfortably Chic: How to Brighten Your Home Scandinavian Way

The Scandinavian design style is steadily rising in popularity because of its simplicity, function, and timeless aesthetic. It includes the use of solid wood, natural fabrics, and traditionally crafted items, which means that it provides you with a lot of comfort as well.

Households started implementing the Scandi design in the early 20th century by mixing styles from Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, and Norway. The modern version of this design combines the contemporary style with the distinct home design characteristics from these countries. It’s influenced by industrialization and the boldness and functionality of the Bauhaus movement.

If you’re new to this topic, it can be challenging to implement the Scandinavian design style into your home. Although, with the right choice of furniture, colour schemes and décor, you can get one step closer to achieving this.

How to Choose Scandinavian Furniture?

The Scandinavian design mixes together clean lines and minimalist aesthetics with traditional craftsmanship. You can find a wide variety of Scandinavian designer furniture online that combines these characteristics beautifully.

minimalistic scandinavian style living room
Source: softervolumes.com

These furniture pieces are manufactured from wood or coated aluminium in neutral colours or soothing wood-look finishes. The simple and trendy seating pieces give you a lot of opportunities to accessorize them with comfy pillows and throws. Some of them even give you convenient storage options, such as the stylish curved bench.

The Scandinavian living room usually includes wooden flooring in a light colour and white walls. It has large windows which create a bright airy ambient and minimalist furniture in darker colours. For your books, magazines, pens and common knick knacks, go for a simple vitrine or wooden shelves. Alternatively, you can choose a coffee table that conveniently doubles up as storage.

For your kitchen choose Scandinavian furniture with natural wooden surfaces, clean lines and practical features. If you want to create a brighter look, go for light cabinet colours, while darker cabinets will help you achieve a bold and dramatic contrast. You should keep the decorations in this area to a minimum. Good options are simple abstract art prints or a modern wall clock.

It’s all about simplicity and function. These pieces often have multiple purposes in the design scheme of your home. A good example are the minimalistic desks that you can attach to your wall and use either as a desk, a counter or a shelf. They are convenient for any room, especially for smaller homes, where they allow you to save additional space.

Lastly, the available Scandinavian designer furniture online is manufactured with sustainability in mind. It’s made from premium high-quality materials and it’s a worthy investment that will last you for years.

The Use of Colours in Scandinavian Design

Along with the specific type of furniture, you will need to implement a certain colour scheme to make this design work in your space. When you’re considering colour, try to imitate the palette of nature. Pick earthy tones, stone, wood, as well as pops of brighter colour to balance it out. Include neutral colours for a dose of simplicity and sophistication.

colours for scandinavian style
Source: pinterest.com.au

Even though this design mainly relies on soothing and subdued colours, it allows the use of larger blocks of accent colour. The most common way of including pops of colour in Scandinavian home design is by using indoor plants. The green colour makes a pleasant contrast with the modern neutral surfaces. This trend comes from the scarcity of natural resources in the Scandinavian countries. For this reason, the natives developed a hard-earned appreciation for nature and decided to heavily include it in their home design.

Add Some Hygge

What is Hygge?

Another essential element of the Scandinavian design style is the Hygge décor. This popular type of décor embodies the Danish concept of comfortable living. It derives from a Norwegian word meaning “well-being” and Danes started implementing it ever since the 18th century, when it appeared in their texts.

hygge decor
Source: decorilla.com

Hygge décor is cosy, inviting, and revolves around creating a homely atmosphere that encourages togetherness and appreciation for the simple things in life. This design trend includes neutral colours and comfortable materials for the designer furniture and decorations.

Ever since the release of the book The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to a Happy Living by Meik Wiking, people all over the world got intrigued by this way of living and started implementing it in their homes. Today’s idea of Hygge varies from culture to culture, while still keeping the trend of bringing comfort and contentment in your home design.

How to Implement Hygge in Your Home?

If you’re unsure of how to implement Hygge in your home, here are a few pointers:

  • Add soft textiles: If you don’t style it properly, the Scandinavian style can give out cold and harsh vibes. To counteract the minimalist furniture full of sharp edges and lines include soft natural textiles. You can do this by adding comfy throw blankets, pillows, faux fur area rugs, etc.
  • Create a reading nook: What better way to adopt Hygge into your space than with a reading nook. Pick a comfy chair, a soft blanket, your favourite book, and a warm cup of coffee, and you’re ready for an enjoyable afternoon.
  • Choose mood lighting: Another way to diffuse the cold atmosphere is by adding ambient lights. Hang string lights in your living room, dining room or bedroom to create a cosy and inviting ambient.
  • Add comforting scents: Soothing scents can greatly improve how you feel in your home. To spice up the mood in your Scandinavian home include scented candles or essential oils.

Author: Christina Stone

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