Top tips for creating a Scandinavian-style living space
A revolutionary design movement defined by its minimalistic beauty, Scandinavian design centres around an ethos that has reigned influence over architecture, furniture and interior design since its emergence in the early twentieth century.
Dive into our ultimate guide to creating your own Scandinavian living space and get to know the easy and simple design principles and how you can use these in your own home.
What is Scandinavian design?
Originating from the five Nordic countries of Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, Scandinavian design is characterised by famously combining both functionality and beauty. An iconic design movement, Scandinavian design grew rapidly from the 1930’s onwards, heavily led by the trailblazer designers of the time such as Alvar Aalto, Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen and Hans J. Wegner.
Defined by principles still as relevant today as they were in the movement’s early years, Scandinavian design has continued to influence the design industry, as well as evolving into other aspects of our modern everyday lives.
Decluttered spaces
Decluttering your home is a crucial and necessary first step when attempting to mirror the minimalistic design choice associated with the Scandi aesthetic.
The aim of this process is to ultimately achieve complete serenity within your home, and unconsciously adopt this as a lifestyle defined by Denmark as ‘hygge’. The Danish-originated term is coined to describe the feeling of overall comfort and contentment that we often feel from simple everyday pleasures. This can be achieved by choosing designs that eliminate visual distractions whilst maximising storage within your home.
This is manifested in many Scandinavian designs including, the multi-functional and versatile Audo Copenhagen Turning Table. A design that perfectly emulates the Scandi aesthetic, the coffee table boasts simple yet innovative, hidden built-in storage to easily store your household clutter.
Functional beauty
Purposeful designs that improve the daily life of the user is a design principle that Scandinavian design has promoted since its emergence in the early 1930’s. Scandinavian designers lead with the belief that form should follow function and that each design must both serve a purpose and stand the test of time.
When considering your next purchase, you should choose products that adopt this same belief. Portable lighting is a perfect example of functional beauty, as designs such as SC53 Como Portable Table Lamp are both lightweight and versatile and can be easily transported around a home to serve a number of purposes.
Similarly, the Muuto Connect Modular Sofa evolves within your home as your needs change over time, proving itself as a flexible and adaptable piece.
Muted colours
When picturing a Scandinavian-style space, we immediately associate this with a calming, neutral-heavy colour palette. Often, minimal Scandi interiors are seen as a blank canvas, focusing on the beauty of a clean white wall, whilst using different textures and materials to add depth and interest to a space.
However, curating a Scandi-inspired home doesn’t have to restrict your colour choices. Many Scandinavian living spaces carefully consider colours that mimic the palette of nature, using colours such as Forest Green and Burnt Orange to create contrast and brighten their home.
Bringing the outside in
Scandinavian designers are renowned for their innate respect and understanding of natural materials, using organic elements to breathe life and biophilic living into a home. By incorporating wood, marble, leather and wool into your space, your home will instantly begin to feel more connected to nature, and as a result, create a more relaxed and peaceful environment.
Timeless and organic, the Audo Copenhagen Umanoff Planters are a simple way to introduce nature into your home, creating unique botanical and floral arrangements in your living space.
Are you feeling inspired to create your own Scandi-inspired space? Or are you already an expert on the iconic design movement? Tag us on Instagram @nest_co_uk and share your favourite piece of Scandinavian design with us.