Decorating
Decorating: Five Essential Pieces for Classic Scandi Style
Make your home a homage to Scandinavian style or simply add a few nicely Nordic touches with this checklist of key pieces
With its use of a minimalist colour palette, natural materials and simple shapes, Scandi style is both stylish and easy to live with. It typically takes a white scheme (great for maximising light in a northern climate) and punctuates this with strong grey and black accents for pace and contrast. This backdrop may also be layered with rustic elements, such as warm wood and animal hides, and given a metropolitan edge with some classic Danish design. So if you want to replicate Scandi style at home, or simply borrow a few elements, read on for tips on what to look out for.
Alternatively, source flooring in a naturally pale wood, such as light oak, or choose wooden boards that have been washed or treated for a bleached-out effect.
Add monochrome textiles
Black and white patterns are frequent flyers in Scandi schemes, but there are lots of ways to incorporate them. Here, a graphic throw creates a focal point in a predominantly white bedroom.
See more ways to work the Scandi look into your bedroom
Black and white patterns are frequent flyers in Scandi schemes, but there are lots of ways to incorporate them. Here, a graphic throw creates a focal point in a predominantly white bedroom.
See more ways to work the Scandi look into your bedroom
Try working in a mix of monochrome textiles, all featuring different patterns, but united by their strict colour scheme. This is an easy way to nod to Scandi style without redecorating a whole room.
Add a Scandi design classic
Scandinavia has produced some of the 20th century’s most influential and popular furniture designers. Pieces by the likes of Hans J Wegner and Arne Jacobsen became instant classics and still look relevant and stylish today.
Often, a single piece will make a strong Scandi statement. Here, a Grand Prix chair by Arne Jacobsen stands out beautifully against a simple white backdrop.
Ask an expert: who is your design icon?
Scandinavia has produced some of the 20th century’s most influential and popular furniture designers. Pieces by the likes of Hans J Wegner and Arne Jacobsen became instant classics and still look relevant and stylish today.
Often, a single piece will make a strong Scandi statement. Here, a Grand Prix chair by Arne Jacobsen stands out beautifully against a simple white backdrop.
Ask an expert: who is your design icon?
The Wishbone chair by Hans J Wegner is a beautiful example of Scandinavian style. Its sinuous form and elegant simplicity make it a Danish design classic and it looks at home in most schemes and rooms.
Seek a hide
Animal hides and skins bring a touch of the fir forest in and help to warm up a monochrome scheme. Use them as rugs or throws to introduce a pinch of Scandi style and soften up even the most contemporary, minimal space.
Animal hides and skins bring a touch of the fir forest in and help to warm up a monochrome scheme. Use them as rugs or throws to introduce a pinch of Scandi style and soften up even the most contemporary, minimal space.
If real animal hides don’t appeal, reference the idea by using fake fur instead. It makes a gorgeously soft, tactile throw for a bed and will instantly knock the austere edges off an all-white bedroom.
Hang a pendant light
Scandinavian homes rely on great lighting to cosy up monochrome schemes and boost light levels during the long, dark days of winter. Pendant lights are a great favourite, creating warm areas of light at eye level that help to make a space feel intimate and cosy.
Here, a single pendant hung over a dining table produces a warm pool of light on the table top. It’s a useful way to zone an open-plan space and pick out the cosy dining area.
Scandinavian homes rely on great lighting to cosy up monochrome schemes and boost light levels during the long, dark days of winter. Pendant lights are a great favourite, creating warm areas of light at eye level that help to make a space feel intimate and cosy.
Here, a single pendant hung over a dining table produces a warm pool of light on the table top. It’s a useful way to zone an open-plan space and pick out the cosy dining area.
Pendant lights work beautifully over tables, partly because that position means there is less chance of you banging your head on them! Don’t restrict the idea to dining tables, though. This Scandi home uses a pendant over the coffee table in the living space, too.
TELL US…
Have you mixed some Scandi pieces into your home? How have you done it? Tell us in the Comments below.
TELL US…
Have you mixed some Scandi pieces into your home? How have you done it? Tell us in the Comments below.
Although dark wooden flooring is sometimes used in Scandi homes, the default choice is something paler. Try painting original floorboards white. This will create a crisp finish with a rustic edge that is pure Scandinavian. It will also help to boost light levels for a really bright, energising space.