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How to Create a Scandinavian Style Living Room

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If you’re wondering what the secret to majestic Scandinavian interior design is, the answer lies right in the center of this question. Every Scandinavian designer leaves a bit of mystery when designing a room, which is actually one of the keys to their success. The best ones among them, like Marimekko, Iittala, Architectmade and Normann Copenhagen somehow are able to achieve incomprehensibly balanced designs with very few simple forms and materials. And how do they do it? Keep reading to find out, and hopefully, these tips will help you create your very own Scandinavian dream living room.

Bring the outside in with a natural color palette 

The Scandinavian design comes with a lot of natural elements, and therefore the colors should suit this setting, as well. You can try playing around with earthy tones and contrasting them to navy blues or comforting greens, which are among the most common natural colors. If you don’t have a lot of wooden elements in your home yet, there’s no reason why your home shouldn’t match the colors of Scandinavian forests. You can emphasize the naturality of your interior even more if you literally bring the outside in with a lot of greenery. The more plants you have, the better, concerning both air quality and style.   

Light up your flooring (and everything else)

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When it comes to floors, Scandinavians love making contrasts, but this goes mostly for carpeting. Since floor-to-floor carpeting really isn’t a thing in Scandinavian interior design, it would be best for you to choose the proper laminate first. It would be very Scandinavian of you to complement your white walls with light hardwood floors which should be placed basically everywhere except for the bathroom and the kitchen (beige tiles work best for this). There’s a solution to lighting up your floors if by re-oiling and sanding them down if they’re already dark, and you can also white-wash them with a  mixture of water and paint. You can make basically any piece of furniture lighter this way, and the process will result in a much opener ambient with a true Scandinavian touch.  

Round up those edges 

We’ve already mentioned that Scandinavian design is all about nailing the natural look, and there are no edges in nature. Sharp finishes are one of the few things in the world that humans created which nature had nothing to with, so if you want to come closer to nature, try avoiding sharp edges as much as possible. You can find quality Scandinavian furniture that will surely leave you in awe by the functionality of its rounded design. Moreover, it’s no surprise that furniture inspired by Scandinavian design shares the Scandinavian ethos of social inclusion, humility and simplicity. Furniture made with having these values in mind will bring you closest to genuine Scandinavia design as you can get.

Opt for practical and eco-friendly solutions 

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By investing into sustainable living, you will feel how your house budget starts filling very soon. Scandinavians like their design practical and functional, which is why sustainable and eco-friendly living rooms are what they opt for. In order to arrange your living room in such a manner, be on the lookout for recyclable home décor and handmade arts and crafts. Practicality doesn’t go with a tendency for cluttering, so make sure you keep your space clutter-free in order to really nail that Scandinavian look. Too many accessories can also lead you the wrong way, so you’ll be safe by keeping overall décor to a minimum.    

You can never have enough light 

Just as it goes for furniture, Scandinavians aim to lighten up the entire ambiance of the room. If you must have blinds or curtains, make sure to choose light colors, but it would be best not to have them at all and let as much light into your home as you can. Scandinavian countries don’t have much daylight, so they want to use all of it as efficiently as possible. When night falls, hanging lamps become the favorite Scandinavian ceiling accessories. You can play with the cable length and create local light zones by installing several hanging lights around the room. Adding some candles to this ambiance is also a good idea to make the atmosphere of the room more cozy and romantic.

When in doubt – always lean on minimalistic design. In Scandinavian terms less is always more, so try keeping it simple and elegant and you can’t go wrong.

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Derek Lotts is a Sydney based writer and researcher, a regular contributor at Smooth Decorator blog. He writes about décor, gardening, recycling, ecology and business. He thinks all of these topics fall under the self-improvement category. He believes in the power of sharing ideas and communicating via the internet to achieve betterment.

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