Scandinavian style in the interior of an apartment or house - original beauty and practicality

An increasing number of our compatriots are eyeing the Scandinavian style during the planning of the repair of a private house or apartment. The versatility, simplicity, practicality and beauty of the style of the Scandinavian countries attracts attention also due to its accessibility in terms of design solutions. The advantage of using the motives of the Scandinavian countries when registering a home is that the owners of apartments and private households can cope with the main tasks on their own. The idea of ​​creating a practical, cozy, but at the same time rather modest design of residential apartments attracts with its relevance to our latitudes. In the Scandinavian countries, as well as in our country, quite severe winters occur, most of the cold season outside the window is damp and cloudy. That is why the inhabitants of the Nordic countries love to fill their homes with light, design rooms mainly in white colors and place bright accents in the resulting interiors. Let's try to apply a modest, but at the same time cozy aesthetics for the design of Russian urban and suburban apartments.

Despite its obvious identity, almost everyone likes the Scandinavian style. And it’s hard to imagine a landlord who would not want to see his home decorated with such simplicity and practicality, ease and modesty. But at the same time, the style of the Scandinavian countries is not alien to the desire to create a comfortable, beautiful and modern design of an apartment or a private house.

The main reasons for the design of the premises in the Scandinavian style include the following:

• The main task of creating an interior in the Scandinavian style is to provide the premises with the maximum amount of natural light. The space itself may be small, but it should have sufficiently large windows. The importance of natural lighting in the aesthetics of the Scandinavian peoples is difficult to overestimate;
• active use of white in the decoration of the room. The snow-white ceiling and in almost all cases a similar tone for the walls is a characteristic feature of the space design in the Scandinavian style. This approach provides maximum light distribution in the room - the sun's rays are reflected from snow-white surfaces and spread throughout the room;
• the use of mainly natural materials - wood for decoration and manufacturing of furniture, ceramics and stone for lining surfaces that require special protection, the use of leather, fur and natural textiles (cotton, linen) for decorative drapery. If you decide to use artificial analogues of natural materials, then they should perfectly imitate natural raw materials;
• the use of open plan in the design of most rooms - the dining room is connected to the kitchen and very often to the dining room, the bedroom is combined with an office, and sometimes a library without any partitions. This approach allows you to maximize your sense of spaciousness and provide all the functional areas of space with natural light;
• the use of simple but functional furniture. Extremely comfortable, but at the same time modest design - the hallmark of the style of the Scandinavian peoples;
• no hint of luxury and wealth - the main task of any element of the interior becomes its practical use. Even decorative objects (of which there are few in a room decorated in the Scandinavian style) carry a functional load;
• in a bright room there are one or two bright accents - it can be a piece of furniture or textiles, a large houseplant or wall decor (colorful paintings, family photos in bright frames);
• and the last, but not least, criterion for the use of Scandinavian style in the design of the room - the interior should be a reflection of the person’s character, should, first of all, serve his needs, reflect the concept of homeowners about beauty, comfort, coziness and aesthetics.

The fact that the Scandinavian style gravitates towards the active use of white is known even to the unenlightened homeowner in the field of design. The snow-white ceiling and walls are the visiting card of the stylistics of the countries of Northern Europe. This finish performs several significant functions at once - visually expands the space, promotes the spread of sunlight and serves as an ideal background for placing color accents. Almost any furniture looks spectacular on a white background, even dim elements of decor and indoor plants.

Using a combination of white and black (dark gray in some cases) with wooden surfaces will help you form the basis for creating a Scandinavian interior. No need to puzzle over the choice of shades and their harmonious combination - white and black colors are ideal for creating a contrasting design (of course, white tone prevails, and black acts as a metered accent). Wooden surfaces perfectly dilute this contrasting duo, bringing natural warmth to the atmosphere of the room. Most often, light wood (pine, oak, ash) is used for flooring and as a raw material for the manufacture of furniture - tables and chairs, book shelves and other storage systems.

Despite the total love of the Scandinavian style for the use of white, the creation of absolutely bright rooms is not the goal. For our eyes, color accents are necessary, a person of any age needs to periodically concentrate his eyes on bright details, interior elements. Against a light background, one piece of large furniture (sofa or armchair) or a couple of small interior elements (curtains, bedspreads, coffee table or bedside table) will look contrasting and bright.

For any homeowner, the living room is the heart of the house, a common room in which the whole family gathers in the evenings and on weekends get together with friends and relatives. Of course, I want to design such a space with maximum comfort and coziness. But at the same time, it is desirable to maintain the practicality of the interior, ease of use of interior items and ease of cleaning. Scandinavian style perfectly combines all these qualities. At the same time, the design looks modern, remaining relevant for many years. The costs of using natural materials for decorating the premises and arranging space with furniture will pay off not only with the attractive appearance of the interior, but also with its durability. If the appearance of the room is fed up after a year or two - it is easy to change it with the help of accessories, decor. Replacing only a picture on the wall or sofa cushions with colorful, bright specimens, you will fundamentally change the perception of the entire living room.

In rooms decorated in the Scandinavian style, you can often see window openings devoid of any drapery. This choice is deliberate - for the room to receive the maximum amount of natural light, the sun's rays should not encounter any obstacle, not even the finest tulle, as an element of window decoration. If in the room of the bedroom such a design technique can meet the reasonable discontent of the owners, then in the living room space it is quite applicable for the apartments of our compatriots.

A snow-white ceiling and walls, flooring in the form of parquet or board, upholstered furniture with natural upholstery (most often linen or cotton), light coffee tables or coasters, a couple of houseplants and the interior of a comfortable and at the same time modern living room is ready. As accents, you can use sofa cushions or lighting fixtures - bright, but simple in design floor lamps or table lamps do an excellent job, not to mention the functions performed to illuminate the space in the dark.

In order to organize a home library in a Scandinavian-style living room, it is enough to place an open bookcase along one of the walls. The simplest and most practical execution of open shelves will be the best option for organizing book storage systems. Whether it is a wooden shelving unit or a white painted metal structure, the Scandinavian style will successfully accept any integration.

A Scandinavian-style kitchen is most often the familiar “game” of white and black with wooden surfaces. The combination of light finishes and wooden facades of the kitchen unit with dark decorative elements or a ceramic tile pattern on the apron - allows you to create a modern, but at the same time cozy and practical interior. In such a kitchen space it will be cozy, bright and comfortable for everyone, and the hostess (owner) will not have to spend a lot of time and effort cleaning. The principle of practicality and functionality, enclosed in an attractive outer shell, is very useful in the kitchen room - the space of any home, incredibly loaded from the point of view of the options performed.

Scandinavian style is perfect for decorating apartments of standard and improved layout. In modern apartments, the kitchen most often is a studio, which houses not only the working and dining area, but also the functional segments of the living room. With this approach to the organization of living space, a completely modest area is often allotted for a kitchen set. In such a situation, the observance of the maximum practicality and functionality of all elements of the kitchen space comes to the fore. The light colors used in the decoration and furnishings of this segment of the home, as well as the metered use of wooden surfaces and dark accents, contribute to a visual increase in the room.

But a small kitchen space can be decorated using motives of Scandinavian style. After all, the snow-white tone and wooden surfaces as a color and textured accent, so beloved in the style of the Scandinavian countries, perfectly cope with the visual increase in the volume of the room.

The kitchen space, decorated in Scandinavian style, perfectly integrates retro-style household appliances. It can be both bright models of household appliances, acting as a color accent on a light background of the kitchen interior, and devices in pastel colors corresponding to the general color scheme.

The Scandinavian-style dormitory is a spacious and bright room with light finishes and a minimal set of furniture and decor. A comfortable bed, a pair of compact bedside tables or tables, table lamps or wall sconces and modest storage systems for the wardrobe of the owners. The Scandinavian style advocates simplicity and comfort, which is why instead of built-in wardrobes, ordinary floor-standing or ceiling-mounted hangers are often used for clothes hangers. Open book racks can be placed over the head of the bed or along a loose wall.

The design technique for highlighting the accent wall is not alien to the style of the Scandinavian peoples.But in such bedrooms wallpaper is very rarely used - decorative plaster or even one-tone painting acts as a finishing material. An accent wall can be either a plane behind the head of the bed or a wall perpendicular to it. A wall hung with vivid photos or artwork can serve as an accent.

Nothing contributes to the creation of a cozy and comfortable atmosphere in the room for sleeping and relaxing, as the presence of interior elements made of natural wood. The flooring, the main piece of furniture - the bed and additional furniture will look great on a light background of decoration. At the same time, you can make a similar interior in the budget version, using furniture from chain stores such as Ikea.

Within the Scandinavian style it is very easy to use country-style elements and even garden furniture. For example, in the bedroom you can use wicker baskets as storage systems for books, magazines and all sorts of little things. And near the window to install a snow-white rattan chair and a light table stand. Artificially aged interior items or “elements that have reached the right condition” in a natural way, the elements of the formation of living space will also organically fit into a simple but cozy bedroom design in a Scandinavian style.

The versatility of the Scandinavian style is manifested not only in the fact that you can use its main motives for both urban housing and suburban apartments. For example, to design a children's room in Scandinavian style, even modest-sized rooms can be used, but with an important caveat - the window in such a space should be large and provide the room with the maximum amount of sunlight. The advantage of using the concept of the Scandinavian style when designing a nursery is that the interior can be transformed depending on the growing up of the baby, adjusting it to new preferences and acquired skills. On the snow-white walls, you can place a decor that will correspond to the age and interests of the child, changing it without any loss to the family budget. Wooden furniture is an ideal option for arranging a nursery in terms of safety for humans and the environment. And bright accents in the light interior of a room for a boy or a girl can be toys, books and textile decoration of the space.

In a Scandinavian-style children's room, it is important to leave as much free space as possible for active games. The feeling of spaciousness is necessary not only for the child’s comfortable state, but also for maintaining the concept of the style of the Scandinavian peoples. The use of bunk beds when staying in a room of two children becomes the best option for breading furniture. But the attic bed can be a good way out of the situation for one child - in the lower part of such a structure storage systems, a workplace or an area for creative work can be located.

It is customary to arrange rooms for newborns in light, bed colors to create the most relaxed atmosphere in which it will be calm and comfortable, especially to parents. After all, the small owner of the room pays little attention to the environment and focuses mainly on the psychological state of his mother. Mostly light finish and the use of exclusively natural materials, so important for the Scandinavian style incredibly clearly reflect the requirements for the design of spaces for young children. And you can arrange color accents with the help of toys, pictures on the walls and colorful textiles to design a crib or window openings.

In modern urban or country-style apartments, the office rarely appears as an isolated room.Most often, a home office is a small area occupied by a living room or bedroom. To organize the work sector, very little is needed - a compact desk or console, which is conveniently attached to the wall and open shelves for storing stationery, books and documents. For the Scandinavian style, which does not tolerate luxury and kitsch, this way of arranging a mini-office at home is an ideal option.

The room for the adoption of water procedures, made in the Scandinavian style, should be bright, as spacious as possible (as far as the layout of modern bathrooms allows) and, of course, functional. Using a combination of light ceilings and walls with dark flooring helps to create a visual illusion of increasing space and at the same time fills the interior with clarity and design. In addition, against the dark background of the floor covering, snow-white plumbing looks especially impressive.

In the bathroom, decorated in the style of the Scandinavian peoples, it is difficult to do without the use of wooden surfaces. After all, it is a woody natural drawing that brings that warmth and comfort to the atmosphere of the room, which the city dweller needs so much. Most often, wood (treated with special antiseptics and protective varnishes) is used for the manufacture of storage systems, sometimes for the execution of countertops around sinks and even trim elements in places with the least exposure to moisture.

In order to dilute the snow-white idyllic finish of the bathroom, you can use ceramic tiles with a pattern to finish the apron over the sink and bathtub or as a floor covering. The room will not look motley if the ornament is present only on one surface, and the remaining planes appear in a light design.

Having entered the apartment or home ownership, decorated in the Scandinavian style, you will still see the simplicity and practicality of design in the hallway, successfully harmonizing with the beauty and ease of execution. Simple and clear forms, straight lines and modesty of the environment - these are the things that will surely catch the eye. Only the necessary storage systems in the most concise design. The decoration of the hallway and corridors is extremely practical - the use of light colors does not mean problems with cleaning, washable surfaces do not cause much trouble to the owners.

The use of three main options for the execution of surfaces - white, black and wood, are not alien for the design of auxiliary premises, such as hallways, corridors, spaces near stairs, pantries and terraces. The combination of these contrasting surfaces with dosed application of dark tones allows you to create an original appearance of the premises even with the simplest layout and minimal set of furniture.