Born in the coldest areas, the Scandinavian style includes pieces of furniture made of pine, serious lines and tones inspired from fjords. This may be a very serious style, but it also a very warm one.
The decorations made in the Scandinavian style which we appreciate today are a legacy from the classic style imposed by King Gustave the 3rd of Sweden and from the comfortable and light style of the 30s. However, this style became a tremendous success in the 50s. After the 50s, the 60s and the 70s, this Scandinavian design style returned to the world of interior design and decorating. This style was preferred by the Swedish, the Finnish and the Norwegians, as well as by the Danish and the Icelanders, a style which was very well-known for its simple and elegant shapes, which preserved a functional and attractive character.
The Scandinavian designs include a lot of wood, this being the main material used. Passing through bedrooms and kitchens, wood can be found all over the house, this preference being justified by its very wide presence in the Scandinavian countries. Thus, wood is the main component with all the pieces of furniture and decorating objects characteristic to this design. It can be found with chairs, tables, benches, wardrobes, beds, dressings and cupboards, all these pieces of furniture being highly functional and attractive. The floor, the wardrobes and the furniture borrows a light shade of wood, this usually being painted in a pale color in order to render more light.
This presence of wood can also be translated through a balance of shapes, colors, textures, costs and durability. Apart from the concern it has for natural appearances, the Scandinavian style also pays a lot of attention to light. In fact, it promotes all the light essences, such as pine, oak or maple. There are certain neutral materials which can also be found with this style, such as glass, stone or leather, all these being combined with wood.
If you want to decorate your home using this style, you can resurrect the backgrounds using neutral colors with less naive prints, the main colors to be used being green and blue. The sober lines of the furniture can be sweetened with long carpets or sheets of leather and you can put up some opaque paintings on the walls, which will emphasize the natural wood and the chromed steel in the furniture. This is how contrasts are made.
In order to get a real Scandinavian design style, you need colors which suggest snow, the most relevant ones being green and blue, but you have to use light colors. However, you shouldn’t go for pure white, but with very light shades of pink or ivory. Also, you can go for sweet shades of gray. If you want to have contrasts, too, you need to use stronger colors with the paintings, but the pieces of furniture should be in light shades.
Light is very important with a Scandinavian house, the short days at the North Pole obliging you to use it. The suspended lamps or the ones which have a support seem very artistic and cheer up the entire room you place them in.
