It’s a concept that’s long been recognised in Scandinavia, where homes are designed to be places of simplicity and authenticity, encouraging a slower pace of life.
We’ve delved into three design trends that tap into the more relaxed, Scandi lifestyle – and provide some insight into how you can recreate them in your home.
Embracing Hygge
Emerging first in Denmark, the ‘Hygge’ trend reflects the need to feel secure and cosy in your home. It’s all about ensuring a feel-good factor inside your own four walls, whether through connecting with nature and bringing greenery and natural elements into your homes, or through soft lighting and candlelight to create a calming ambiance.
Everything about Hygge is warm and reassuring, so your home becomes the place you can retreat to when the world outside feels hectic.
Most importantly, Hygge is not about extravagance or impressing people; it’s about creating a comfortable, warm and cosy space where you can spend time with friends and family, enjoying good food, feeling relaxed and making memories.
The Lagom way of life
In Sweden, the art of ‘Lagom’ is heralded as the key to contentment. It’s about enjoying a happier, more balanced and sustainable lifestyle – embracing what we have in order to replace the yearning for what we don’t have.
While based on the principles of modesty and minimalism or “just enough”, it still encompasses warmth and cosiness. It’s about feeling grateful for the small stuff, making our lives feel manageable and investing time in doing the things you love.
In the home, Lagom means giving careful consideration to movement and flow, keeping areas clutter-free, eliminating the unnecessary and focusing on functional pieces with a sleek, minimalistic and curated style, while bringing in greenery, natural forms and colour to feed the soul.
Exploring Kinfolk
A continuation of the essences of both Hygge and Lagom, Kinfolk is based on a slow-living movement which encourages people to live a more self-contained lifestyle, switch off from technology when they can and to reconnect with the earth.
As the world becomes more pressurised, Kinfolk begs to differ. While everyone else zigs, Kinfolk devotees are enjoying a slow, sleepy zag. Kinfolk takes delight in simplicity, authenticity, nature and community.
Expressed through our homes, Kinfolk draws on bright Scandinavian design influences and values re-using and recycling. Neutral colour palettes with bright accents, raw materials and contributions from nature such as ferns, wild flowers and succulents are perfect for the Kinfolk-inspired home.
In addition, there is value placed on the homemade and taking pleasure in artwork and crafting. It’s a more bohemian way of life, where enjoyment is again derived from the small things – whether that’s finding a new use for an unused object or creating your own decorative items to enhance your space and sense of contentment.
