Scandinavian kitchen design ideas from the House & Garden archive
In the design world, ‘Scandinavian’ has been overused to such an extent, it has almost lost its meaning, close to becoming shorthand for (whisper it) boring. However, here at House & Garden, we take taxonomies very seriously, and believe that Nordic and Scandi houses are a rich source of inspiration – straddling both traditional and rustic to the cool and cutting edge. Whether its the Swedish philosophy of ‘lagom’ (meaning ‘just the right amount,’ ‘balance’ or ‘ideal’), the more well trodden, Danish notion of ‘hygge’ - meaning comfort, conviviality and cosiness and ‘koselig’ – its Norwegian equivalent – Scandi design philosophies are particularly fitting for kitchens, places of restoration, warmth and nourishment. To enjoy with a slice of fika, take a look at some of our favourite Scandinavian kitchen ideas from the archive.
Mike Karlsson Lundgren1/13“My husband built our kitchen himself, as he did with most of the things in this house,” explains of Maja Dixdotter, the owner of this cosy Swedish country house, where the kitchen is rustic but clean-cut. “I have a lot of ideas and David is extremely skilled at executing them. If there’s something he doesn’t know how to do, he’ll learn it, and that was definitely the case here.” The kitchen was moved from another part of the house to its current location. David built everything from scratch—from the body of the kitchen to the vaulted ceilings to the cabinets. “There are quite a lot of vaults incorporated throughout the house, so we thought it would be nice to use that shape here too. I wanted to create a juxtaposition of Mediterranean and Swedish aesthetics, and the vault and stone in combination with the wooden cabinets did exactly that,” Maja explains. The chilled clay face on the shelf is made by Maja’s best friend, Cecilia Hummel.
Paul Massey2/13Knut and Line Flakk know a great deal about Scandinavian design, having developed an innovative, multi-strand business that encompasses all-weather clothing, renewable energy, hotels and adventure travel. In their home in the picturesque Norwegian fjord town of Alesund, the kitchen is sleek and crisp, with high ceilings and sharp edges. The polished oak walls and island, together with the open roaring fire, bring nature inside – an important principle of Scandinavian design.
Simon Bergström3/13Sebastian Bergstrom's Stockholm flat is small but very, very sweet, and features one of our favourite Scandinavian kitchen ideas, a tiny space with an internal window into the bedroom. “I often say that it is a working kitchen - every tool or whatever I need to use is just a one step away and I love that.” The shelves are painted in ‘Heat’ by Little Greene, and contain a collection of dishes and pots, including some pieces of blue and white English porcelain.
Anne Nyblaeus5/13The kitchen of Cathy Nordström's open-plan summer cabin or ‘sommarstuga’ is wonderfully light and low maintenance. Cathy removed the dated tiles and replaced them with tongue-and-groove paneling. The kitchen was a cold grey, and – as grey is Cathy’s “least favourite colour of all time” – she repainted it a warm white, NCS 1002-Y25R. The rug is a traditional Swedish rag rug called a “trasmatta”. “They are almost always woven in stripes in pastel colours,” Cathy explains, “and are very often seen in Swedish summer houses.”
Anne Nyblaeus6/13The chairs at Cathy's cabin are traditional Swedish Leksand chairs; Cathy had them painted in her favourite red colour and upholstered in her ‘Faye’ fabric in Indigo. The lamp is from a small local Swedish interior design shop called Blue Window Interior. The dresser is vintage, bought online at Bukowskis. Cathy stores all the family’s kitchen linen, extra plates and bowls in here.
Magnus Mårding7/13Interior designer and furniture dealer Marie-Louise Sjögren's apartment in Stockholm is full of light and elegant spaces. The kitchen is a new addition; what would previously have been a narrow, confined element of the apartment has been promoted to a prominent position in one of the three central rooms. A striking island in Portuguese Estremoz marble rises out of the centre of the room, while the rest of the units are designed to look like an extension of the flat's deep windowsills, while affording the occupants a birds-eye view over the street outside.
Line T Klein8/13The apartment of Danish creative Michael Dansk is cool, calm and collected. The oak kitchen is from Reform and features brushed steel countertops. A ‘Hive' ceiling light in mustard, originally designed by Verner Panton in 1960, hangs above the sink. Artwork by Howard Fonda and Frederik Næblerød occupy the walls next to vintage Mexican ceramic bowls from the 1950s, purchased from Marie Worsaae. The ceiling is painted in Mellow Yellow by File Under Pop.
Line T. Klein9/13Karl Erik Halldén's 1920s home in Sweden’s Öland was a rustic and wooden when they found it, and is now a bright, richly decorated family home. The kitchen used to be purple and grey. “It was not really my cup of tea,” says Erik. Now, the walls are painted in a green linseed oil paint. The painting of wine bottles is done by Emeli Mårtensson.
Paul Massey10/13Marie-Louise Sjögren's house on the Stockholm archipelago includes a cosy kitchen with an antique Swedish bockbord table from Svenska Rum in Stockholm stands on a vintage Swedish rug in the kitchen, which was designed by Marie-Louise and made from Öland limestone.
Paul Massey11/13A La Cornue range in Marie-Louise's kitchen and claystone sink add to the rustic feel, while bespoke ceiling-mounted glass shelves make the most of the space and provide storage, without blocking the light or views from the window.
Line Klein12/13Both cool and warm, Josephine Akvama Hoffmeyer's Copenhagen apartment has a bright red door and a well harmonised curation of objects. House of Finn Juhl chairs; Knoll Saarinen Tulip table; Vitra Akari lamp; Le Klint lamp in the window seat; lava stone cutting boards on the table and wall by File Under Pop and Helle Mardahl leopard lamp (bottom right). Silver pendant light by Flos; handcrafted tap by TONI; glazed lava stone top, ‘Under My Skin’ wall paint and flooring by File Under Pop.
Line Klein13/13For the kitchen itself, Josephine added hand-painted chromatic File Under Pop tiles. Glazed lava stone top and cutting boards and vase also by File Under Pop.
