14 July 2021

Inspire the look: Achieving the perfect Scandinavian style kitchen

All about the Scandinavian Style

The simplicity and beauty of Scandinavian kitchens generate a timeless style and elegant atmosphere to your home. Coming from nordic shores, the design stems from a demand for simplicity, yet elegance, embracing neutral tones with rustic features. A hint of textured wooden features makes the Scandinavian style perfect for a contemporary kitchen.  

The Scandinavian aesthetic is a seamless concept that integrates both form and function with a warm and inviting ambience. With its neutral and wooden tones, this nordic design can be incorporated with any styles that you may have already running throughout your home. 

Why is white a popular choice for Scandinavian kitchens  

When mood boarding your Scandi kitchen look it’s best to go with a clean neutral white base, this is one of the cornerstones of the interior design theme. The white evokes the long and difficult Nordic winters that heavily influence the colour scheme, making sure that there is a connection between the cosy interior and the breathtaking exterior. Scandinavian people wanted to create a warm and inviting ambience, with neutral and wooden tones to move away from the dark and gloomy winters that enveloped the long days. The white interiors help to maximize the natural light and create a bright and welcoming space. In keeping with this aesthetic, the white hue is already so popular in the kitchen, so switching to a Scandi style can be easily achieved. 

Additional elements to include in your Scandinavian kitchen

For an authentic Scandinavian kitchen, you need to incorporate additional elements such as soft wooden tones, warm lighting, subtle hints of colour and a clutter-free environment. Most commonly, it’s recommended to use ‘summery’ colours to achieve this style, but bolder colours can be incorporated if you plan to use them delicately. When it comes to colour be sure to follow the concept where less is definitely more. A gentle green or pale powder blue with a coordinating chair take the Scandi style to a whole new level. 

To incorporate subtle hints of colour to your Scandinavian style the Alexander and Wilks range has a variety of rustic embellishments that can be perfectly entwined into your Scandinavian aesthetic. The Hurricane reeded lever creates that bold, yet subtle pop of colour for your door handles as this can come in a graphite black or a satin brass. If you're looking for a cup pull handle for your cabinets the Collaco ridged cabinet cup pull might just be the perfect fit. Choosing a white or darker cabinet colour would perfectly suit these cabinet handles from Alexander and Wilks. 

The space-saving Scandinavian style

For anyone whose kitchen is on the smaller side, it’s important to make use of every inch of your space. Minimalism and organization are essential with this style. Wall-mounted cabinets, rustic wooden shelves and house plants make up this beautiful concept. With small kitchens where there is little room for anything other than what is absolutely necessary, it’s important to adopt a ‘back to basics’ approach. Add potted greenery to give the kitchen a little personality of its own.  

Using darker elements to highlight Scandinavian features  

Although the traditional Scandinavian style is keeping it bright, light and white. Incorporating darker elements creates a feature of the kitchen as well as an industrial and utility aesthetic. For many individuals, they are bored of the traditional white aesthetic you can employ black in a clever and creative fashion to highlight architectural features and create visual contrast. Using a darker styled kitchen on your cabinets or island can create a fascinating focal point in an otherwise neutral space. If you think black may be a little too dark for your taste, then try deeper shades of grey or a rich inky blue instead. These elements can then be highlighted further using the Alexander and Wilks range for antique brass and graphite black cabinet pulls. 

Lighting for your Scandinavian Kitchen  

There are a variety of concepts when it comes to designing a Scandinavian kitchen, but one thing that remains the same is the lighting. The lighting can make or break the look of the Scandinavian kitchen, with large windows being the trademark feature. This allows natural light to flood in. Unique pendants and warm ambient lighting will give you the perfect Scandi setting.  

Why choose a Scandinavian style? 

No matter what Scandinavian style you choose, rustic or contemporary, you can rest assured that its neutral backdrop and effortless functionality will allow you to switch styles further down the line. However, once you start with the Scandinavian aesthetic, you’ll be hooked! 

For more ideas and advice on how to achieve your dream kitchen design, read our inspire the look blogs and shop the Alexander and Wilks range today!