A Beginner’s Guide for Effective Scandinavian Office Design
6 principles for a motivating, relaxing, and productive work environment.
Nordic interior design — we’ve all seen it somewhere and know how it makes us feel.
It’s clean, linear, some might say minimalistic and sterile, but at the same time inviting, calming, and cozy with many interesting design elements. It just somehow looks carefully considered.
But could you bring it into your own space? And why should you?
The Scandinavian style doesn’t simply look good, I found it makes me more relaxed, productive, and happy as well.
Especially my office has become a mecca for creativity and motivation. I just love being and working there.
Bringing a little bit of Northern style into your office might do the same trick for you, it definitely looks stunning — but first, you must know what‘s making it work.
Use a Neutral-heavy Color Palette
While many interior designers like to paint rooms in strong colors, such as red and blue, because it’s modern and gives character to the walls, you won‘t find them in Northern Europe.
Homes in Denmark, Sweden, and Co. mostly adhere to light and natural colors, as found in the earth, stone, and wood. They make the room look bigger and brighter.
It also gives individual furniture pieces the possibility to stand out and create a contrast to the walls, for which you can use a highlight color.
The highlight color is used for a few, selected items or decorations, like carpets, blankets, picture frames, or vases, for creating pops of colors.
Yet, also the highlight color is often a dark grey, deep green, greyish blue, or ochre to stick to the earthy colors.
This color palette will give your room or office a calming, homogenous, and relaxed atmosphere.
Let There Be Light
Whenever I strolled through the streets of the Danish countryside, I noticed one thing: Many houses don’t have a fence, not even shutters or curtains.
If I wanted to, I could have looked directly into the kitchens or living rooms.
In Austria on the contrary, that would be impossible. Every house has a fence to indicate clearly where the property starts and ends as if we have to guard it all the time.
Curtains and shutters are a standard requirement for the houses here.
At first, I thought it might have something to do with the mentality of both countries. But then, a local told me that it was also because of the environmental conditions in Northern Europe.
In the farthest North, the sun doesn’t rise for months. It‘s dark all the time so the light becomes extremely sought after.
Keeping the windows uncovered is one way to get as much light in as possible.
Of course, that doesn‘t mean you’re not allowed to buy shutters or curtains, but maybe choose a lighter color or go for one layer, instead of two or three, as it’s custom in some countries.
It looks less crowded and friendlier.
Bring In The Nature
Nature plays an important factor in Scandinavian design.
Back in time, people had to work with the means nature provided them, and the resources were quite limited in rural Scandinavia.
This connection to Mother Earth stuck with the Northern folk and now finds precipitation in their interior design.
What could this look like?
For one, you could add plants to bring nature into your home.
But you can also use light wooden elements in your home, choose natural materials (jute, wool, linen, burlap), stick to floral patterns if any, and choose decoration that is not made out of glitter and plastic.
Plants increase the quality of the air — which is important in your working environment — but also make the space look nicer.
Plus, natural materials are often more durable than artificial ones.
Tidy Your Space
The Scandinavian design emphasizes bright, light, but also open spaces, with a lot of room to move around and breathe.
Bright and light space evokes a sense of calm and power, but only if they are tidied up.
Many people have a beautifully furnished home, but the color palette and decoration have no chance of standing out because the rooms are too crowded and not cleaned up.
That goes for surfaces, the kitchen, the floor, the wardrobe — everything.
Keeping the home tidy is not a style question per se, but an important prerequisite for a room to look Scandinavian.
Think of it this way: stylish houses are mostly a result of their presentation too. Every home I considered elegant and modern was cleaned up.
If you want your space to give you strength, make sure all elements and items are stored in cupboards or boxes and not individually lying around, except for your pieces of decoration.
I have my pens in a container, my notebooks in a cupboard — only my laptop and some candles are loosely standing on my desk.
Make sure your decorative elements have the chance to shine and unfold their effects on your mood.
Create Contrast
Another important factor in Northern style is contrast.
But not necessarily in terms of colors positioned on the opposite ends of the wheel. Contrast can be included in your home in a much subtler way too.
Think shape, size, texture, mood.
You’re invited to deviate light and dark neutrals, old pieces and new pieces, abstract and realistic, straight and wavy, hard and soft, utility and coziness.
You could, for example, have mostly rectangular furniture except for a round dining table.
You could have a minimalistic Ikea-inspired living room with a vintage fireplace.
Or a huge abstract painting in a rather natural and simple-styled home.
My office, for example, is mostly white and linear, but I have an armchair in a strong grey that looks a little vintage. It adds character to my working space, makes it unique.
The possibilities are endless. Dare to contrast.
Add Some Hygge
There have been quite some talks and discussions around the concept of hygge.
Whether or not it is a concept of its own or just the sum of specific items — it definitely adds coziness and friendliness to rooms.
Hygge is what sometimes makes me stay in my office for ten hours a day because I feel comfortable there.
Hygge can be brought to your room in the form of many items, here are a few ideas:
- Many candles, lamps, or light chains to create indirect illumination
- Thick cotton blankets or carpets
- Pillows in all forms and sizes
- Nicely arranged books
- Scents, we also feel the atmosphere via our nose
- Soft slippers
- Plants, a lot of plants!
- An openly placed, old-fashion tea cattle
- A ladder shelf
Whatever makes you feel good, comfortable, safe, and relaxed — that is what you should get.
How To Apply This To Your Office?
We want to design the room where you spend between eight and ten hours a day in a way that makes you happy. That, of course, is quite individual.
But to give you an idea, I can show you how I finished my office space.
I choose a bright room so that my eyes get enough light. The walls are completely white too, to give it even more capacity.
I’ve settled for a white table, cotton carpet, bookshelf too. They all have straight lines and a more cubic design.
I decided to go for grey and green as accent colors, which I used in flower arrangements, candles, my table lamp, and my slippers.
In addition, I have a knitted, dark grey blanket draped over my chair which I can use whenever I feel cold.
All my working utensils like pens, markers, USB sticks, and so on are stored in boxes so they don‘t roll around. Small plants are placed between the books on my shelf and I have a few Orchids standing around on a lower cupboard.
I have no curtains that cover the windows because I want the sun on my back.
For me, the bright colors and bigger space give my office energy and power. The plants and natural colors root me and calm me down.
It’s the perfect environment for me. And that’s what it must be for you too — your perfect work environment.
Now it’s your turn! Bring a little bit of Scandinavia into your home. I hope it’s easier now with this style guide.
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