10 ways to create a Scandi home for spring
Pernille’s cabinet, as seen in our new Vol 13 Spring issue. Photography: Christina Kayser O/Living Inside.
It’s time to embrace the new season and fill your home with Scandi vibes with our easy ideas and lifestyle hacks. We’ve been inspired by the lovely spring vibe of our Vol 13 Spring cover home – Pernille’s Danish villa – which has lovingly undergone quite the transformation. It has such a calm yet fresh feel. Here’s our tips for bringing your Scandi-style home into spring…
1. Use linen to refresh your table
Transform your table with a linen tablecloth in a Scandi patten. It will instantly ‘lift’ the room, making a refreshing change from your wooden tabletop. If you are looking for a new accent colour, try a lovely chambray blue, which pairs brilliantly with natural wood and wicker. This tablecloth is from Bungalow – don’t you just love that crisp chambray border, which helps define the dining space?
2. Scandi-fy your display cabinet
Spring-clean cabinets and give tableware, glassware and collectables space to be seen. Pile up plates and bowls, ready for when you entertain, and wash glassware. Scandinavian homes often have a large cabinet full of essentials – both for everyday use and for entertaining. If you aren’t ready to have everything on display, then shop for a few storage boxes to conceal clutter.
3. Take a break
Set the scene for springtime fika, with favourite mugs, plates and a bake ready to share. If you are working from home, be sure to gather other WFH friends and enjoy this traditional Swedish coffee-and-cake break, making plans for the year ahead. We love Bloomingville’s new collection of stoneware, including these Paula cups that are made for cupping your hands around your favourite hot drink.
4. Show some cupboard love
Use what’s in your store cupboard, it’s a traditional thing to do in Scandinavian countries during spring, as you get ready for the new-season delights of summer. Try buying only fresh food to go with your tin or jar selection, and get creative with meal planning.
5 Bring the outdoors in
Style the season inside your home by foraging your early spring garden for blossom and lush green foliage. Nothing says ‘spring is coming’ better than pretty flowers in a vase or jug on your table. Why not venture ‘almost’ outside, with a vase of foraged finds on a garden table just outside your door? This bistro table, vase and jug are all from House Doctor’s new spring/summer collection.
6. Find a spring scent
Change your home’s fragrance by swapping your scented candles. We know they are a given in any Scandinavian home, but it’s time to pack away those heavier, woody, orange and amber-based scents for something a little lighter and fresher. Lime, rose and basil are great options.
7. And breathe…
Give your home a good airing, opening the doors and windows and letting that fresh spring air in. You may need to keep a few lightweight blankets handy should the temperature drop, so stash them in lovely big baskets or layer them up on the sofa, which of course, needs plenty of cushions. We love Bungalow’s bench cushions, which can soften a bench instantly.
8. Find your lagom
Remember that Swedish word lagom, meaning not too little or too much, just the right amount? Why not make this season the one you try to get that balance right at home? Create daily habits that work for you and your home, however small. It could be soaking oats overnight for your breakfast porridge, cleaning as you go, or sorting a few things each day to be either recycled, sold or donated to charity.
9. See the light
Welcome in the light by swapping heavier curtains for linen ones and opening up blinds fully. After months of darkness, Scandinavians seek to fill their homes with as much natural daylight as possible, so follow suit and see your mood lift. Add mirrors to reflect light, while walls and floors painted white will also help.
10. Savour the season with our latest issue
Enjoy spring at home and relax, creating moments of hygge with those you love. Take the time to appreciate all that you have around you and plans you’ve made for the year to come. Our new Vol 13 Simply Scandi Spring 2024 issue has plenty of Scandi loveliness to inspire you.