Our Favorite Soothing Scandinavian Kitchens
If we could pack up and move halfway across the world, we would. There’s just something about Scandinavian design that puts even the best American design to shame. How is everything over there so darn cute?
Because it’s not totally feasible to relocate at this point in time, we’ll just sit here and quietly pine over these kitchens from afar. Don’t mind us — or better yet, join us in our lusting!
When Anette and her husband renovated this kitchen, they didn’t hold back on the design. “Custom solid oak countertop with inset sink was an indulgence we don’t regret,” she says. The simplicity of the space (note the missing cabinet uppers!) means the decorative items (the rug, globe pendant light, and various accessories) can really shine.
A labor of love for her parents, Karina designed this vacation home to blur the lines between the indoors and the outdoors. The kitchen, a custom job from Hansen Living, is spacious, simple, and inviting.
We couldn’t show you a bunch of Scandinavian kitchens and not show you one that’s been outfitted with IKEA. This 950-square-foot apartment features appliances and cabinets from the big-box store. For a personal touch, Tuva made her own leather pulls for the cabinet faces.
This is a newly constructed house, built in a neighborhood with several others that looked the same, so the homeowners wanted to tweak their space to make it look different and have some personality. They painted a lot and hung a lot of wallpaper (you can see some in the mirror on the right), but left the kitchen white and airy.
Not exactly the most updated kitchen in Finland, this 1890s rental still gets the job done. The kitchen — and the rest of the space — is full of found objects and furniture. Makes sense, considering the renters’ sage advice: “Celebrate space and purchase only things you can proudly leave to your grandchildren.”
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Limited square footage aside, this kitchen still manages to pack a lot of style. For starters, open shelving keeps the space from feeling too tight. And most accessories are put away to cut down on visual clutter. The colors and fixtures are obviously top-notch, but our favorite touch is the window between the kitchen and the living room.
Kaisa and Otto did about half of this kitchen remodel themselves — that includes the tile work. For the final touches, they added a few classic Scandinavian accessories like a Stelton vacuum jug and Design Letters cups.
The thing we love the most about this intimate cottage? The fact that it can be rented on Airbnb!
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