Modern Scandinavian Look - On a Budget

I've always loved the Scandinavian look - the white walls and floors, the clean lines and the pale wood. So calm, restful and uncluttered.

I can lose myself for hours in Ikea or Skandi Huis. Of course, the Scandinavian style is all about keeping things as light and airy as possible, yet still cosy, as they suffer from lack of sunlight and long dark winters. This philosophy is very appealing to us in the UK because our weather, although not quite as cold and dark, is certainly grey and gloomy and we crave light. Well, I do anyway!

1. Texture.
So, assuming that you're starting from a plain white room, the first thing you need to add is some texture. White rooms can be very clinical and cold without texture.Those clever Scandinavians achieve this with a mixture of accessories such as jute rugs, wicker furniture and rustic wood. 


There's a great item from www.ikea.co.uk that really nails this ingredient - the Alseda footstool.

Made of banana leaves, and at only £20, it's useful, beautiful and adds texture to a plain room.

2. Warmth.
In my humble opinion, the single most important element to the Scandinavian look is the sheepskin rug. Again, they're practical for actually helping to keep you warm in the winter (who knew?!) but they also add further texture, cosiness and of course, colour if you so wish. Use them as rugs, but they're also brilliant as throws on sofas and to soften chairs and stools. I buy some of our sheepskin rugs from www.ikea.co.uk  - they're about £30 for short haired white or grey sheepskins.

If you prefer bigger or longer haired sheepskins then www.ebay.co.uk is a good source and they're priced from about £60. And if you prefer your sheepskins to be even more luxurious and with an ethically sourced guarantee, then try www.cowboykate.co.uk. Her beautiful, rare breed sheepskins again are priced from about £60 and have got fantastic reviews on Instagram.

3. Clean Lines.
An excellent and affordable way of introducing clean lines and pale wood into your Scandinavian look is by adding an Eames RAR rocking chairs - with their modern white shell and pale wood rockers, they're the perfect accessory.

Or if you want to add some monochrome into the mix, choose it in black. 

The original Eames chairs cost from £300 upwards but there are many excellent copies around now (or 'tributes' I prefer to call them!) Good sources include www.cultfurniture.com (about £50 per chair) and www.ebay.co.uk where I've seen them for as little as £30 each. I've had my 'tribute' Eames RAR rocker for several years and it's wearing really well.

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