Scandinavian Living Room Reveal - Ideas for a Lagom Look
I’m excited to share some before and afters of a Scandinavian living room in a Victorian terrace with you today! I'll also be introducing you to the lovely Scandinavian approach of Lagom and showing you how you can use Lagom inspired design elements in your home decor.
I loved working with these clients and their beautiful house. It’s in the pretty Victorian model village of Saltaire in West Yorkshire, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The main attraction of the village is Salts Mill. If you haven’t been, it’s definitely worth a visit.
When Titus Salt moved his business from Bradford to this area near Shipley in 1857, he built a little village alongside his new mill and his workers were housed in its terraces. Most of the terraces are now Grade II listed, including the one where my clients live, so they’ve retained lots of their period features. It’s one of those homes that feels steeped in history.
The Interior Design Brief
The clients live here with their two teenage boys and they asked me for help with the design of their upstairs rooms (you can see the final reveal of their boys' rooms here). Although there’s an open plan lounge/kitchen on the ground floor, they don’t enjoy spending time in there because it’s quite overlooked and the terraces opposite block a lot of the natural light. The room they love the most is on the first floor and they were using it as the master bedroom. Because it gets lots of lovely warm light, especially in late afternoon/evening, they wanted to turn it into a second lounge. We moved the master bedroom next door and relocated one of the boy’s bedrooms so that they’re both now on the top floor.
Before
What made this project really interesting was the clients’ love of scandi design, which needed to blend seamlessly with the Victorian features of the house. They already had a fantastic collection of mid-century scandinavian furniture and accessories that we wanted to incorporate into the new designs. They’re particularly fond of Sweden and when we were discussing their lifestyle as part of the brief, they mentioned the Swedish concept of Lagom. After reading a bit more about it, I decided that this design philosophy should play a really important part in the design of their home.
What is Lagom?
Lagom is a Swedish word which loosely translates as ‘not too much, not too little’. ‘Lagom: The Swedish Art of Balanced Living’ by Linnea Dunne is a lovely introduction to the lagom way of life which is all about balance, moderation and fairness as a route to happiness. It can be applied to all areas of life, from the car you drive (think Volkswagen, not Audi), to the amount of time you spend on work and even the amount of money you have. In short, the lagom lifestyle is about making life less complicated. One of my favourite take-aways from the book was the concept of ‘fika’, where Swedes take a 15 minute coffee and pastry break each morning and afternoon, in addition to their lunchbreak, where they forget about work and socialise with colleagues. And ‘Fredagsmys’ - spending cosy Friday nights in with loved ones. I think we could all do with a bit more Lagom in our lives.
The ground floor lounge
From an interiors perspective, the Lagom style focuses on simplicity and balance. Interestingly, I found that this house was naturally rather Lagom in style. Just enough character but not too much. Beautiful windows but no cornices; detailed skirting boards without being too deep. If the Victorians did Lagom, this would be it.
So how did we build on this and achieve a Lagom Scandinavian look for this room?
1) Neutral walls as a calming backdrop
After
Scandinavian interiors favour light colours and neutral palettes to combat their dark winters. We created a neutral base with white walls for an airy feel, using Slaked Lime by Little Greene on the walls and ceiling, with the woodwork subtly highlighted in the slightly darker Slaked Lime Mid. The Slaked Lime family is great for adding a sense of warmth in rooms of all orientations. The large windows let in lots of natural light here and because it's west facing, it gets warmer and warmer throughout the day.
The original floorboards were sanded and painted the same colour as the walls. Painting the floor in a light colour is one of the best things you can do to lighten up a room. For DIY advice on how to restore original floorboards, read my blog post here.
2) Buy Second Hand
With sustainable living playing a really important part in the Lagom philosophy, there’s an emphasis on re-using and recycling.
We kept to simple furniture with clean lines for a Scandi feel. The clients found the mid-century very comfortable sofa in a vintage shop in Skipton and I gave the go ahead before they bought it. It’s perfect for this Scandi living room! We kept their existing teak light fixture which provides soft lighting for a cosy feel.
I sourced the mid-century GPlan Astro coffee table from eBay (glass coffee tables work really well with patterned rugs because you can still see the pattern through the glass).
The structural side table introduces another wood tone and lovely texture for a more layered look.
Although the man of the house works from home, he only needs enough room for a laptop so we used his existing small desk and second hand chair, which fit perfectly in the alcove. The use of plants is a great way of adding subtle pops of colour and a touch of nature in a Scandinavian scheme to bring the outside in.
3) Clutter Free Spaces
Before
After
Instead of overfilling the space with accessories, we kept to the Lagom design principle of keeping just a few decorative items that have meaning. Storage is also really important in achieving a clutter-free space.
We kept the clients’ teak mid-century sideboard in its existing location, and we used their existing table lamp and some of the accessories that they’d collected over the years. Scandinavian mid-century items are such good quality - they really stand the test of time.
Use Natural Materials
This photo was taken a bit later in the afternoon - see how the natural light has become a lot warmer?
Organic materials and natural elements are key to lagom living and creating an inviting atmosphere. From the wood furniture to the linen curtains and cotton area rug, natural materials make an appearance throughout this room. Because colour needs to be kept neutral for a Lagom feel, natural textures in the soft furnishings are really important for adding visual interest and for creating a relaxing and comfy space - the lovely soft textures add instant cosiness. Nkuku is a great place to shop this look.
Understated personality. No showiness. Not too much, not too little. Lovely Lagom.
I absolutely love this living space - it feels so peaceful and relaxing! Hopefully I've given you lots of ideas for your own Scandinavian living room design.
I’m an interior designer based in Halifax and I cover surrounding areas, including Leeds and Manchester. I also offer affordable online interior design packages.
