This beautiful Swedish home, though decorated in a rather minimal way, has lots of style and character to take inspiration from. While the entire apartment has been decorated in a rather minimal color palette, the light blue ceiling in the bedroom really stands out in this space.
A minimal living room with earth tones in the accessories
The white walls combined with the white sofa, the white lounge chair, and the white fluffy area rug provide a perfect base palette for the earth tones in the throw pillows and blanket on the sofa and the lampshade on the open shelving against the wall.
The dark oak wood coffee table and the black Ay Illuminate lamp combined with the black metal shelving add a lot of contrast to the light color palette of the soft furnishings.
A white kitchen with a vintage kitchen table
While the kitchen itself is not so special, I think the square dining table really stands out among the white walls and the white kitchen cabinets. The warm wood of the vintage table is combined with the beautiful CH24 wishbone chairs in black wood and black paper chord and I love the way the black comes back in the paper shade lamp above the dining table.
A blue ceiling in the bedroom
The bedroom itself has been decorated in a similar white color palette as the base, with a few earth tones and black accents to add contrast. While the decor itself doesn’t stand out so much, the blue-painted ceiling takes away all the attention in this bedroom. I love the play between the warm soft furnishings with the cool blue paint on the ceiling.
If you like a neutral color palette but want a bit more depth added to your natural colors, earth tones are a great way to add a bit more contrast and character to your interior design without being too bold or contrasting.
Earthy colors are easy to combine with each other and with light neutral colors and bright whites, which makes them a perfect color option for a balanced interior. Earth tones add warmth, can easily be combined together, and go very well with beiges, white and natural materials with yellow undertones. An earthy color palette in your accessories can do wonders to an otherwise minimal interior and can elevate the look to a new level.
Earthy tones in the living space
This beautiful small apartment in Sweden is rather small, yet has a great living space with a sofa area, dining area, and even a small spot for working from home. The sheer warm beige curtains* set the stage for this look as it warms up the daylight coming in from the windows.
The earth tones combine really nicely with the curtains and even though different shades are picked for different elements, these complementary colors give a very coherent look to this space.
Earthy colors in the sofa area
The white Ikea sofa with a Bemz custom linen cover* is decorated with throw pillows in neutral tones and an art print with burnt orange details. The warm cream area rug adds a lot of texture to the sofa area and visually separates the sofa from the rest of the space.
When working with earthy color palettes, it’s easiest to pick out the main furniture in modest colors so that the earth tones stand out in an optimal way. Beiges and white are great choices, while as cool tones and vibrant colors are more difficult to combine earth tones with.
The green leaf plants in both the window and on the side table add a touch of color from the opposite side of the color wheel, which is why they stand out so much among the eathy colors in the accessories and plant pots.
earth tone art prints and bentwood dining chairs
The earth tone color palette continues in the prints at the dining table where chocolate brown elements are mixed up with the contrasting black bentwood chairs and a white linen tablecloth*. The warm colors in the art prints add depth to the white walls and they turn the dining table into its own area in the space.
A home office spot with earth-tone art prints and accessories
On the other side of the room, you can find a small home office spot, with a grey desk and office chair combined with a warm beige flowerpot desk lamp (€239* – $600*), beige accessories, and skin tones in the art prints on the wall.
The dark wooden bench in the corner fits so well in this setting with a mixture of three different kinds of wood. While this area of the space doesn’t work with the obvious earth tones like in the rest of the space, it does have a more subtle palette that goes with the cool grays in the furniture.
A niche bedroom where the earth tone color palette is continued
Since the niche bedroom is visible from the living space and everything is planned in an open way, it’s a very natural design decision to also include earth tones in the bedroom area.
The art print, throw pillow, and lamp complement the color palette of the living area and since this bedroom doesn’t have any natural light coming in, it was a smart decision to place a mirror next to the bed that reflects the light coming in.
Other earth-tone color schemes to take inspiration from
In this beautiful apartment, a mix of brown, beiges, and earth tones has a similar effect in both the bedroom and living room, while as in this apartment, the earth tones come back mostly in the throw pillows and smaller accessories, which can also have a nice effect in the space.
An earth tone color palette can be as minimal or elaborate as you think might fit and if you’re unsure if earth colors would match your interior style, the easiest way to start is by changing out an art print or throw pillow, as it will easily give you an idea of the effect of the color palette in your space.
A Living kitchen is becoming more and more common these days as the average surface available in homes nowadays gets reduced a lot, especially when you live in a city. When planned right, an open-concept kitchen living room can be such a great space-saving solution that contributes to a living situation that is centered around the kitchen as the heart of the home.
A grey living kitchen in a historical building
The living kitchen in this beautiful apartment looks really impressive with those high ceilings and historic windows. The kitchen layout is planned on one side of the space with minimal grey cabinets from Ikea enhanced with white marble countertops, leather handles, and a brass faucet for a more sophisticated look.
The dining table takes its place in between the kitchen and the living room, which makes it the central area in the space, where everyone can gather for breakfast, or where guests can join for dinner. The style of the sofa area matches well with the kitchen as the grey of the kitchen cabinets comes back in the sofa and the area rug and the cognac leather vintage armchair match the handles on the kitchen doors.
Having the living room so close to the kitchen is really nice for when you have friends over, as you will all be in the same space while dinner is prepared.
How to separate the kitchen from the living room
In this beautiful example, the kitchen has been built in a niche space, filling both walls. This L-shape in itself creates a visual distinction from the rest of the room and by placing the dining table in the middle, you have a nice flow of the layout.
You might also opt for a kitchen with an island, which divides the space up, yet allows the layout to flow. You can find an example of this here and here.
Pink is definitely a bold choice for kitchen cabinets. Yet, Artilleriet kitchen studio, a design studio connected to the Artilleriet store in Göteborg* has teamed up with Swedish cabinet maker Tre Sekel again for another mesmerizing project. I have written about their collaborations here and here, yet those are more minimal kitchen designs of the duo. This modern pink kitchen has the perfect pink color, that looks stylish and sophisticated, yet bold at the same time.
A. Colori : A pink kitchen with shaker-style cabinets
A. Colori is built on the same values of craftsmanship, quality, and material choices of the previous Artilleriet x Tre Sekel kitchens, yet in color this time. The design is inspired by antique painted kitchens and can blend in (when in a neutral color) or stand out (when in pink for example) in a modern or classic interior. Different colors can be combined like in the example kitchen where beige shaker cabinets are mixed with pink ones for an interesting effect.
The brass knobs on the pink and beige kitchen cabinets is almost like a piece of jewelry and handmade out of solid brass in Sweden. The heaviness of the handle is intentional and feels like you never want to let it go. It’s the finishing touch on the shaker cabinets.
Complementing beige shaker cabinets with pink kitchen accessories
The complementing beige shaker kitchen goes very well with the bold pink in the room and has been filled with beautiful pink kitchen accessories. The pink kitchen decor on the beige open shelving complements the pink kitchen cabinets beautifully and all the accessories you see are selected from the Artilleriet store*.
The castle table: a wooden kitchen island with a marble countertop
The classic wooden kitchen island with a white marble countertop is the centerpiece of the kitchen, where everyone can gather around, cook and socialize. While the island looks very classic, as if it would be a historic piece, modern appliances like induction cookers or fans can be built into it giving it all modern-day functionality.
You still have until Monday 31 October at midnight to participate and who knows I will be coming to your home personally to give it a makeover. GOOD LUCK!
Look at this gorgeous Scandinavian loft apartment with an open-plan living kitchen and large windows that let in so much natural light. The kitchen layout fits very nicely in the space, as the kitchen island also functions as an extension of the supporting pillar separating the kitchen and dining area from the living room. The kitchen looks custom-made by a carpenter to me and the doors are produced out of a treated rough MDF board that has a very interesting texture. The aged brass handles and the occasional glass door balance out this rougher look and make it elegant.
The fluffy area rug in the living room separates this area visually from the rest of the loft and I love that a slight area of the brick wall has been exposed, for that typical loft feeling which contrasts so nicely with the custom-built cabinet in that corner.
While I’m not such a big fan of the design of the bedroom wallpaper, in particular, I do love that it gives an extra texture to the space. The fact that you can take a peek from the main loft area and see contrasting wallpaper in the other room makes this loft very characterful.
The exhibition in the showroom of Danish design brand New Works is always something to look forward to during 3 days of design in Copenhagen. The space gets a yearly makeover by Swedish stylist Lotta Agaton and this year the style is inspired by tailored menswear and classic interiors. The exhibition celebrates craftsmanship and timeless pieces, resulting in an interior that evolves around the oppositions that define New Works. In the space, you can find an impressive contrast between light and dark, classic and contemporary, and raw and refined.
The exhibition invites you to dwell on details and qualities and features grand as well as intimate lounges and beautiful dining areas that embrace you with harmony and warmth, courtesy of the textured textiles and the palette of rich brown hues and soft creamy shades. Subtle stripes and tweed-like qualities are mixed with chunky textures and warm wood to create a sophisticated and soothing space.
In the exhibition, some new releases of the brand were presented as well, like the Bukowski Chair, the New Works Shelving System, and the Atlas Coffee Tables, which will be added to the collection soon.
I’m such a fan of the Klippan blankets made especially for Arket. I had been thinking of the black and white Linnea Andersson blanket* for a while now and I’m so happy I finally ordered it. I think the contrast in the bedroom looks wonderful and I love the way the black of the blanket comes back in the lamp as well. On the bed, you can see the CSA cups and saucers* which I have shown you before and they are currently still in stock.
But the bedroom is not the only place where I introduced Arket accessories. On my sideboard in the dining room, you can see a beautiful arrangement of glass candle holders* which let through the candlelight in such a subtle way and since I love candles even on summer nights, this is the perfect colorful arrangement for me here.
On the table itself, you can see a perfect summer arrangement as well (if I can say so myself) with a combination of pink and red tints, which is not a color palette I easily grab towards, but it works so nice here I think. The red and pink confetti vase* combined with the striped Afroart napkins*, and the glass napkin rings* look so great together I think.
A few years back, Swedish ceramic designer and craftswoman Carina Seth Andersson collaborated on a collection with Arket*, and I still feel bad about missing out on her items back then, so when I noticed Arket repeated the collaboration, I just had to go ahead an snatch some of these beautifully designed homeware pieces.
I’m a fan of contrasting elements in an interior and the way the combination of materials can become a play between hard and soft. This new industrial-style kitchen by Nordiska Kök is a beautiful example of a mixture of materials that enhance the look of the room. This kitchen is built in a villa outside Stockholm and features concrete flooring, combined with a stainless-steel worktop and light oak cabinets. The kitchen island looks like the chefs’ table in a restaurant, while the soft oak finishes add a Scandinavian elegance.
