Frederik Werner is a designer and partner at Norm Architects. He lives with his family in a beautiful brick villa from 1917, which he transformed into a minimal home with clean lines, Japandi furniture, a mix of natural materials, and a clear hint of Japanese aesthetics mixed in with Scandinavian interior design elements: Japandi interior design.

This Japandi-style interior results in a calm atmosphere for his family that highlights the honest material qualities of the oak wood, soft fabrics, and rice paper lampshades used in the space. The natural light in this home is enhanced and softened by the limewash paint which has been used on all the walls in the entire house.

Japandi interior design is based on a combination of Japanese and Scandinavian design principles and has been gaining quite some popularity over the last few years.

Natural materials in the kitchen and dining area

Natural elements in the Profile kitchen from Reform

The kitchen has a very elegant, minimal aesthetic where the oak wood fronts and countertop are allowed to shine in their simplicity. The kitchen fronts are Profile designed by Norm Architects for Reform, which have a Scandinavian design presence that mixes both light wood and a thin metal strip at the handle for a simple effect with a functional presence. The matching butcher block countertops in the same oak material finish the kitchen design off perfectly.

A dining area where Japanese and Scandinavian styles meet

The dining area follows the Japandi style elegance of the kitchen with a dining table and dining chairs, both from Karimuko case study, in oak on a beautiful wood floor. The simple bench which has the same Japanese style elegance as the dining table provides a setting for displaying books and art and both above the bench as well as above the dining table you can find a rice-paper lamp, so typical in Japanese interiors.

In both the kitchen and the dining area, it’s the mix of natural materials, warm neutral tones, and natural light that accentuate the Japandi style element in the interior.

A modest Japandi-style living room with rich dark brown wood

While the kitchen and dining area make use of a mixture of wood in a lighter color palette, in the living room, you can find mostly dark wood in the furniture pieces, combined with a neutral palette of marble, linen, and the same light wood flooring as in the dining room.

The clean lines are enhanced by the dark color palette in this living space, while the mix of Japanese and Scandinavian design pieces makes the space look high-end and sophisticated, as Japanadi furniture tends to do.

Japandi interior design in the bedroom and bathroom

Both the attic bedroom and the bathroom are located underneath the roof, which the exposed wood beams in the bedroom highlighting the architectural integrity of the house. The bedroom has been kept very simple, yet the addition of natural materials and light wood matches the natural elements in the architecture, which is a strong design element in itself.

How to incorporate Japandi interior design principles in your own home

Both Scandinavian and Japanese interior design practices are based upon the same minimalist principles where natural elements, simple lines, natural materials, and neutral colors are mixed into a balanced setting.

Scandinavian interior design styles are based upon the celebration of bright spaces and natural light, as it’s a culture with very little of it, especially during winter months. Light palettes tend to reflect the light, which is why they are so common in Scandinavian design.

When creating a Japandi interior design, focus on highlighting the natural light that flows into a room and work with natural colors and materials mixed with elegant furniture pieces with clean and simple lines for a minimalistic effect that is rich in texture.

Right across the bridge from the Copenhagen city center, you can find Danish design company Vipp’s 5th exclusive hotel concept located in a Bauhaus-inspired building from the 1930s that used to hold a pencil factory.

You can read about two other Vipp concept hotel rooms in my other blog posts about the Vipp shelter and the Vipp Chimney house.

An eclectic mix of art pieces and modern furniture

The 90m2 art-filled apartment can be found on the ground floor of the old factory building. The interior is designed by Julie Cloos Mølsgaard and is a heaven for the design-conscious, which should feel more like an atelier rather than a hotel.

In the apartment, you can find a mixture of art pieces combined with the Vipp furniture collection and a fully equipped Vipp kitchen.

A living kitchen with a large dining table

In the center of the living kitchen, right in front of those industrial factory windows, you can find a large Cabin dining table with a wood base and a Jura limestone countertop. The dining room look has been completed with cabin dining chairs in light oak with a leather seat and the paper pendant centered above the table.

The warm tones of the leather, wood, and limestone add a lot of texture to the light oak hardwood flooring and the unique ceramic pieces on the table and window sills complete the look.

The V1 kitchen in light grey matches the soft and subtle color palette of the space. The grey wall lamps and stainless steel countertops give the kitchen a tone-on-tone look, while as the black pedal bin and the colorful cutting boards add a contrasting touch.

A light-flooded bedroom

When walking through those sliding doors from the kitchen into the bedroom, you notice that the color of the hardwood floors is changing. The darker wood tone in the bedroom gives this space a warm feeling, which is contrasted by the light color artwork and bedding and the beautiful white pouf by the end of the bed.

the black side tables and the table lamps add further contrast and I like how the simple lines of the lamps play with the rough lines on the artwork.

I’m so amazed by the interior design of this beautiful Swedish apartment. The beautiful light grey shaker kitchen is the focal point of this home and the palette of the living room and bedroom match this setting perfectly with their grey walls, beautiful natural light coming in, and the beige and white color palette to enhance the decor.

A light grey shaker kitchen with stainless steel appliances and off-white walls

Light gray cabinets with stainless steel appliances and cabinet hardware

I think this kitchen has such an interesting color palette. It’s a bit lighter than the gray kitchens you usually see, yet it also doesn’t have white cabinets like a lot of the kitchen inspiration out there. The cabinet color is a very light and subtle gray with green undertones that contrast in such a subtle manner with the off-white wall in this L-shaped layout.

The white marble countertops and low marble backsplash add clean lines to the shaker kitchen cabinetry and the stainless steel exhaust and hardware add a subtle finish to the space. The black faucet and the black wall lamp finish off the design and add depth as well as contrast to the space.

A dining room with warm wood tones as part of the kitchen

The dining area finishes off the interior design of the kitchen and the wood dining table and chairs add so much warmth to the color palette. The wood peg rail finishes off this dining corner beautifully and I love the colorful accents in the green plants that bring out the green undertones in the kitchen cabinets even more.

Gray walls in a natural palette living room

The neutral color palette in the living room accentuates the sophisticated look the gray walls add to the space, while the warm hues of the rattan lounge chair and the wood tones in the coffee table warm up the light gray of the walls. The white-soaped hardwood floors soften the look even more.

Since the kitchen is adjacent to the living room, it is crucial that the color palette of the living room matches the one of the gray kitchen. The two palettes are different in shade, yet they go so well together.

Beige and off-white fabrics balance out the light gray walls

Gray walls can sometimes look a bit boring, yet by playing with the cool and warm undertones in the paint, you can achieve an interesting effect, something that is often used by an interior designer as well.

The white fabric sofa (It’s an Ikea sofa with a Bemz customer cover*) in soft linen has been decorated with a series of throw pillows in different shades of natural linen* for a textured effect that is enhanced by the beautifully textured area rug.

The black stained oval mirror on the wall adds a decorational element to the wall above the sofa, but it also reflects the kitchen, which is a nice touch.

A built-in low bookcase for a finished effect

Rather than placing a furniture piece next to the sofa, the owners of this home went through the trouble of building a custom solution that is lifted off the hardwood floors and has been painted in the same gray wall color for an integrated effect.

Even though this apartment doesn’t have crown molding, it does have elaborate baseboards that have also been applied to the built-in bookcase.

Light gray walls and the same gray paint on the wardrobe in the bedroom

The gray walls in the bedroom have also been applied to the built-in wardrobe, which has been built into the space in a similar way as the bookcase in the living room. The floorboards have been applied to the bottom of the wardrobe and the bedroom walls have been painted up until the top of the wardrobe, creating the visual illusion of crown molding and seamlessly integrating the wardrobe into the space.

The linen curtains, white bedding, and beige blanket enhance and warm up the color palette in a similar way as in the living room, which ties the interior design of both spaces together.

Just like in the dining room, wooden furniture is added in the bedroom for a warm and textural effect. The gray walls form the perfect backdrop for a small home office corner with a wood desk and wood chair.

via Alvhem

I’m always so inspired by small-space living and the way the layout of a small apartment can fit together like a glove. It all comes down to selecting exactly the right furniture and accessories and finding a color palette that works in a small space.

This beautiful home is not quite as small as a studio space, since it has a separate bedroom, yet it still combines multiple functionalities in just two rooms. Head over to this blog post to find a list of the most inspiring studio homes and how you can make them work.

A living room with grey walls, beige soft furnishings, and a blue touch

The living kitchen of this apartment combines a sofa area, a kitchen, and a small dining table. The grey walls a give soft look to the daylight coming in through the windows and they add a bit of sophistication to the interior design of the space.

The beige color palette in the soft furnishings warms up the color palette and the beige wall-to-wall (or almost wall-to-wall but you get the gist) linen curtains by the window make the room appear wider. I love the way they contrast with the cool undertones in the grey paint on the walls.

The textured off-white area rug adds a soft touch to the sofa area with the beige sofa and lightens up the hardwood flooring, again making the space appear bigger. The rug also visually separates the sofa area from the rest of the space. The beige sofa is an older Ikea model, enhanced with a Bemz custom cover* and I love the way the Formakami ricepaper pendant* centers the coffee table in the space.

A blue dining table highlights the blue undertones in the gray paint

The blue table is definitely the point of interest in the room, as it’s a color you don’t often see on a dining table.

In my own home, I always try to play with the combination of cool and warm tones, as it tends to add so much interest to a space. You don’t even have to go for a big furniture piece like in this case, you can experiment with a blue pillowcase on a beige sofa, or integrate a blue vase into your setting to try it out.

A bedroom with an exposed brick wall

The bedroom has the same grey wall color as the living room, which appears a lot warmer because of the combination with the exposed brick wall.

While the exposed bricks already add so much texture to this bedroom, the rest of the decor has been kept quite simple. You can find a combination of linen throw pillows* in warm colors and a white linen bed skirt* on the bed and the same linen curtains as in the living room are used by the bedroom window.

Two mirrors decorate this small bedroom, reflecting the space from two separate angles and making the space look both bigger and lighter.

via Kvarteret Makleri

This beautiful Scandinavian interior in a turn-of-the-century Swedish apartment is decorated almost exclusively in tints of light grey, with a few beige, black and natural tones to bring in some variety in the color palette. This result in a very elegant and sophisticated look that matches the architectural style of the apartment well.

A classic gray kitchen in a Scandinavian interior design

Through the old sliding doors in the living room, you can take a peek into the kitchen with classic gray cabinet fronts in a minimal design, combined with a subway tile backsplash that goes all the way up to the ceiling.

The white of the subway tiles comes back in the dining table, which is warmed up with natural oak dining chairs. The kitchen gets a lot of natural light and the white table and tiled wall reflect this in a nice way.

The light grey walls in the space soften out the look and even the round arch going towards the hallway has been painted in light gray paint colors, which is a nice touch. The kitchen design itself is minimal, which you often see in a Scandinavian interior design, yet the classic elements of the space add a certain elegance to the space.

Light gray paint colors throughout the living room

The living room has been painted in a slightly darker shade of gray paint, which makes it a bit moodier. The natural light coming from the window can be dimmed by these heavy grey curtains that go wall-to-wall, and floor-to-ceiling and they give the Scandinavian interior design of the room a luxurious look and feel.

The sofas, area rug, and pouf have been picked out in a white and light gray palette, which brings out the cool undertones in the gray walls. The TV has been mounted on the wall and is matched up with a black bench and lamp for a bit of contrast in the space.

Different shades of grey in the bedroom

The bedroom has a warm gray paint on the wall that is a bit darker, which is matched by the gray linen curtains on the wall that filter out the natural light coming into the room.

The light gray palette has been matched with a soft beige headboard, white bedding, and a beige day cover on the bed. These warm tones warm up the space and I love the set of fabric pendant lights on the ceiling that provides a soft glow inside the space. The basic Ikea Ivar cabinet is painted in the same color as the wall and offers some extra storage space in the bedroom.

Just like in the living room, the black elements like the bedside tables and the wall lamps add a bit of contrast to the gray paint on the wall and give the space a bit of character.

via Brspec

I love the way this apartment (sold via Innerstadtspecialisten) with light greige (grey-beige) walls has been decorated in a modest color palette with variations in the textures and materials of the kitchen, in the furniture, and in the soft furnishings.

An oak kitchen with a limestone countertop

I think the combination of the light oak kitchen cabinets with the beige limestone countertops and the greige wall color works in a very warm and inviting way. Limestone countertops are really on-trend lately and I think they offer such a soft tone to any color of cabinets compared to the widely popular white marble.

The exhaust has been built-in and painted in the same color as the walls and together with the tall module against the wall, they are the only wall cabinets in this kitchen which makes for a very open and airy look in this L-shaped layout. The kitchen island with a waterfall countertop also provides lots of storage space, so rather than going for wall cabinets, an open shelving solution was picked out to display just a few items.

The black tones in the open shelving and in the pendant lighting above the kitchen island provide a lovely contrast to this otherwise warm look and a series of functional spots have been added on the ceiling to light the other side of the kitchen.

A living kitchen with a built-in TV cabinet

The decor of the living and dining room has been kept quite modest, with the black accents of the kitchen coming back in the dining chairs as well. The wall by the sofa has been turned into a TV wall with a custom-built cabinet for storage that has been painted in the same color as the wall for a tone-on-tone effect.

A minimal bedroom with dark grey elements

The bedroom is a lighter shade of warm grey on the walls, which has also been used on the built-in wardrobe for a subtle and elegant look. While the base palette of the bedroom is quite light, contrast is added by the dark grey bedding on the bed and the beautiful floor vases by the window.

via Innerstadtspecialisten

This beautiful yet simple apartment in Sweden has the most delicate warm grey paint color on the walls in the living room and a cool pale blue paint color in the fresh bedroom. The apartment itself is quite simple and modest, yet I find the subtle decor minimal yet striking.

Warm grey walls and lots of textures in the living room

The living room of the apartment has been painted in a warm grey (try out a swatch of Farrow & Ball Pavillion Grey* if you are looking for something similar) and the warm undertones of the paint are brought out by the combination of warm beiges, off-whites, and browns in the accessories and soft furnishings.

The light linen sofa (It’s the Ikea Soderhamn model with a Bemz custom cover*) is decorated with a beautiful mixture of throw pillows in warm colors and above the sofa, you can find an arrangement of art prints in the same tints for a cohesive look.

Opposed to the sofa a vintage sideboard adds even more warmth to the space which has been decorated with tints of brown and beige as well for a lovely warm look.

Pale blue walls in the bedroom

While the walls of the living room provide the space with warm undertones, the bedroom has been painted in pale blue wall color (try a swatch of Farrow & Ball Oval room blue* if you are looking for something similar) which adds a cool atmosphere to the space.

The pale blue wall color is paired up with crisp white linen bedding* and beige linen throw pillows* and together with the art print on the wall these really add a lovely warmth to the setting. I love the play between the warm and cool tints in the space and the linen bed skirt* adds a bit of a romantic touch to the room.

via Stadshem

This beautiful turn-of-the-century apartment in Sweden (via Sjöman Frisk) has been fully painted with different shades of dark grey for a moody effect that looks stylish and characterful. The open-plan living kitchen has a slightly lighter shade of dark grey walls, while the bedroom features a deep charcoal grey that is a few shades darker and almost seems black from some angles.

The bedroom and living room are adjacent to each other, which means you can see the gray paint colors throughout the space nicely complementing each other.

Rather than going for a feature wall, the owners of this apartment didn’t hold back and painted every single wall in dark grey, including the window and door frames for an impressive effect. Imagine this apartment with white walls and it would have a lot less depth wouldn’t it?

A living kitchen with dark gray walls

A living room area with grey walls and green accents

The asymmetric shape of the dark grey living room includes a sofa and a dining area, which all evolve around a dark grey color palette that is warmed up by the wood tones that add some warm undertones to the palette.

The living room works well in such a dark color scheme because of the abundance of natural light coming through those tall windows. Note that the wall space above the windows has been kept in the same color as the white ceiling, to make the space appear bigger.

The soft grey sofa is combined with a light grey area rug and green tints in both the throw pillows and the plants and the round mirror on the wall reflects the dining space from the living room area, which is such a nice touch.

A dining area with a mixture of dark grey, black, and oak wood

The large black dining table adds more depth to the dark grey walls, while the dining chairs soften out this palette. The large artwork on the wall is a great focal point in the living room altogether and lightens up the dark grey walls in the space. Rather than going for a gallery wall, you can select a big piece like this one to really break up dark gray walls, and you don’t have to hang all the individual picture frames in the right spot, which is a big plus.

The Flos AIM modular pendant lamp* above the table adds a little something special and ties the living room design together in such a nice way. This lamp works so nicely here because of the high ceilings and fits the color palette perfectly.

A white kitchen with a black countertop to accentuate the dark gray walls

While the lighter area rug and the white armchair in the living room brighten up the color palette slightly already, the white kitchen with black countertops really adds some contrast to the interior design of the living room.

The black laminate countertop and the black open shelving match nicely with the dark grey walls and the white subway tile backsplash and mimic the contrasting palette of the dining area. When you combine grey walls with black accents, it brings out the dramatic touch mid-grey or dark grey walls can add to a room, while if you combine it with tints of dark blue, it will have the same effect yet in a much cooler fashion.

A bedroom with charcoal gray walls and dark curtains

The dark gray walls in the bedroom are a few tints darker than in the living room, which makes this space even more dramatic. Since there is only one window in this narrow space bedroom, the daylight that comes in is far reduced, making gray walls a great choice to enhance the small-space look.

While the dark gray walls and the dark curtains add a lot of depth to the space, the single print above the bed, the light and white bedding, and the lighter gray paint color on the built-in wardrobe brighten up the wall color a bit which adds a lot of interest to the interior design.

A back bedroom home office space against the dark gray walls

A modular String shelf* in black has been added to the gray walls opposite of the bed to add a small spot to work from the bedroom. The deep color palette of the black shelving and the gray walls have been warmed up by the reds in the accessories and the art print on the wall.

How to achieve dark grey walls in your own interior design

Will dark grey walls work in my space?

While a dark shade of gray walls can look very impressive in a room of any size, this wall color tends to work better for more spacious, well-lit spaces. If you are working with a darker, smaller room, I would go for gray walls that are a few shades lighter to open up the space more.

Are gray walls difficult to style and decorate?

Gray, in all shades, is a neutral color, and even though you can vary on the warm or cool undertones, giving your walls a gray coat of paint will result in neutral walls, which can serve as a perfect backdrop for a wide range of colors and materials in your decor.

How do I select the right paint for my grey walls?

Selecting gray paint for your walls is not that tricky, yet you do have to try out samples first as the natural light and the materials in a room can highly influence the cool or warm undertones that are brought out.

A few paints swatches you can try out for your grey walls

If you want to achieve mid to dark-gray walls like in the living room of this apartment, try out Farrow & Ball Plummett*, which intensifies in smaller spaces and has a modern look and feel perfect for minimal living spaces.

If you want to go for really dark gray walls like in the bedroom of this apartment, go for Farrow & Ball Off-black* and add a dramatic touch to your space.

But as I always recommend to my interior design clients as well, always buy a tester of the paint and take a look at how the paint reacts to the space.

via Sjöman Frisk

This small attic apartment decorated with blue elements throughout is full of both vintage and modern treasures that go so nicely with the exposed brick wall that adds character to the space. What speaks to me the most however in this space is the kitchen.

The custom-built kitchen is spread out from the main living area into the hallway, providing storage space in each section. If you would like to see more space-saving solutions for small homes, I recommend checking out my post about small studio apartments.

A grey and oak kitchen with extra storage space in the hallway

The section of the kitchen that holds the main functionality has been constructed out of oak wood cabinet fronts combined with a dark marble countertop. The upper cabinets are made out of a grey laminate and match the tall cupboards that continue towards the hallway. I think this is such an elegant storage solution that uses different materials in different sections.

The rest of the space includes a small dining area with a beautiful blue pendant light that contrasts so nicely against the exposed brick wall and I love the way the blue comes back in the stool with the lemon tree as well.

A bedroom in a similar color palette

The bedroom has the same combination of warm tints with elements of blue that can be found in the living room, which ties together both rooms in a nice way.

The subtle warm grey color on the wall (Farrow & Balls’ Old white* might give you a similar look) warms up the black accent pieces and spreads a soft light throughout the space.

via Nya kvadrat