20 Scandi kitchen design ideas we wish we'd thought of
We see so many wonderful Scandi-style ideas, but it’s the kitchen that always catches our eye when looking through potential homes to feature in Simply Scandi. Here are a few of our favourite kitchen ideas we wish we’d thought of (and if you love these… wait until you see the rest of the interior!).
1 The cutest magnetic wallpaper noticeboard
White kitchens always look Scandi-cool, especially this layout from our Vol 4 Winter issue, with its deep pan drawers and colourwashed walls. But look closer and you’ll spot a rabbit… not just any rabbit, a magnetic wallpaper panel one that’s almost too cute to cover up with family memos and party invites. We just love the way it pops up from behind the worktop.
This kitchen is from Marte Kihl’s Norwegian home, which features in our Vol 4 Winter Simply Scandi. Marte loves to add a surprise element to each room – here it’s the rabbit magnetic wallaper by Sister’s Guild, available at notonthehighstreet.com
Photography: Filippa Tredal/House of Pictures.
2 The dark-on-dark combo
Ikea units have been updated with gold metal handles from Stockholm’s Rum21 in this Scandi-chic kitchen. We love how a matt black worktop and gold-effect tap complete the look. But the cleverness doesn’t stop with this dark-on-dark design; the narrow ledge shelf runs around the kitchen, providing space for an evolving display of artwork and ornaments.Photography: Anne-Line Bakken/House of Pictures.
3 The reclaimed tiled floor
Perhaps one for the most determined among us? This reclaimed brick floor, which runs through the kitchen-dining room of Susan Morgensen’s home, was sourced from all over Denmark, taking almost two months to clean, cut and lay the bricks.
See more of Susan’s rustic Danish home, which she shares with her husband and two young daughters in our Vol 5 Simply Scandi. We loved this shot that we used it on our cover – and it remains one of our biggest-selling issues!
Photography: Stine Christiansen/House of Pictures.
4 The letterbox window
This long, narrow window, running above the units of Pernille Berg’s Norwegian home, gives a lovely fresh outlook, echoing the light, bright space she’s created inside. The paint colours Pernille’s used throughout, all have one thing in common – the need to make her happy. She’s teamed this lovely soft green with a delicate pink and soft blue, providing a bright yet cosy backdrop to her kitchen.
It’s easy to see why Pernille’s home was our very first cover home - Vol 1 Simply Scandi.
Photography: Filippa Tredal/House of Pictures.
5 The seasonal shelfie
After a reconfiguring the interior of the Norwegian coastal home Linda Olsrud Tallerrud shares with her husband Dag, they were left with a long, narrow kitchen. Today, an island runs its length, with the food prep area at one end, and a socialable space at the other. The back wall is home to floating oak shelves, which Linda likes to style to suit the season, adding texture and fresh delicate foliage.
See more of Linda’s home in our Vol 5 Simply Scandi.
Photography: Filippa Tredal/House of Pictures.
6 The alternative island
Relocated from the basement to the ground floor, the new kitchen is the real heart of Pernille’s Danish villa. The units are from IKEA, topped with marble. Pernille would have carried this marble up as a splashback, but it was too costly. Instead, she’s painted the walls and shelving a dark ochre shade (S 3560-Y20R from NCS). We love the old wooden table provides a visual centrepiece that’s used for baking – mixing old and new effortlessly.
Pernille's kitchen made our cover of Vol 13 Simply Scandi. See more of her beautiful Scandi home here.
Photography: Christina Kayser O/Living Inside.
7 The island dining table
We love how Ida's extended her kitchen island to make an elevated seating area with classic Tolix bar stools. Ida's home, a terraced house in Sweden dating back to the 1800s, has been lovingly restored, with a calming palette of soft cream, sage and honeyed brown. It featured in our Vol 13 Simply Scandi. In the kitchen, natural shades and rich wood combine, with a deeper-than-average upstand of the same stone as the worktop adding texture.
See more in Vol 13 Simply Scandi.
Photography: Lina Östling/ House of Pictures.
8 The family hub noticeboard
When Sussi and Lars bought a former doctor's home and clinic (built in 1895) in a small town in west Zealand, there was plenty to do. "Decades of little maintenance had left its mark though," Sussi explains, "but its soul was still there." The couple have a long list of jobs – there's 14 rooms in the villa – but luckily the kitchen is complete. They revamped and even repositioned the units, before painting in LADY in St Paul's Blue by Jotun. The vintage chalkboard was picked up in Sweden and helps keep track of family life, with four children between the couple.
See more of this special home in our Vol 10 Simply Scandi, including the dining room, which we chose for our cover.
Photography: Anitta Behrendt/Living Inside.
9 The beautiful grain
From the island of Louise and Johannes' kitchen in their Zealand cottage, you can see over the whole living area, as well as the view to the sea, which was a non-negoitable for the couple, who designed the cottage themselves. Johannes made the kitchen from Douglas planks with continuous grain, treated with oil to give a deep glow and a resistant surface.
See how the kitchen is at the heart of this home in our Vol 19 Simply Scandi.
Photography: Christina Kayser O/Living Inside.
10 The divider island
The island unit in Kristina and Thomas' Vesterbro apartment separates the dining space from the prep space perfectly. The base units were already in place when the couple bought their home, which dates back to 1899, but they added wall units for extra storage. The black wall lamps are from Ellos, while the pendant was a flea-market find by Thomas' mother.
We love the sense of light throughout the apartment, which has been painted white throughout. See more in Vol 9 Simply Scandi.
Photography: Christina Kayser O/Living Inside.
11 The opened-up space
With the removal of a wall between the former kitchen and dining room of Siri and Marius' Norwegian villa, which gave a new ceiling height of three metres, the new space was certain to be special (as seen in Vol 13 Simply Scandi). Beautiful soft taupe finish cabinetry and white marble worktops makes the large island unit the heart of the space.
Photography: Filippa Tredal/House of Pictures.
12 The built-in appliance wall
When Stine and Andreas bought their summer cottage in Odsherred, Denmark, the previous owner wanted the new buyer to preserve it and give it life, rather than tear it down. And we love what the couple have done, esepcially in the kitchen, where appliances have been recessed into a wall of panelling, echoed on the island unit.
We love how Stine and Andreas tried to reuse as much as they could. Sadly, the kitchen couldn’t be salvaged. Instead, they used it as inspiration for a new design, using IKEA units with doors from Superfront. The handles came from a local upcycling centre.
See more of this tranquil Scandi retreat in our Vol 7 Simply Scandi.
Photography: Christina Kayser O/Living Inside.
13 The natural way to use wood
The kitchen in architect Casper and interior designer Lexie's Norwegian ski cabin was custom-built out of solid pine by Strønes Snekkerverksted, with a central island to match. With such a great view, we think it's definetly a case of less is more. Their cabin is an unusual mix of wood and glass, of Norwegian traditions, 1950s California and Italian influences. “We just love the place, we’d be here all the time if we could,” says Lexie.
Discover Casper and Lexie's home in Vol 12 Simply Scandi.
Photography: Anne Bråtveit/House of Pictures.
14 The sociable space
When planning their new kitchen for their renovated Danish summerhouse, Jette and Rasmus prioritised worktop space, so several people could cook together. The kitchen units are from Reform, with black Arigato by Grupa pendants.
We loved Jette's neutral summerhouse style, which has pops of her personality throughout, like her basket collection. “As the house came unfurnished, we wanted to fill it with items that had character or history, in keeping with its age. Nearly all the tableware is either inherited or thrifted from dba.dk, Instagram, flea markets or second-hand shops,” says Jette. “This gave the house a sense of timelessness – exactly what I wanted to create.”
Go BTS of Jette's home – her dining space made our cover home for our Vol 17 Simply Scandi.
Photography: Christina Kayser O/Living Inside.
15 The get-more-storage layout
Many Scandi kitchen swaps wall-hung units for base ones, but if your kitchen is on the small side, one way to still max out its storage potential is to add a peninsular, like Tina has in her semi-detached house on the Danish island of Amager in the Øresund. Tina chose a dark brown vinyl finish for her kitchen from Køkkenhavn, teamed with a concrete floor. The shelf was made by her neighbour, a carpenter, and is perfect for displaying ceramics made by her daughter.
See more of Tina's home in our Vol 5 Autumn Simply Scandi.
Photography: Anitta Behrendt/Living Inside.
16 The hi-shine kitchen
This sleek-yet-Scandi kitchen is in Louise's Danish home. Louise fell for a stainless-steel kitchen after seeing one on Instagram. She copied the look with unit fronts from IKEA – luckily, husband Jesper is a carpenter. "I had fallen in love with the idea of an industrial-inspired steel kitchen. When I heard that IKEA had steel fronts for its kitchens, I knew I could create the look for very little money. I took Jesper by the hand and three days later, our steel-look kitchen was ready," she says.
Find out how Louise has expertly woven contemporary elements throughout her three-bedroom home in Vol 17 Simply Scandi.
Photography: Anitta Behrendt/Living Inside.
17 The cottage vibe
Emily's kitchen had a gentle makeover, with new unit fronts, painted floorboards and Calacatta Oro marble worktops from MarmoMarmo, in keeping with her cottage look, which she's introduced throughout her villa in the Danish seaside town of Hornbæk. Emily looked for a long time for a vintage table to act as an island, finally finding one at Gamle Ting Græsted.
The summery living room of Emily's home made our cover of Vol 18 Simply Scandi – see more here.
Photography: Anitta Behrendt/Living Inside.
18 The light-meets-dark look
The Finnish retreat of Lotta was a great family project, with her sister and parents as neighbours. In the kitchen, Lotta designed the units, choosing plywood fronts for IKEA carcasses. The wood-clad wall was stained black, allowing the natural grain to stand out. We love the slither of outside, visible through the letterbox-style window – what a great splashback.
See more of Lotta's home in Vol 10 Simply Scandi.
Photography: Krista Keltanen/Living Inside.
19 The monochrome mix
In Annika's kitchen of her Swedish villa, she wanted to create a strong contrast between the dark cabinetry and white floors. “We painted the walls and ceiling in the same deep grey shade and did away with skirting boards and mouldings altogether. I wanted a clean, cohesive look without interruptions. It’s probably the room we are most proud of; it turned out exactly as we’d imagined,” says Annika.
You can see more of Annika's home here, including a BTS home tour. Her cosy living room made our cover for Vol 19 Simply Scandi.
Photography: Rebecca Martyn.
20 The cosy hub
Ina’s cabin in Bjørgan, Norway is different to its neighbours, which crawl up the mountainside behind the ski slopes. It’s sharp, it’s angular and it’s modern, with large glass sections that bring the outside in, providing colour, light and atmosphere. The kitchen is from HTH and spreads across the double-height wall behind the dining space, mixing painted finishes with natural pine and pale oak flooring. We think it's just the place to chill after a day on the slopes.
You can see more of Ina's family skiing cabin in Vol 16 Winter.
Photography: Ina Skjefte/Living Inside.
