My Nordic family and dining room makeover

It’s been just over five years since we moved into our house, and during this time we’ve been through a lot.

From puppies, babies and freelancing, as well as growing a passion for design and interiors, it’s all made a huge impact on how we live in, and what we’re looking for from our home.

So, in time for festive family gatherings we wanted to give the largest and hardest working part of our house, the open-plan living room and dining room, the Nordic makeover it deserved.

Our style and inspirations

We spend an unbelievable amount of time living in this space, and with all the best will in the world, its meant to be lived in. Yes, we want it to look great, to really reflect our sense of style and inspirations, but it has to be super adaptable and practical for everyday life too.

Whether on trend or not right now, I simply love grey, so added a pop of soft muted colour to the main wall. I’ve already used the same tone in our bedrooms and home office this year and it has such a soothing feel to it, plus it’s the perfect neutral backdrop for all the things we’ve collected on our Nordic adventures.

There is also an awful lot of hard lines in these rooms, with original parquet flooring, square bay windows and picture rails so I was keen to add more organic shapes as well as a mixture of softer textures.

Two significant purchases

Thankfully when it came to furniture we had invested wisely after our wedding. This included a mid-century style sofa, Eames DSW Side Chairs as well as, my absolute favourite piece, the RAR Rocking Chair.

This also meant we could now dedicate our current budget on two significant purchases, a new dining table and some much-needed storage.

Both original pieces were from IKEA and had certainly seen better days. I extensively researched our dining options before making the conscious decision to swap to a round table. You can read about my search in this post.

Thanks to the amazingly helpful staff at the Hay store in Bath I finally settled on the Copenhague Deux 220 Table in a matt lacquered oak. I am totally in love with it already, it’s extremely tactile, the detailing is exquisite and with a stone-grey laminate top its ideal for sticky little fingers.

Speaking of which, as the Mum of an overactive toddler, I’ve learnt during these past three years that they have a lot of stuff.

Being able to do a quick tidy up at the end of a day and not having to look at toys in the evening is good for my minimalistic soul. So, with its classic design and practical beauty we opted straight away for a String Shelving System.

For the time being at least we now have more storage than we actually need. Each shelf creates a picture perfect frame for books, ceramics and collectables. The cupboards are ideal for storing vinyl, the drawers for toys; and we can finally incorporate the TV without it dominating the room.

Light and lighting

As I mentioned in my recent interview with Utility I’ve been reading a lot about how light and lighting is used within Scandinavian homes.

From dramatic hanging pendants and interesting floor lamps, table lamps for warm, ambient shadows through to practical reading lights, each are strategically placed to add instant hygge.

Getting this right was essential especially in these dark winter months. Across the two rooms I’ve teamed Ypperlig reading lamps by Hay for IKEA with the classic Norm 69 Pendant and Stage Floor Lamp from Normann Copenhagen as well as a Menu Carrie Lamp.

Cosy and inviting

Once these key pieces were all in place I could finally make these rooms feel cosy and inviting with the finishing touches.

To compliment the colour scheme, I added hints of blue with the ceramics and glassware I’ve collected over the years from Royal Copenhagen, Kahler and Iittalia. We also already had such a lot of books, artwork and photographs plus a growing houseplant collection to incorporate.

I did however invest in a gorgeous round mirror from House Doctor as well as new cushions from Ferm Living and Hay, all of which complemented my Sara blanket from Lapuan Kankurit perfectly.

Our hygge headquarters

I’d like to think that this space is not just somewhere to showcase some of our favourite things. It is somewhere we can spend quality time together, whatever the mood or time of day it is a place of comfort, our hygge headquarters.

All photography by Nicola Capper.

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