Top products from r/ScandinavianInterior

I notice a lot of American homes have super bright lights. Especially recessed downlights in the ceiling that point downwards and generate harsh, unnatural shadows. (Very unphotogenic!) In my rented apartment, I have the awful fixtures turned off and only use my own lights.

A core tenet of light design is "light where you need it". Put the light source where it needs to be, not just for its own sake. Desks should have task lamps. Dining tables should have pendants. Living room nooks should have a floor lamp. And so on. Avoid ceiling lamps unless you know exactly what you're doing. Avoid wall sconces, though if you have a hallway or something, they can work really well, in which case you should pick either ones that have a shade like this, or are opalized like so.

You're right about indirect light. If you have directional lighting (like a floor lamp), make sure it's pointed at the wall or down and away. Some favourite floor lamps include Grasshopper by Greta Grossman for Gubi and Fog & Mørup's Studio by Jo Hammerborg for Fog & Mørup. These have fairly deep shades, too, so you're less likely to see the bulb even when it's at an angle. Spotlights should always point at the wall or ceiling.

Pendants with shades should be positioned above tables in such a manner that you're not exposed to the bright light of the bulb. Otherwise, get lamps that are diffused somehow -- such as with fabric shades or opalized glass. A cheap example is IKEA's FADO lamp, which looks a lot more stylish than it should for that price. Another, less cheap example is George Nelson's Ball Bubble.

We Scandinavians also love what we affectionally call "living" lights -- that is, candles. Tea lights are very atmospheric, too. Note that ordinary candles product quite a lot soot (they will coat your nice white Scandinavian walls and ceilings). You can get beeswax tea lights and candles that burn cleanly, though they're expensive. You can also get decent battery-powered tea lights that flicker (make sure the battery is replaceable!) that you can insert into your own candle holder.

I like the white frosted tealight holders. I also really like Sagaform's products. These Hollowick ones are also lovely.

We also love fireplaces, for the same reason. These days you can get very good-looking, fairly clean-burning free-standing fireplaces.

TL;DR: In terms of aesthetics I like simple trim, clean lines, and an emphasis on utility and the raw materials that went into building the furniture and home. This generally drops me into MCM and Scandinavian styles for furniture and industrial, exposed, and untreated styles for the bones of the home.

I like my seating to be firmer and simpler than most. This type of seating will keep you cooler in the summer and you can just grab a blanket or sweater in the winter to warm up. My dining/game table seats are ordinary lab stools, the type you can get in bulk for schools and actual labs. They're just grey painted steel and a linoleum seat riveted to the steel. My desk chair is one of those stools with a steel backrest. My two couches are firm IKEA couches (Karlstad and Ypperlig) that don't try to consume you when you sit in them. My girlfriend brought an accent chair from Amazon with her when we moved in together and it's my favorite thing to sit in - firm and supportive.

My three tables are all homemade using the extremely simple method of taking a wood product that wasn't a tabletop (such as a small door or cable spool side) and drilling/screwing hairpin legs into them. The company who makes the hairpin legs do great work and I love that they're based just a few hours from me. I chose to make my own tables because it's the simplest piece of furniture to build and most good looking tables on the market are incredibly overpriced.

for dinnerware, I'd suggest the white correlle plates, bowls, etc. they come in square or round, a good value, go w/ everything, & break resistant.

For the table & chairs, go w/ wood, natural to brown. (a lot of options here depending on budget & preferences) I personally like the looks of the reproduction Eames molded chairs for dining chairs

For cookware: Dansk Kobenstyle is really great looking & can add a pop of color. The enamel can chip though. 3-ply stainless steel pots & pans are great. Tramontina for an affordable option.

It depends on what you consider cheap. Used options for all of these are available at very reasonable prices, though I don't personally think that the new prices are super high, though I do know of the more expensive books you've probably seen like the Wegner book for closer to a hundred.
http://www.amazon.com/Danish-Modern-Andrew-Hollingsworth/dp/1586858114/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450038421&sr=8-1&keywords=danish+modern

http://www.amazon.com/Eames-Gloria-Koenig/dp/3836560216/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1450038421&sr=8-3&keywords=danish+modern

http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Interiors-Furniture-Details/dp/1840914068/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1450038421&sr=8-4&keywords=danish+modern

http://www.amazon.com/Danish-Modern-Beyond-Scandinavian-Heywood-wakefield/dp/0764322168/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1450038421&sr=8-7&keywords=danish+modern

This is the one I would get:

http://www.amazon.com/Scandinavian-Modern-Magnus-England/dp/1849754349/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1450038421&sr=8-5&keywords=danish+modern

Amazon.


$170 for 4 so it's about $42 each chair. They have multiple colors in stock as well. I have one of these they're not bad. Obviously not as good as original eames quality but they'll hold up if don't mistreat them, keep an eye on the bolts and just clean them. I've had mine for a while and I use it everyday as a desk chair.

You can wire a long braided flex onto a ceiling pendant bulb and hang it from a cup hook on the ceiling, with a plug on the end and just plug into the wall. Like thispendant on plug
pendant

My buddy Amazon!

Umbra - $30ish Dollars

This might be out of your price range, but it has a bit more color:https://www.amazon.com/Addison-Banks-Flat-Weave-Pattern-Bermuda/dp/B00LGPLOUI/ref=pd_day0_196_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00LGPLOUI&pd_rd_r=HDHF0SRT311HNFAWYEXQ&pd_rd_w=rBBuH&pd_rd_wg=p03Gn&psc=1&refRID=HDHF0SRT311HNFAWYEXQ

Hygge helper.

https://www.schoolhouseelectric.com/collections/pendant-fixtures/products/cullen-pendant-natural-brass

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L5KWS4A/ref=twister_B01IHZJ6EA?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/Metro-Plug--Textile-Pendant-Holder/dp/B00P9VLFK4/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1474440562&sr=8-6&keywords=brass+light+cord

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019H3VSBA?psc=1

http://www.target.com/p/-/A-15722061

https://www.amazon.com/Hario-Electric-Buono-Kettle-Certification/dp/B003EEAPPY/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1484525095&sr=1-1&keywords=Hario+electric+kettle

Hario is known for their quality in the coffee industry. They manufacture the V60 coffee pourover mechanism and they're Japanese so you can really expect longevity. It's not /the/ most minimalist, but it's electric and it's relatively stylish.

Look at Alessi/Michael Graves

here