Who hasn’t heard in recent years about the notion of “hygge”, widely used and loved by the Nordic people? Very similar to the term “coziness”, but it goes beyond our usual perception of comfort and reaches into areas such as clothing or home furnishings. To dispel the confusion between minimalist and Scandinavian interior, we decided to clarify some differences from the start.
The minimalist interior is defined as one of the airiest design styles, because it’s based on the idea of “less is more”, without extravagant elements that would load the space and with a temperate play of colours and textures, so that the feeling of balance, the structure would persist.
The Scandinavian interior is, as defined by specialists, minimalism with something extra. Appeared around 1950, along with the modernist movements in America and Europe, it represents a return to the origins with the use of natural materials (wood, stone) and open spaces as if taken from natural landscapes. In some stages, fibreglass or plastic was added to these basic elements, highlighting the need for innovation in the active technological era.
However, what is the considerable differences between these 2 similar styles?
The first and most consistent difference is the presence of a certain “lagom”, a kind of complement to the concept of “hygge”, which assumes that the minimalist style in interior design reconciles perfectly with certain elements that would seem somewhat extravagant. In this case, we can refer to the curtains in bright colours or to some interior decorations that contrast organically with the rest of the design.
The tech-free trend is still specific to Scandinavian-type interior spaces, which involve a return to the origins, the feeling of peace, of being at home. Therefore, designers free certain areas of the excess of technology and recreate the feeling of nature.
Colour accents – in the case of minimalism, we usually refer to a calm chromatic, in shades either warm or cold, but deeply contrasting, while in the Scandinavian style we see a recreation of the colours of nature. For example, in recent years it has come bundled with the shade of “blue” or noble blue, like the northern fjords.
A different approach is the reinterpretation of storage spaces, which, in the case of the Scandinavian style, are revealed and left at hand, to complete the feeling of ventilation of the entire space.
Broadly speaking, reiterating the above, we can start from the premise that minimalist and Scandinavian interior design are related to the idea of freeing up space, efficient zoning, and use of functional potential. There are, however, different philosophical accents, which in the case of minimalist style in interior design are much more technological, while the Scandinavian style is more about natural sensations, with origins long forgotten and the comfort of nature, wanted by those who are tired of urban noise.
Certainly, both styles are aimed at the daily pleasure of the residents, and the choice between a Scandinavian and a minimalist interior design depends more on the perception and the needs of each subject. Relevant, in this sense, is to use the interior design services in Chisinau, provided by experts with the right qualifications. We, the POLYART DESIGN team, are ready to fulfil your wishes and turn your home or office into an oasis of peace and pleasure.
