Decorating & Design
Get Inspired By These Scandi-Style Holiday Decorating Ideas
Published on November 8, 2021
When it comes to winter holidays, it’s hard to top the pristine, snowy perfection of Scandinavian celebrations. They not only manage to exemplify the cosy Danish concept of hygge (think plenty of candlelight, natural embellishments and piles of wool throws) but they embrace a low-key, low-stress approach in a busy time.
In The Christmas Season Created by Scandinavian Artists (ACC Art Books, 2021), author Katrine Martensen-Larsen compiles a combination of stunning Nordic interiors by creatives which includes Scandinavian Christmas traditions, tablescapes and DIYs in her second book. If you’re a Christmas decorating diehard, this book will jumpstart and inspire your decorating.
“Christmas decorations don’t have to cost a fortune,” says stylist and designer Katrine Martensen-Larsen. In her own home in Frederiksberg, her family dances around the Nordmann spruce Christmas eve, which is simply decorated with baubles, birds, stars, paper ornaments and candles.
Flower artist and stylist Leif Sigersen brings his work home with him when it comes to decorating his own home. In a corner of his Copenhagen living room stands a majestic swan. To add that theatrical Christmas touch, it’s adorned with a gigantic pine cone and a sparkling star ornament collar, while boughs stand in for a tree. “Christmas is an all year-round affair for me,” notes Leif.
Silk cones, or kræmmerhuse, are typically made from paper or fabric, and are filled with goodies and hung from trees. Helene Blanche Martensen-Larsen used pieces of left silk wallpaper. “I painted them with ink that I love to work with because of the very intense color.”
In this seaside home, a former summer cottage, the porch is simply decorated with an unadorned, natural tree. “It’s important to enjoy a quiet moment of contemplation for myself on the porch, cup of tea in hand, to soak up the meditative and wonderful view of the Sound,” says the owner, goldsmith Charlotte Lynggaard. “It’s good for the soul.”
Charlotte sets her dining table set with delicate floral designs, porcelain, crystal glasses, colored tumblers, and cutlery with bamboo handles matching perfectly with the pale Wishbone style chairs. “The place settings are family pieces, adding authenticity and tradition,” she explains. White angels and paper cones are suspended from invisible threads over the table for a magical, floating effect.
Charlotte’s large dining table is draped with a humble vintage coral cloth, topped by elves, apples, tureens, jugs and pine cones set amongst strands of ivy that wind around tealights in colored glass holders. Each place has a pale coral napkin, tied together with homemade ribbons, and decorated with individually cut figures. “My napkin rings are cut by hand. You can sketch leaves, flowers, or spirals then make a small slot to hold the ring in place around the napkin.”
The whitewashed barn where stylist, product designer and boutique owner Mette Beck Adsbøl lives with her family is tailor made for Christmas. Mette mixes Moroccan finds with Nordic interior style and has developed her own line of Berber rugs, ceramics and a rustic collection of Christmas decorations. “I always choose lasting and quality materials — preferably handcrafted — becoming more beautiful over time. And I appreciate that sometimes it is worth spending a little more on a skilled carpenter or blacksmith to carry out unique work.”
When her family decorates for Christmas, they bring out old ornaments from Mette’s grandparents. The brass and walnut stars are made in collaboration with a carpenter and a blacksmith from a small town outside Marrakech. Each one is sanded or beaten into shape and will undoubtedly be passed down from generation to generation.
Mette aims to relay hygge and warmth when she wraps gifts. “I generally decorate with a twig, a fresh or dried flower or perhaps a bauble, pretty ribbon, and to top it off I add one of my handmade brass stars. Should I have some pretty fabric remnants, I like to use some of it as a ribbon or extra decoration.”
“Our tree is allowed to come indoors early in December, because I love to see it stand and sparkle in the living room. We still decorate it together, using traditions passed down from my family,” says designer and entrepreneur Nadia Lassen. “Each year we make new ornaments, writing our name and the year, and save them year after year. My oldest daughter loves to see the decorations she made when she was very little. I relish in the fact that nothing is perfect, and that the Christmas tree reflects a celebration of family and hearts.”
One of Nadia’s favorite traditions is hanging stockings that get filled with a small gift each December morning in her cranberry kitchen for her four girls.
Designer and paper artist Violise Lunn has lived in her small Copenhagen apartment close to the lake for years, and there really isn’t space for a standard Christmas tree. Instead she hangs cones with fresh flowers to dress up this dining spot in the kitchen.
Paper ornaments are a natural fit in the compact Copenhagen apartment of Amanda Betz, an architect, designer and paper artist. “Paper is a natural material like wood and glass. It comes from pulp and you can do anything with it. It’s both fragile and strong.”
Delicate paper embellishments hang from a chandelier with dramatically long tapers to mimic snowflakes. Paper montages, lamps with folded paper shades, and baskets of paper are found throughout Amanda’s apartment.