Level up your Nordic-style decor with minimalist designer furniture

Stepping into a new year often invokes a feeling of renewal. This usually inspires many to embark on a home refresh, taking the saying "New year, new you" and extending it to the spaces you live in.

As you go about updating your sanctuary, also keep organisation top of mind. Afterall, coming home to a clean, orderly and clutter-free home is one of life's ultimate pleasures. Need some inspiration? Lean on the less-is-more Scandinavian design ethos.

Epitomising form and function, Scandi-style furniture places emphasis on simplistic shapes, clean lines and designs that work as well as they look. This trend remains popular because it caters to our desire to live in a tidy environment which is also inviting and comfortable.

Colours are kept neutral and muted - often in shades of grey, white, oat or other match-all hues - and designs prioritise saving space to avoid visual and physical clutter.

While there are nuances of minimalism set into the trend, what really defines the Scandinavian look is how it captures that feeling of hygge - a Danish word which describes comfort, cosiness, and well-being.

This is what Fritz Hansen aims to deliver with all of its products. Available at W.Atelier, a purveyor of fine designer furniture, the Danish furniture brand, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, collaborates with designers who have a passion for creating beautiful furniture pieces that serve a purpose.

A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU

Tuesday, 12 pm

Property Insights

Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond.

Sign Up

Thanks to its rich heritage, with Fritz Hansen, you will not only bring home a piece of well-made Nordic-inspired furniture, but also one that has meaning and legacy.

If you are looking to design your own hygge home, here are some decluttering best practices to know, plus the Fritz Hansen pieces that will instantly elevate your space.

Make your dining room warm and welcoming

Whether it's for a celebration or a meal for a quick catch-up, the dining room will play a starring role in all your at-home gatherings.

An easy way to keep this room clutter-free is to store seldom-used items such as holiday decor or fancy china in the top most shelves or hidden storage units. This frees up space on your table, kitchen counter and shelves that you access frequently for things that you require on a daily basis.

The type of furniture will also play a key part in opening up this space. If the traditional rectangular or round table is making your room appear more congested and smaller, think outside the box with an oval-shaped one such as the Egg table (pictured above).

Created in 1952 by designer and architect Mr Arne Jacobsen, the Egg table was made for modern hosts living in tighter spaces. Crafted from FSC-certified walnut veneer, which supports responsible forestry, and sitting on sleek chrome legs, the Egg table's oval-shaped design encourages a relaxed, familial setting amongst diners. Mr Jacobsen purposefully chose three instead of four legs for the Egg table for visual lightness and simplicity. Complimenting this is the Ant chair, also designed by Mr Jacobsen in 1952 for the canteen at Novo Nordisk, an international Danish healthcare company. Made from nine layers of pressure moulded veneer, the chair's silhouette resembles an ant with its head raised and it was created to be light, stable and stackable.

Also available in a four-leg version and an array of colours, including walnut, cherry, oak and pale yellow, the chair's purposeful design prioritises back support, ensuring anyone who sits on it feels comfortable for long periods of time.

Turn your bedroom into a stress-free oasis

A neat bedroom is one that is primed for better sleep.

To keep it tidy, look for space-sorting trays, bowls or baskets that can store all the knick knacks that find their way into your bedroom in a visually pleasing manner, making it easy for you to access them.

Whether your wardrobe is open-plan or has doors, it's always a good idea to do a regular spring clean and weed out clothing that you no longer wear. Organise the ones you're keeping by colour, so you can easily locate everything in one glance, especially on busy mornings.

Lastly, invest in furniture that go beyond the decorative and contribute in function. This may mean a bedframe with built-in storage, or a timeless table and chair in your reading nook, which also gives you added space to store things.

One such star is the PK60 coffee table (pictured above), a mid-century modern piece designed by visionary designer Mr Poul Kjærholmthat in 1952. It applies the trendy Japandi (Japanese Scandi) decor into your home, taking its design cues from modern art, notably the works from Japanese sculptor Isamu Noguchi.

The sturdy clear glass top reveals the sculptural shape of the base, which is shaped from three interlocking pieces of black stained ash or Oregon pine wood. It is spacious enough to hold your favourite book and other essentials. Accompanying the table is the PK0 A chair which achieves its minimalist ribbon-like form through an innovative wood-bending technology which is usually used to make furniture ergonomic and comfortable.

Making your work space work for you

It took a pandemic to make us realise the importance of a home office space that isn't just functional, but also beautifully designed and kept neat for conduciveness.

Here's a tip that will tidy up your workstation in an instant: Get all your stray wire cables under control by labelling, organising and keeping them neatly coiled in cable boxes.

Buried under paperwork? Digitise them so you can free up shelf space for other need-to-have documents or to display your collection of curated home decor objects. And when it comes to picking out furniture, look for pieces that offer storage space.

Fritz Hansen's FH3605 office desk (pictured above) comes in a sleek, simplified, open silhouette that can be placed in any room or in an open study setting. The table top is made in either lacquered walnut or black coloured ash, and the legs come in chromed steel or black powder coated steel.

Paired with the Oxford chair - originally designed for professors at St Catherine's College in Oxford, Britain- they create an elegant, functional working space.

The FH3605 office desk comes with an optional document drawer that is cleverly hidden under the top surface and the Oxford chair is designed to prioritise lumbar support and promote a more natural sitting posture. If you opt for armrests, they can be configured to neatly tuck under the table top for a cleaner finish.

Fritz Hansen furniture comes with a five-year warranty on standard product defects, and an extended warranty of up to 20 years on selected products. Fritz Hansen's full range of products are available at W.Atelier, at 201 Henderson Road, #01-01/#03-01, or https://www.watelier.com/brand/fritz-hansen.