English elegance meets Scandinavian minimalism | Laura Porter's interior design tips

Interior designer Laura Porter shares tips on achieving the Scandi-gance look in your home.

The founder of Laura Porter Interior Design studio developed this term during the renovation of her own home. “It sounds rather indulgent to give your style its own name, but people often question me on what my influences and style are, so I felt the need to define it!” she explains.

Scandi-gance is a fusion of the beautiful Scandinavian style, which employs interiors full of soft hues, natural materials and sleek, simple forms but marries these with the elegance of Old English interiors, using rich, bold colour, elegant crisp detailing and reflective materials.

“Flooring is the first material I am considering in the design of any space. This is the only part of a room that everyone will always come into contact with. As part of our fusion scandi-english elegance space, I knew I wanted something very light and clean. I opted for Ecohardwood Ivory engineered oak flooring to remove the frequency of knots in the wood as I didn’t want too many interruptions to the linearity of the interior”, says Laura Porter.

“I picked Ivory wood flooring because it has a real warmth and is still very light but without looking cold or grey. You want to avoid anything that looks too white washed or rustic as this removes the ‘elegance’ from the overall finish, and the space may start to take on a more cottage or beach hut vibe”.

According to Laura Porter Interior Design, white oak flooring in Nordic White and Extra White colours is also a good choice.

 “I think less knotting is also important as you want a fairly clean look, but a brushed finish keeps the product feeling great underfoot!  You really want to feel the grain of the wood flooring when you walk on it.  A wide plank also helps keep a feeling of simplicity which I think is key to the Scandigance look”.

Here are five Laura Porter's Interior Design tips on achieving Scandigance in your home.

1. Use a strong light and dark approach, contrasting warm off whites and stone hues with deep charcoals and rich blacks. Black with a hint of another colour work beautifully. Perhaps Farrow and Ball’s ‘Railings’ a dark blue liquorice colour, or perhaps Little Greene’s ‘Obsidian Green’ with hints of forest green.
    
2. Use a large volume of light natural timber in the scheme, either wood flooring, wood cladding, surface worktops, furniture etc. The more tactile, the better, and keep it quite linear.

3. Use elegant, crisp detailing in your ironmongery, such as handles, light fittings, polished chrome, and matt black should be your metalware of choice!

4. The craftsmanship of textures should be included, maybe in the form of crafted panelling, tongue and groove or shiplap cladding details or ribbed glass, woven cane, and rattan. Even the inclusion of decorative mouldings or elaborate picture frames - all these speak of the craftsperson who helped to create them.

5. Pops of bold colours that compliment your more neutral room ‘envelope’ are a must. Colour can be used in quite sculptural ways in the form of feature lighting, large prints or in a statement piece of furniture.  Avoid the idea of a feature wall in colour. Instead, splash colour evenly through the room so that the eye is drawn all the way around, perhaps from a beautiful table lamp base across the room to a gorgeous woven cushion.

6. Looking for the premium wood flooring in London and the UK? Contact us today: info@ecohardwood.co.uk.