Nordic furniture is exhibited and sold here
Ikea he knew how to sneak into a country where the decoration of houses, restaurants and hotels was never a priority and where the weather pushes the streets. He did it with prices as friendly as the furniture and solutions he proposed. With Ikea, the country discovered that interiors could be comfortable and beautiful. Yes, like the ones we saw when we traveled. There is no turning back from this simple message. This month, the COAM celebrates the two decades of the Ikea-Spain affair with an exhibition, ** 20 Years Ikea **. It can be visited in Madrid until June 5.
Ikea was to blame, but also low-cost flights, short and frequent trips, Pinterest and other stimuli that inoculated us with the scandi virus . Today, 95% of the houses in the country (survey conducted among friends, co-workers and relatives) they have a scandinavian touch . Also a significant percentage of ** restaurants and hotels **. That, eye, does not mean that its general appearance is. There is a very thick line between having an Alvar Aalto glass vase and two Ikea quilts at home and thinking that we have a flat that could be in Södermalm, Stockholm's hip neighborhood . It does not work like that. Just as thick as thinking that painting a restaurant white and setting up a communal table takes us to Oslo. So, neither.
Moose antlers or... Gredos walking sticks
WHAT MUST HAVE THE REAL SCANDINAVIAN TOUCH: THE THEORY
We consider a Scandinavian space when it has characteristics such as predominance of white on the walls (in countries without sun this resource is logical), use of wood, linen, stone, cotton, and natural materials, touches of color in textiles, recourse to vegetation, straight lines, low furniture and, most importantly: each object has its function.
All of them must be orchestrated without tension and promoting calm and comfort. . If you read this a Nordic can laugh with pleasure and we will understand. We have made our own version of the Scandinavian and it works for us.
Hotels, bars, restaurants and other public spaces have embraced the Scandinavian. It makes sense: they are places that seek to gently retain the public. Also, it is intergenerational. On many occasions, the use of designers such as Jacobsen, Poulsen, Saarinen, Alvar Aalto already sets the tone. He usually mixes with other designers from the beginning of the 20th century looking for that effect of simplicity. It mixes so often that we have come to consider a Nordic space the one decorated with the Eames DSW chair , so North American them. The golden rule seems to be: if in doubt, look north.
Next, we'll put on a scarf and dye our hair blonde (we're sorry for the easy cliché) to visit these places in Spain that make us think, at times, that we're in Scandinavia.
A soft mix of styles... it's also Nordic
HOTELS FACING NORTH
** The Little Hotel **. This hotel in Gredos is one of the few in the country that can say they have a Scandinavian heart. The owners, Naive (Spanish and Christina (Swedish) have created a haven of tranquility in Navaluenga. The Nordic touch is not only in the obvious, the decoration, but also its commitment to discretion, sustainability and its connection with nature . This really is Nordic, more than a raw wood stool or a huge shower (what a wonderful shower!).
In this hotel the facade does not matter as much as the interior. It has only twelve rooms , all of them full of light. Its white walls frame wood and leather furniture establishing the link with the equestrian world. In fact, horses were the starting point of this hotel and they are still the guests of honour. the little hotel uses solar energy, low energy lighting, water saving system, recycling of water, paper and glass, organic cotton sheets and towels, orchard and chicken coop . Its cuisine winks at local and Nordic food and does so with fresh and local products, very close. This place refers to the Nordic in a very profound way, not through the Egg Chair or the Artichoke lamp, but through its idea of comfort and its organic relationship with the environment.
In Navaluenga as in Malmö
The Hat . A cross between a hostel and a house with a vibrant atmosphere in Madrid. Nothing foreshadows it from the outside (that's very Nordic) but inside there is an exercise in interior design and interesting lighting . The rooms are simple, not simple, and even the terrace seeks that same sensation, far from others that use words like lounge and abuse corner sofas and Balinese beds. In this one, a semi-secret among locals, there are wooden tables and stools and little else. Above is the sky, which is the best lamp.
The sky as the limit (without abusing lounges or Balinese beds)
We can say that the Nordic is a state of mind. Its most essential features can be summoned without using a single Nordic piece of furniture. If our friends from the north have taught us anything, it is to look for embracing spaces. Sometimes it is achieved in an orthodox way with Scandinavian furniture, but can be achieved with an Acapulco chair , very Mexican, or with a Mallorcan sideboard. We see this adaptability of the Nordic in the ** Ca's Papè Sweet Hotel **, located in Valldemosa. Breathe northern air, but also Mediterranean. It can.
Other spaces with Scandinavian touches are Atrio (Cáceres), Ayllón (Segovia) and the AMA, in Islantilla, Huelva (although no one would tell from its appearance, the interior, with hay furniture , it does transmit the Nordic interest of being functional and warm) . The Hiberus in Zaragoza is openly inspired by Jacobsen and in his rooms we find his famous Egg armchairs. Denmark in Aragon.
The power of an acapulco chair
... AND CHURCHES
Of all the places in Spain inspired by Scandinavia, the most curious of all is in Burgos. Yes: Burgos-Scandinavia They make an odd couple. The Princess Kristina Foundation of Norway has its headquarters, the Chapel of San Olav, in Covarrubias ; there, the architects Pablo López Aguado and Jorge González Gallego won the competition to build the building that came to settle a historical debt that is so well told here. Today, the black steel and wood chapel is a cultural space. This building is shocking: a Norwegian construction in the middle of Castilla can only be. That's why we like it.
LOOK, SELL AND BUY NORDIC
Scandinavian design is well represented in Spain, especially in Madrid and Barcelona . It's easy to search for vintage or contemporary pieces. In Madrid there are, and of the highest level, in ** Schneider & Colao **, in Chueca and Reno, in the trail area. Many shops selling Nordic furniture are concentrated in this area. There are of all prices, anonymous and author, cult pieces and more unknown.
In ** La Recova ** they bring them from all over Europe and restore them with love. Also, Fátima, its owner, tells you her story and we like that almost as much as the furniture. In The Brochanterie can you meet danish desks and sideboards from the 60s at a good price.
Nordic-style horror vacui... on the Rastro
Non-Vacuum It is another good example of a vintage store with original pieces. This last adjective is important. Not everything Scandinavian is.
In ** Batavia ** (which has a new and instagrammable space) the Nordic mixes with the Asian and with the Italian, forming a very... stimulating world map of stimuli. A store where you have to enter, look and touch. Careful, but you have to touch.
In Barcelona there is a place that, like El Hotelito, has half a Scandinavian heart. It's called ** Noak Room **, owners are Sara, from Madrid and Martin, Swedish. In his shop in Poble Nou they sell scandinavian vintage from the 40s to the 70s . Its forte are its lamps (there are pieces of Tapiovaara, Ateljé Lyktan or Jacobsen and others from anonymous designers). This is one of the nicest shops in town. And that is a lot to say.
Scandinavian vintage in the heart of Barcelona
In Barcelona we also find ** Nordic Thinking **; this space is in Right Widening and exhibits and sells Nordic furniture. There is a good chance that we want one or fifty pieces that we see.
In San Sebastian we can buy go to **Kado**. Classic Scandinavian brands such as Normann, Muuto, Norther Lighting, Skagerak or the classic Marimekko and Hay, which are already part of our aesthetic landscape.
Entering here is a VICE
ESCANDIBARES, ESCANDISPAS, ESCANDIMODA AND SOMETHING ELSE
But not only furniture lives the Scandinavian. There they also dress, and eat and drink, little creatures... In ** Hameväki **, located in the center of Seville, they sell Scandinavian clothes; translation: yes, they sell Marimekko. Hameväki is an expression used by the Finns to say that a girl is pretty (come on, a piropillo in suomi) .
In Madrid there is ** Do Design **, although not everything it sells is Scandinavian yes it transmits Scandinavianism everywhere . Its owner lived in Finland and when she returned to Spain she wanted to transfer what she had seen and lived there. A gem of a store.
the bakeries Easy peasy , in Madrid, are other Nordic-inspired spaces. Hay's furniture (again), its white walls and the light that enters and lets us see the bread and its wicker baskets well tell us so.
Viking Seville
The two spaces of ** Federal Café in Madrid and Barcelona ** with their raw wood tables, their white chairs, their cement floor and their windows drink from similar sources. Cold water fountains, to be exact.
Another scandispace is The Spa Kitchen, in Barcelona. This white urban spa has been designed by the interior designer Barbara Aurell and in it she has mixed Nordic, English and vintage furniture. Another example of the versatility of the Nordic and of a place where we want to go and not leave. Maybe that's what Scandinavian is, a mixture of cold and heat, inside and outside, useful and beautiful.
Scandinavia meets England meets Vintage