Kitchen Ideas from Finland

August 14, 2010 Katja Presnal

Kitchen Ideas from Finland

Scandinavian design, Scandinavian kitchen, modern design, contemporary design, modern kitchen, contemporary kitchen,marimekko, iittala, aalto, finnish kitchens, finnish kitchen accessories

I’m going back to Finland in a week and hoping to get more Scandinavian design inspiration on my trip. Here are some photos of beautiful modern Scandinavian kitchens and great products you can bring the same look for your kitchen. Less is more in Scandinavian design, and the colors are neutral, lots of white, earth tones, stainless steel and selected items bringing a splash of color. The kitchen photos are all from Finland, and the styles and ideas here represent the Finnish kitchen styles. All of the following products are not from Scandinavia, but offer the same look and are easily available.

Scandinavian design, Scandinavian kitchen, modern design, contemporary design, modern kitchen, contemporary kitchen,marimekko, iittala, aalto, finnish kitchens, finnish kitchen accessories

Scandinavian design, Scandinavian kitchen, modern design, contemporary design, modern kitchen, contemporary kitchen, tiskikaappi, dish rack, dish wall rack, Finnish dish cabinet (picture: Irja Koivula)

My favorite feature of Finnish kitchens is a dish rack inside a cabinet, on the top of the sink, tiskikaappi. I have no idea why a brilliant invention like this hasn’t spread around the world, but maybe it is just us Finns that thinks it’s brilliant. The dish rack is just simple wire rack, with open bottom of the cabinet, and you can lift all the hand washed dishes inside the cabinet to drip down to the sink. This leaves more space to your counter and your dishes are hidden behind the cabinet. I have chosen the kitchen pictures in this blog post to include the tiskikaappi.

STORAGE

But if you find tiskikaappi a little odd or you don’t have a cabinet on the top of your sink that you could turn into one, here are a few Scandinavian style storage ideas for you.

Scandinavian design, Scandinavian kitchen, modern design, contemporary design, modern kitchen, contemporary kitchen,marimekko, iittala, aalto, finnish kitchens, finnish kitchen accessories, finnstyle, alessi

1. Alessi Jasper Morrison Kitchen Utensils Set ($115) is Italian, but many Scandinavians love Alessi and this utensil rack is a common sight in modern Scandinavian kitchen. Sleek design, nice deco element, but something that is in use daily. 2. Grundtal wall rack from IKEA ($10.99) is a great small rack you can get the Finnish feel to your kitchen. 3. Domsjö chopping board ($14.99) isn’t really a storage element, but I love it and added it here for its multi-purpose. This chopping board fits perfectly on the top of your sink and you get more counter space – and you can hide dirty dishes under it! 4. Swedish Designs’, Horizontal Skillet Rack Beech ($62.00) is made for skillets of different sizes, but I love the look and have it on my countertop and storage plates on it. Beech always has a Scandinavian feel and if you add colorful plates or skillets to this one, it gives just the right about color to your kitchen. 5. Stainless steel bread box ($39.95) from Crate & Barrel looks something many Scandinavians have. Many Finnish kitchens are small, and extra storage is always welcome. This bread box style is a design element and very functional piece of modern Scandinavian kitchens.

Scandinavian design, Scandinavian kitchen, modern design, contemporary design, modern kitchen, contemporary kitchen,marimekko, iittala, aalto, finnish kitchens, finnish kitchen accessories

Scandinavian design, Scandinavian kitchen, modern design, contemporary design, modern kitchen, contemporary kitchen,marimekko, iittala, aalto, finnish kitchens, finnish kitchen accessories

Kitchen photo sources: Plaza.fi Sundsberg.fi vaasa.tvtalo.fi Originally posted at Skimbaco Lifestyle.

Katja Presnal

Katja Presnal shows how to live Nordic inspired life to the fullest and plan your dream life. Katja owns Presnal5 strategic marketing intelligence agency and wants to help marketing professionals to combine a dream career and dream life via freelance work. Katja is an award-winning marketing strategist, and a well-known speaker. Katja has lived in five different countries, and seven states in the USA. Her three children were all born in different countries within three years. When not working or jet-setting the world, Katja is at home cooking big family dinners. She has been featured in NY Times, Glamour, Redbook, Fodor's, Forbes and Woman's Day magazines among many other national and international publications and written for MTV3 and Lifetime TV networks.

Comments (0)

  1. Joy

    Just lovely. Have seen the dish (drainer) rack idea before in very old homes in Italy and
    Greece, great idea. :)

  2. Pia

    Luv that tiskikaappi, I wish i could find one here in America !!
    Maybe from Ikea ? It gives so much more counter space and
    everything looks so neat when hidden away in the tiskikaappi.

  3. Katja – I love these designs. In a few years we are knocking down our little bungalow at the beach and building. The architect has finished the plans and I am now starting to research kitchen ideas. I would love to do the kitchen in the first picture. I love the glass in the cabinets and the back splash. The tile looks the same in 3 of the photos, do you know what it is? Gorgeous, thanks for posting.
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  4. Love the counter-top choices here. Especially the wood surface. Great design. Very calming. Have a great trip. Jealous! :)

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