Beauty, simplicity, functionality: Nordic design is the latest trend to spur interest among housebound Filipinos

November 11, 2020 - 6:08 PM
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Image by John Mark Arnold via Unsplash

Products and items of Nordic design appeared to have proliferated this year due to the surge of interest in home decors as people spend most of their time at home due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Vlogger Laureen Uy, the younger sister of celebrity stylist Liz Uy, shared her “huge local home haul” last August which featured a gold tray, black vase and basket in Nordic style.

Uy shared the Instagram link of the store, Nordic Home, that has 33,900 followers as of this writing.

The store, based on the caption, sells “chic, Scandinavian and other unique home finds.”

Other YouTube vloggers have also been featuring products of Nordic design in their respective hauls such as “Queen Claire” or Claire Batacan and Angel Yeo.

Batacan shared that she bought a Nordic gold mirror while Yeo bought a Nordic brown and white trolley.

Both purchased their items from online shopping platform Lazada, which is currently holding a “Single’s Day Festival,” also known as 11.11.

A couple on Facebook also decided to share their haul of home essentials and other items for decor which featured a Nordic-style flower vase from Shopee, another shopping platform.

The same design was also featured in a Facebook community dedicated to food enthusiasts and sellers, “Let’s Eat Pare.”

Nordic
(Screenshot by Interaksyon)

Nordic design, also known as Scandinavian design or aesthetic, originated from many Nordic countries in the mid-1950s such as Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland.

A website for home design and decors noted that such an aesthetic is a “combination of beauty, simplicity and functionality.”

“In a Scandinavian-designed room, you can expect bare wood floors and white painted brick walls that add a rough texture while maximizing the light streaming in through large windows,” The Spruce said in an explainer.

Examples of this aesthetic include “white walls, wood floors, modern furniture” and a “lack of clutter” in the house.

A digital lifestyle publication defines Scandinavian design as a “minimalistic style using a blend of textures and soft hues to make sleek, modern décor feel warm and inviting.”

“It emphasizes clean lines, utility, and simple furnishings that are functional, beautiful, and cozy,” MyDomaine said in an article.

Mod furniture, muted colors and warm wood are some of the aesthetics that evoke such a design.

Interest in sprucing up homes 

As people spend the majority of their time at home, especially during the first few months of the novel coronavirus pandemic, a heightened interest in home decors and sprucing up private spaces have become the norm.

A manifestation of this is when indoor gardening became popular among Filipinos, so much so that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has issued a warning against purchasing plants that are considered exotic.

RELATED: ‘Plant thieves on the loose,’ DENR says amid growing interest in indoor gardening

Last September, DENR noted the rise of traders scouring plants from mountains, forests and protected parks due to the high demand for plants from urban areas such as Metro Manila.

Such demand is connected to the sudden surge of indoor plant enthusiasts amid quarantine season—fondly called as “plantitos,” “plantitas” or “halamoms,” among others.

“Illegal gatherers and collectors are having a fiesta because the market is bigger and prices are more attractive,” said Rogelio Demallete, an ecosystem specialist at the DENR-Biodiversity Management Bureau.

“People are buying and raising plants because of boredom from the quarantine,” he added.