Nordic Garden Style For Balconies and Indoors

How to bring Nordic garden style into your home when outdoor space isn't an option, with modern, sculptural pots and planters.

No garden space? No problem! Bring Nordic garden style into your home instead...

If lockdown is currently driving you stir-crazy, you'll know how much escaping outside is a total lifesaver. Just a few minutes of warm sun on your face and a gulp of fresh air makes all the difference to your mood.

Over the past month or so, our garden has stepped up to play an integral part of our day to day lives. Whereas before it was somewhere to do a spot of weeding and hang out the washing, now it's where I come to sit and be with the birds in the morning. It's a makeshift playing green for cobbled together P.E sessions for the kids. We watch the minibeasts hiding under rocks and leaves and share socially distanced conversations with neighbours over the fence.

Understandably, not everyone has access to a back garden but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy a sense of the outdoors. Even from indoors. If your options are limited - perhaps you have a bijou (or sizeable) balcony or a corner of your home, let me paint you a picture and show you what you could have with a little imagination.

How To Create A Nordic Balcony Garden

The key to a Nordic-style balcony is to keep it simple, clean and contemporary. Stick to a muted colour palette - think black, grey, muddy greens, beige, and terracotta. Soften a boxy space with outdoor rugs, large cushions and planting.

Before you order any plants, check your balcony's climate. Is it mostly shady? Windy? Or does it get a huge amount of sun during the day? Pick your planting according to the conditions you have. Introduce a potted olive or fruit tree to add height if you can, with plants such as grasses, Fatsia Japonica and white blooms lending an architectural, contemporary feel.

Maximise all the available space and tailor it towards how you plan to use it. Don't just think conventionally with floor space but utilise the edges of the railings and the walls behind if you can. Hang and wall mount planters and grow vertically. Choose space-saving, multi-functional pieces that offer space for entertaining as well as potted plants. A favourite is the Fermob balcony table. Attaching to balcony railings, it's an ideal table for two with a sweet little planter on top. Consider the evenings too, when you'll likely need some soft lighting and a couple of warm blankets to see you through.

A Nordic garden style shopping page featuring the best contemporary Scandinavian furniture for small balcony spaces.

The black metal Mira chair designed for Skagerak, brings contemporary, Nordic style into our garden with modern shape and interesting shadow play.

How To Bring Nordic Garden Style Indoors

There's no greater way to calm your mind than tending to your plants at home. A little spritz here, a feed and prune there. Suddenly it's been half an hour and you're already feeling much lighter. Grow yourself an indoor garden space to escape to whenever you need a breather.

Don't ask me the science behind it, but somehow, tall, large scale plants such as the parlour palm or rubber tree give the illusion of more space and height. Their lush appearance is instantly calming and in the right pot will create a real statement. You could also try an olive tree for a more rustic Scandinavian look.

Windowsills are brilliant for smaller potted plants, propagating cuttings and herbs. Plant them up in individual, sculptural pots for a modern Scandinavian look and experiment with clear glass to show off their root systems.

Mini table-top terrarium gardens will give you a biophilic fix and clever self-growing herb gardens take the worry out of gardening for those with less time. Tools can be stylish too - I'm a sucker for a well-designed watering can with my favourite being the black iron can from Toast.

For the less green-fingered, ever-popular dried grasses and seedheads are easy to find online and look striking in a large black pot or vase. I love the way they add texture and interest into a room. And of course, a selection of soothing botanical art prints.

A Nordic garden style shopping page featuring botanical books and prints as well as modern, sculptural planters, vases and mini gardens.

For more Nordic garden style inspiration, check out Outdoor Furniture for a Modern Scandi Garden and my 'Out In The Garden' Pinterest board.

Images styled by Tiffany Grant-Riley.