Scandinavian homes - true stories

Lately I've read some international blogs regarding Scandinavian homes. Most are on the point but some do say things I find hard to relate with.

One of these commets was that Scandinavian homes often don't have an open-space kitchen/livingroom/diningroom areas. Sometimes it's true: we in Finland leave our parents home when we are quite young (I was 19 for example) and usually you go and rent an apartment most likely in the city you head to study in.

This means obviously your home is an apartment with separate spaces because you're sharing it with other students - or if you're lucky you rent a studio flat which can have a small separate kitchen space, but usually it is just a big room with a small kitchenette in one corner.

Some live in rented apartments for long periods, change them to bigger ones when they move in with their boy/girlfriend and/or when they get married and/or when they have children.

Many can live all their lives in a rental - this means you probably do have separate spaces in home. Rentals are usually in very good condition and you can't do any changes to the floor plan - and why would you? It makes sense to invest money only to an apartment or a house you actually own.

When you decide to buy an apartment or to built your own home, that's when it all changes, in the limits of the possibilities of course. You can't take down a bearing wall etc., but if Scandinavians can have the possibility to, they almost always prefer an open-space to a separate kitchen/diningroom.

All my friends who live in their own apartmenst/houses do have an open plan in the house. It's kind of that deal about us Scandinavians - we spend most of the time at home in this space so the bigger it is the better. My mom build her house just 10 years ago and she too wanted an open-space.

I'll leave you some images about Scandinavian homes, again! Have a nice weekend!

 Photo credits @alvhem @alexanderwhite_sthml