Modern Pastoral: Bring the tranquility of nature into your home

Modern pastoral interiors are about embracing the pared-back lifestyle of living in the country, taking nature as the main point of inspiration. Use colors, textures, and details to create a home in which to unwind—a retreat from the rest of the world. Niki Brantmark explores various takes on this simple, informal style. The graphical look is striking, reminiscent of exposed landscapes: think whitewashed ceilings, rugged stone surfaces, and striking black features, softened by cozy soft furnishings and fresh plants and flowers. Savanna style introduces warmer hues, featuring painted wood and reds, oranges, and browns in textiles, furniture, and collectibles. Nordic interiors take in the best of the Scandinavian landscape—clean white backdrops against sleek designs—while those inspired by forest and mountain streams are filled with rich, deep greens and blues, combined with traditional patterns and features, such as log burners, wood paneling, and woven rugs. The stunning photography for this book takes in locations across Scandinavia and the United States, and all evoke an ideal, rural life, adapted to modern living.

Niki Brantmark runs the daily interior design blog My Scandinavian Home, which was inspired by her move to Sweden from London over ten years ago. Niki has a background in marketing and communication, and her blog is extremely popular, having received over six million hits and averaging around 500,000 page views per month from readers all over the world. She was featured in Design Bloggers at Home by Ellie Tennant (RPS), and Modern Pastoral is her first book.