Scandinavian Style

Scandinavia is an epicenter of great design. Here, the best new exports, plus two artsy hotels for anyone inspired to visit.

Courtesy of Rice.dk.

Quirky Kitchen Tools

Sweden's Rice DK sells melamine utensils in pastel checks, butterflies, flowers and a mix of Xs and Os that's like a tic-tac-toe game seen through a kaleidoscope. $20 for three; huset-shop.com.

MHY Lamp by Muuto, available at Scandinaviangrace.com

Playful Pendant Light

The design trio behind Norway Says claims the playful shape of their aluminum-lacquered "Mhy" lamp shade was inspired by characters in Nordic children's stories. $285; scandinaviangrace.com.

Courtesy of Scantrendsusa.com.

Curvy, Colorful Glasses

Danish designer Peter Svarrer's answer to the dull workhorse water glass is a mouth-blown tumbler for Holmegaard that he's named "Future". $41 for two; scantrendsusa.com.

The Sweetest Cake Stand

Made from laminated birch wood, like many pieces of Scandinavian furniture, this colorful new candy-patterned cake stand by Sweden's Bengt & Lotta is stable enough to hold a quadruple-layer cake. $85; huset-shop.com.

Sleep In Style

The Story Hotel

Guests can buy the art on display throughout this new 82-room Stockholm hotel, like illustrator Jenny Mörtsell's oversize canvas Little Lies (photo).

Hotel Skeppsholmen

This new hotel near Stockholm's Museum of Modern Art and the Swedish Museum of Architecture serves excellent fika—Sweden's answer to England's high tea.

Danish Treat

Denmark has the most breweries per capita in Europe—plus a stellar new brewpub, Copenhagen's Norrebro Bryghus.

Published May 2010