Danish Houzz Tour: DIY and Secondhand Delights in Creative's Home
A 24-carat gold tap, vertical garden, updated bargain finds and lovely paint effects steal the show in this Danish home
Helle Sindal
22 July 2018
A 24-carat-gold tap, brass mirrors and dark velour meet raw walls, rustic wooden tables and shaggy fur carpets in this fabulous apartment in Copenhagen, Denmark. Jeppe Bjørnberg Hansen renovated this space himself, decorating it with hand-picked bargains and handmade objects. Breathing new life into secondhand market finds or supplementing with creative paint effects, this interior designer has put his own unique stamp on this space.
House at a Glance
Who lives here: Jeppe Bjørnberg Hansen
Location: Stræderne, central Copenhagen, Denmark
Size: 79 square metres
Year Built: 1780
Renovated in: 2017
That’s interesting: Learn more about Bjørnberg Hansen’s DIYs on his blog and Instagram
Who lives here: Jeppe Bjørnberg Hansen
Location: Stræderne, central Copenhagen, Denmark
Size: 79 square metres
Year Built: 1780
Renovated in: 2017
That’s interesting: Learn more about Bjørnberg Hansen’s DIYs on his blog and Instagram
Bjørnberg Hansen has done a lot of the work himself, hiring professionals for the hardest parts. “I am not a craftsman, but I learned a lot along the way. Like Pippi Longstocking, I say to myself, ‘I have not tried this before – so I can probably do it!’”
Among other things, he made the tall panels and frames on the walls. “A carpenter wanted 4,000 Danish kroner [about AU$840] per metre for the tall panels. I knew I could do it more cheaply myself,” Bjørnberg Hansen says.
Among other things, he made the tall panels and frames on the walls. “A carpenter wanted 4,000 Danish kroner [about AU$840] per metre for the tall panels. I knew I could do it more cheaply myself,” Bjørnberg Hansen says.
The whole interior was hand-picked but not necessarily expensive: “A chair like the Egg chair is ridiculously expensive, while my Chesterfield armchair was 1,000 Danish kroner [AU$211] on dba.dk [a Danish classifieds site similar to Gumtree]. The price is not important to me – I love both of them,” Bjørnberg Hansen says.
Bjørnberg Hansen made the coffee table from a wooden board and a set of steel legs from DBA.
Bjørnberg Hansen made the coffee table from a wooden board and a set of steel legs from DBA.
“The speakers are probably my dearest possession,” he says. His father got these two Ortofon 445s as a teenager, and his mother covered them with soft fabric and plants when the two moved in together. Now the speakers emit the jazzy strains of Miles Davis and Coleman Hawkins here in Bjørnberg Hansen’s place.
Bjørnberg Hansen characterises himself as a super haggler who loves the feeling of making a good deal. His tip for others is: “Think about it as a sport or a game and do not take it personally. Ask openly and do not be the first one to make an offer. You might be able to get things more cheaply than you imagine.”
Bjørnberg Hansen’s favourite secondhand markets are the big ones at Forum, a concert and exhibition venue in the Frederiksberg area, and the Bella Center in the south of Copenhagen. The French-Chinese style vintage ceiling lamp is a secondhand item from Rue Verte.
Bjørnberg Hansen characterises himself as a super haggler who loves the feeling of making a good deal. His tip for others is: “Think about it as a sport or a game and do not take it personally. Ask openly and do not be the first one to make an offer. You might be able to get things more cheaply than you imagine.”
Bjørnberg Hansen’s favourite secondhand markets are the big ones at Forum, a concert and exhibition venue in the Frederiksberg area, and the Bella Center in the south of Copenhagen. The French-Chinese style vintage ceiling lamp is a secondhand item from Rue Verte.
The lamp in the window is another secondhand bargain from Rue Verte. The lamp’s stand also emits light. Bjørnberg Hansen created its warm light by using an ordinary LED bulb and a very thin layer of orange spray paint.
Bjørnberg Hansen also made the guitar on the brick wall, designing it to resemble a 1962 Fender. He corroded the metal parts with acid, while the body of the guitar was exposed to a mixture of coffee and coke to make the paint crack and look worn in just the right way. The curtains echo the grey velour of the couch, giving the living room a decorative through line.
Bjørnberg Hansen also made the guitar on the brick wall, designing it to resemble a 1962 Fender. He corroded the metal parts with acid, while the body of the guitar was exposed to a mixture of coffee and coke to make the paint crack and look worn in just the right way. The curtains echo the grey velour of the couch, giving the living room a decorative through line.
The plaster was knocked off of one of the walls in the living room, revealing the old brickwork. It is contrasted by a painting by Bjørnberg Hansen’s artistic mentor, Jan Klein. The rest of the artwork in the apartment is Bjørnberg Hansen’s own.
The guitar on the wall to the left is a Fender Stratocaster from 1983, which echoes the highly sought-after 1950s models.
The raw wood chest serves as an electronics cabinet. Bjørnberg Hansen stores his amplifier here, among other things. The old Kähler vase on the floor was another great bargain. The vertical garden over the Chesterfield chair came from a DIY kit from Greenify.
Bjørnberg Hansen stained the pine floors in both living rooms to make them darker and to match the style of the rest of the apartment.
The raw wood chest serves as an electronics cabinet. Bjørnberg Hansen stores his amplifier here, among other things. The old Kähler vase on the floor was another great bargain. The vertical garden over the Chesterfield chair came from a DIY kit from Greenify.
Bjørnberg Hansen stained the pine floors in both living rooms to make them darker and to match the style of the rest of the apartment.
All the light switches in the apartment have been painted the same colour as their respective walls, as here.
The PH 3/2 lamp is a brass 1997 anniversary edition of an original model from 1927.
The PH 3/2 lamp is a brass 1997 anniversary edition of an original model from 1927.
The dining room features a vertical garden, in which plants grow in copper gutters. They surround a copper plate that was engraved with a world map. This secondhand market bargain was completely corroded when Bjørnberg Hansen first got his hands on it. “I put ketchup on it and left it overnight. The acid from the ketchup removed the corrosion. I have covered it with a layer of car varnish, so the corrosion will never come back,” he says.
The green part of the wall shows off his past as a graffiti artist. He spray painted it with leaves in various shades of green. The dining table is another of many bargains from DBA. In Bjørnberg Hansen’s words, the chairs are “nothing special” – he chose them for their cognac-coloured leather upholstery.
The green part of the wall shows off his past as a graffiti artist. He spray painted it with leaves in various shades of green. The dining table is another of many bargains from DBA. In Bjørnberg Hansen’s words, the chairs are “nothing special” – he chose them for their cognac-coloured leather upholstery.
Bjørnberg Hansen designed the large firewood stand, and his father welded it. The sides are made of thin steel plates with a classic cloverleaf pattern. Bjørnberg Hansen also used the cloverleaf plates for the apartment’s radiator covers. He equipped the wood-burning stove with a brass floor plate for a warm touch.
The bedroom cupboard has been retrofitted with Ikea kitchen doors. The chair is an heirloom from Bjørnberg Hansen’s grandfather. Their present owner refurbished, painted and then decorated it with a collage on the seat.
The velour bed from Nordic Illuminations is, as Bjørnberg Hansen points out, luxurious. The bedspread is from Rue Verte, while the oversized dream catcher is from Peru, bought on DBA.
At the end of the corridor is the elongated kitchen. Like the living rooms, it is characterised by warm colours, soft lighting, nostalgic features and clever, well-planned solutions.
The ceramic benchtops from Bordpladen.dk are brown with a hint of brass and gold. The grey cupboards are from Ikea; they were made to fit the dimensions of the kitchen. Bjørnberg Hansen emphasises that this was a big advantage in an old and slightly crooked apartment.
The ceramic benchtops from Bordpladen.dk are brown with a hint of brass and gold. The grey cupboards are from Ikea; they were made to fit the dimensions of the kitchen. Bjørnberg Hansen emphasises that this was a big advantage in an old and slightly crooked apartment.
Bjørnberg Hansen had originally planned to expose the brick wall at the end of the kitchen, but changed his mind when he found the original paint under the many layers of other colours.
The chimney to the right was originally white and built peak ’80s style. He first painted it black, then sprayed gold from above. This creates an interesting shadow effect.
The chimney to the right was originally white and built peak ’80s style. He first painted it black, then sprayed gold from above. This creates an interesting shadow effect.
The kitchen’s biggest surprise is without a doubt its 24-carat gold tap – a rare sight in Denmark. This tap from Quooker is particularly popular in the United Arab Emirates, and Bjørnberg Hansen just had to have one for his unique Copenhagen apartment. The tap matches both the brass kitchen sink and the dusty orange wall.
The copper lamp above the table is from UniqueRoom; its corroded outer surface is a perfect match to the worn look of the wall. A brass tube conceals the lamp’s wire.
The copper lamp above the table is from UniqueRoom; its corroded outer surface is a perfect match to the worn look of the wall. A brass tube conceals the lamp’s wire.
The brass mirror splashback makes the room seem bigger.
He replaced the back panels of the cabinets with brass. The mirrored effect makes the champagne bottles and glasses inside seem to multiply.
The steel-framed glass in and above the doors was one of the reasons Bjørnberg Hansen fell in love with this apartment in the first place.
“I based my ideas on the existing style of the apartment and then pushed them to their limits,” he says.
The floors he chose for the hall and kitchen are dark with a rustic feel.
“I based my ideas on the existing style of the apartment and then pushed them to their limits,” he says.
The floors he chose for the hall and kitchen are dark with a rustic feel.
In the tiny bathroom, a patch of wooden tiles also contributes to the rustic look of the apartment.
The ceiling in the bathroom was sprayed liberally with gold paint. The large massage shower is from Grohe.
Bjørnberg Hansen was happy to design, refurbish and adapt the apartment, but he is just as eager to take on a new project as soon as the restoration here is done.
“I think it is fun to renovate and create an atmosphere in a place. Then when it is finished, I lose my enthusiasm and I’m ready to move on to new projects,” he says.
“I think it is fun to renovate and create an atmosphere in a place. Then when it is finished, I lose my enthusiasm and I’m ready to move on to new projects,” he says.
“Even though the apartment is located on a pedestrian street with lots of cafes in the middle of Copenhagen, it is amazingly quiet in this neighbourhood, which is home to many creative people,” he says. “It is almost like living in a small village.”
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More
Take a look at last week’s My London Houzz: Black’s on Track in This Revamped Period Home
What do you love about this home? Tell us in the Comments below. And don’t forget to like the story, save your favourite images and join the conversation.
More
Take a look at last week’s My London Houzz: Black’s on Track in This Revamped Period Home
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This young man has a great imagination for interior design challenges. I see a brilliant career ahead for him.
Very creative and brilliant choices.
It’s all the positive comments and more. Would live there in a heart beat. Classy and warm all wrapped into one.
Who could want anything more….well done for one so young!