Danish Design

While in Copenhagen, I was exposed to some amazing designs, such as the IQ Light by Danish designer Holger Strom in 1973. It consists of interlocking plastic quadrilaterals which can form various shapes. This spherical one was in our swap apartment in Copenhagen:

As was this one, which had a slightly different shape:

In Copenhagen, I also went to the Danish design Centre, which had examples of chairs such as the wishbone chair and this Thonet chair, not Danish but by the Austrian Michael Thonet in 1859:

A Series 7 by Arne Jacobsen:

Karen Blixen´s House

This post is for my sister Kate who, earlier this year, showed me a magazine photograph of this beautiful verandah floor:

It´s in the Karen Blixen Museet at Rungstedlund, on the coast about half an hour north of Copenhagen. This is the house where the writer of such works as 'Out of Africa' and ´Babette´s Feast' lived before and after her seventeen years in Africa:

The grey and white checked floors are gorgeous and, besides the verandah, which I could only photograph through a window, are limited to the two entry halls:


The rest of the house is just as stunning, with French and Scandinavian pieces which travelled with Karen to and from Africa:

Karen always had fresh flowers in the house, a tradition which is still carried on today:

This room, overlooking the yachts in the little harbour, is where Karen wrote in the summertime. The checks of the rug combine with the reflection of the checked floor in the hallway:

Not only was the house amazing, so is the story of this woman, who endured much personal tragedy and wrote so beautifully.

Bakkehusmuseet, Copenhagen

This is a really lovely house in Copenhagen - the home of Knud Lyne Rahbek and his wife Karen:

They entertained many prominent writers here in the early nineteenth century:

I love this grey room:

And this enfillade:

And this settee:

Swap 7 - Copenhagen

We are now in what is possibly my favourite house-swap so far - in a loft-type building in central Copenhagen:


I had no idea this city was so beautiful. Its proximity to the sea, the pedestrian malls and lovely buildings give it a really relaxed atmosphere. This is the Fredericksberg park:

Down near the waterfront it is particularly stunning:

Then of course, I had to try the traditional smorrebrod - open-faced sandwiches with fillings such as roast beef, curried herring (delicious) and fish-cake: