Before + After: A Dated Danish 1950's House Gets A Fabulous Make-Over

I love a 'before and after', don't you? And this 1950's house in Fredericia, Denmark, designed by architect Knud Billund, has gone through quite a transformation! When photographer Mia Mortensen, Martin and their adorable baby boy, Aston first moved in, the space was dated and begging for a little TLC.  Mia and Martin set about painstakingly renovating the 3-storey house to create a fabulous family home which combines contemporary touches with 'functionalist' bones - and lovely, warm accent colours.

Before

The master bedroom (before)

 During the renovation

The pair laid a concrete floor in the kitchen and dining room from Danish brand Conteco.

The kitchen and dining area and upstairs landing are connected by a magnificent 1950's staircase.

The couple were really keen to add a large round table to the dining area, and drew a sketch of the room to ensure there was enough space.

 They settled on a fabulous round table from Traefolk and added a set of chairs which include the Ant*, 7-series Thonet (this one* is similar) and CH88P chair not a bad collection!!

After

The back wall of the dining room has been painted in Burnt Earth by Flugger - and has been used as a gallery wall made up of art from Hein Studio (including the Line Collection No.04* and Line Collection No. 05*) and Nelli Arnth, among others. I also spy a fabulous Verpan Moon Pendant light and the Hans Wegner Shell chair!

 The kitchen tap is by Quooker - and the lights over the work station are from Menu. 

Sometimes it can be hard to get an idea of the layout of a space (I really must be more organised and try to provide this... perhaps when the intern AKA knight in shining armour starts!). From the top of the stairs you can catch a glimpse of Aston's room beyond the dining room and the kitchen is to the left. 

I couldn't resist sharing a before picture of the upstairs landing. The pair re-plastered and painted the walls and ripped up the floor boards and replaced it with beautiful square parquet flooring. 

I always get a little nostalgic when I see this type of flooring as we used to have it in our kitchen as a child.  I used to pick out the individual bricks and use them to build homes for my play people. Not popular, I can tell you!

Window nook before

Window nook after

Borders rug by Ferm Living

What a wonderful, light-filled place! I do love a window nook, don't you? I've got a whole Pinterest board dedicated to them!

The warm accent colour (Terracotta by Jotun) creates an almost cocoon like feel in the bedroom, while the light floor helps to brighten up the room (you can see how it looked before the wood was sanded down and white washed in this film!).

The Crinkle thrown in peach by Hay works so well with the Terracotta wall - and I love the touches of brass (that chair!! *jaw drops*).

The bedroom also doubles up as an office space. Seeing this, I'm kind of tempted to update my own office wall - in terracotta, what do you reckon? I hope the man doesn't read this, he'll go nuts that I'm even considering changing the colour once again! 

And finally, Aston's room has been painted in a rich blue hue and all his teddies look completely at home and tucked up for bed in that cosy Stokke Sleepi cot!

What a truly lovely home! I'm such a huge fan of 1950's architecture and so happy Mia and Martin have given it the full treatment and turned the space into a fantastic family home!

Is there anything about this home that you love in particular?

You can keep up with Mia's latest renovation projects over at her Instagram feed still_sunday and take a peek at her photography here.

Oh, and check out more fabulous before and after make-overs here! 

Have a lovely day!

Niki

Photography by Mia Mortensen, shared with kind permission

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A Contemporary Swedish Hillside Cabin (With An Incredible Infinity Pool!)

I absolutely love the idea of weekend / holiday retreats, how about you? A complete change of scene, somewhere you can unwind. It doesn't need to be anything decadent - a small log cabin surrounded by woodland or a little house by the sea.  Then again, when I see this, perhaps an infinity pool wouldn't go amiss either, what do you reckon?! This incredible cabin in Aspvik, East of Stockholm was designed by Andreas Martin-Löf architecture and successfully combines the pared-back nature of a Scandinavian retreat with a touch of LA luxury! Talk about taking 'forest bathing' to a whole new level! Come on, let's take a peek inside!

Made from steel, timber and glass, the structure allows you to sit back and enjoy panoramic views of the woodland from anywhere in the house. Or, you could just relax in the infinity pool and breathe in the fresh scent of pine!

The majority of the interior is made up of wood giving the space a wonderful organic feel. Other natural elements include cork (the cork table, bench and chairs are by Ilse Crawford for IKEA).

Open shelving (also seen in this make-over) ensures plenty of storage without interrupting the flow of light in the open-plan kitchen and living room area.

A grey marble worktop and splash-back brings the look up to date and contrasts beautifully with the timber. I love the patina on the brass tap too - and just how fab is that sink?!

The stairway leads down to the master bedroom, where you can look out over the forest from bed - not a bad way to start your day!

Just in case you can't quite shake off that weekday feeling - there's also a poolside sauna. I don't think I've seen a black one before - I'm feeling relaxed just looking at it, how about you?! And it's Monday.

Wow!

Could you imagine spending your weekends here?!

You can read more about the project here. And dream away by visiting the log cabin and rural retreat archives!

Thank you for the tip Nordic Design!

Have a great start to the week vänner!

Niki

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