My Houzz: A Bright Apartment Filled With Handcrafted Pieces
These friends and business partners have personalized their Denmark home with retro finds and their own designs
“We began building furniture just for ourselves initially — we had no intention of starting a business — but many people were interested in our creations, so we just kept designing and producing. That’s how Roon & Rahn began,” Nicki van Roon says of the furniture and accessories company he owns and runs with his good friend René Rahn Hansen. Together, they’ve created a thriving company.
Van Roon and Hansen share an apartment in the Latin Quarter of Aarhus, Denmark. The three-bedroom unit is filled with recycled furniture and the duo’s prototypes. It functions both as a workplace and a home for the entrepreneurs.
Van Roon and Hansen share an apartment in the Latin Quarter of Aarhus, Denmark. The three-bedroom unit is filled with recycled furniture and the duo’s prototypes. It functions both as a workplace and a home for the entrepreneurs.
The apartment serves many functions for the pair. It can be set up as a photo studio and a meeting room on one day, then transformed back into a personal apartment the next.
The living room is the center of the home. The white bench the two are sitting on was used during the Munich Olympic Games in 1972.
Bench: Friso Kramer for Wilkhahn Germany
The living room is the center of the home. The white bench the two are sitting on was used during the Munich Olympic Games in 1972.
Bench: Friso Kramer for Wilkhahn Germany
“We’re really not at home in the evenings very much, so we don’t have a television,” van Roon says.
Hansen reflects on the flexibility of the space: “Our living room was originally used as our company’s office before we moved our business to a more creative environment at Godsbanen in Aarhus. However, the big board, which we previously used to create overviews, has remained. It’s actually an original school blackboard from the Kolding board factory. The only modification we’ve made is to add a steel plate to one half of it to form a magnetic noticeboard.”
“Right now, we use it mostly for fun and fill it with newspaper clippings and friends’ drawings,” van Roon adds.
Hansen reflects on the flexibility of the space: “Our living room was originally used as our company’s office before we moved our business to a more creative environment at Godsbanen in Aarhus. However, the big board, which we previously used to create overviews, has remained. It’s actually an original school blackboard from the Kolding board factory. The only modification we’ve made is to add a steel plate to one half of it to form a magnetic noticeboard.”
“Right now, we use it mostly for fun and fill it with newspaper clippings and friends’ drawings,” van Roon adds.
Although the design process has been moved to the office in Godsbanen, good ideas often start in the apartment. “We talk a lot about the company, even when we’re at home and in our leisure time,” van Roon says. “Many of our best ideas came over a beer at home.” In his spare time, van Roon plays in a band, and his guitar has a prominent spot on the wall.
Before their furniture designs are turned into products, van Roon and Hansen like to test them at home. “This way, there’s a very natural replacement cycle of our stuff,” Hansen says.
An example is this stool, which has just arrived in-store. “We often create new products to solve problems and our own interior design needs,” van Roon says.
An example is this stool, which has just arrived in-store. “We often create new products to solve problems and our own interior design needs,” van Roon says.
“Our prototypes are often made from recycled materials and, in fact, much of our furniture is from the 1950s and 1960s,” van Roon says.
This armchair in van Roon’s bedroom, bought in a thrift store in the Netherlands, was designed by architect Rob Parry, he says. “It’s completely original. In fact, I only needed to sand and wax the armrests.”
Lotus lounge chair by Rob Parry for Gelderland; lamp: vintage
This armchair in van Roon’s bedroom, bought in a thrift store in the Netherlands, was designed by architect Rob Parry, he says. “It’s completely original. In fact, I only needed to sand and wax the armrests.”
Lotus lounge chair by Rob Parry for Gelderland; lamp: vintage
Van Roon and Hansen embrace a minimalist style. “We’re not big knickknack fans, preferring things with a function, or at least a good story behind them,” Hansen says. “The two acrylic paintings were made by Aarhus artist Line Busch, and the colorful work on the wall was designed by Aarhus artist Keld.”
“It’s all about being able to put together many colors and many materials,” he says. “I think it’s unnatural to have only one main color theme in a room or throughout a home.”
RR1 lamp in smoked oak and brass with gold LED bulb: Roon & Rahn; sideboard: vintage
“It’s all about being able to put together many colors and many materials,” he says. “I think it’s unnatural to have only one main color theme in a room or throughout a home.”
RR1 lamp in smoked oak and brass with gold LED bulb: Roon & Rahn; sideboard: vintage
Roon & Rahn’s Moodboard rack, seen here on the wall to the left of the table, is the company’s best-seller. The idea for it arose because van Roon and Hansen often had trouble finding their keys.
“The idea is that you use it for your favorite or most-needed items and that you can easily switch them with the season or your mood,” van Roon says. “You can use the same Moodboard for a skateboard in the summer, a scarf in the winter and, of course, your keys all year long.”
The roommates use it for clothing, sunglasses, keys, hats, guitars, towels, tea towels, herbs and hangers. In fact, they have Moodboards in the living room, hallway, bedroom and kitchen.
Desk and lamp: vintage; Eames desk chair for Herman Miller: dba.dk (the Danish version of eBay)
“The idea is that you use it for your favorite or most-needed items and that you can easily switch them with the season or your mood,” van Roon says. “You can use the same Moodboard for a skateboard in the summer, a scarf in the winter and, of course, your keys all year long.”
The roommates use it for clothing, sunglasses, keys, hats, guitars, towels, tea towels, herbs and hangers. In fact, they have Moodboards in the living room, hallway, bedroom and kitchen.
Desk and lamp: vintage; Eames desk chair for Herman Miller: dba.dk (the Danish version of eBay)
In the living room, a former serving cart from an airplane catches the eye. “Furniture with clear references to the industrial world may seem very cold and give a ‘non-domestic’ impression,” Hansen says. “So we have many plants in our apartment, which can pull a little in the opposite direction and provide an interesting interplay.”
The ladder once belonged to a window cleaner. “We’ve just shortened it and then added stain and wax. I used the leftover pieces as a bookshelf,” Hansen says.
The ladder once belonged to a window cleaner. “We’ve just shortened it and then added stain and wax. I used the leftover pieces as a bookshelf,” Hansen says.
Wood is a key material in the apartment’s decor, as well as in Roon & Rahn’s pieces. “We really like many different types of wood, but oak and smoked oak are always delightfully pleasurable to the eyes,” van Roon says.
This spice shelf, which is still in development, is made of oak. The five test tubes are held in silicone plugs, so they can easily be taken out and put back in and the spices kept fresh. On the right side is an integrated funnel, making the tubes easy to fill.
This spice shelf, which is still in development, is made of oak. The five test tubes are held in silicone plugs, so they can easily be taken out and put back in and the spices kept fresh. On the right side is an integrated funnel, making the tubes easy to fill.
In the open kitchen-dining area is a prototype of Roon & Rahn’s Rank dining table. “We won the ILVA design award with this dining table in 2014. It helped to boost our careers tremendously,” van Roon says.
The designers also love the four Friso Kramer chairs they’ve set around the table. “The chairs have somehow helped to define the aesthetic style of Roon & Rahn,” Hansen says. The graphic image is an enlarged ampersand from the company’s logo.
“We’re also proud of our industry’s predecessors, who really have made Danish furniture design recognizable, and we will, in a humble way, help to continue the legacy,” van Roon says, referencing the vintage PH 5 pendant light over the dining table.
PH 5 lamp by Poul Henningsen for Louis Poulsen: available at Skandium
PH 5 lamp by Poul Henningsen for Louis Poulsen: available at Skandium
What’s the best advice van Roon and Hansen can offer those wanting to infuse their homes with personality? “It takes time,” Hansen says. “I’ve never felt done and 100 percent satisfied. So I can understand why many people just go out and fill their home with furniture from a chain retailer.”
Van Roon adds: “You probably should just take your time or slowly replace the boring furniture with more interesting finds.”
Moodstand shoe rack: Roon & Rahn
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
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Van Roon adds: “You probably should just take your time or slowly replace the boring furniture with more interesting finds.”
Moodstand shoe rack: Roon & Rahn
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style: Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
Who lives here: Nicki van Roon, 29, and René Rahn Hansen, 28, owners of product design company Roon & Rahn
Location: Latin Quarter of Aarhus, Denmark’s second-largest city
Size: Three bedrooms
“We moved into our fully renovated apartment in January 2014,” Hansen says. “This is when our luck began. It’s very difficult to find an apartment in Aarhus, and when you’re young, it’s even harder.”
He remembers falling in love with the quirky rooms, high ceilings and fantastic location in one of Aarhus’ oldest streets — “not to mention the washing machine.”
Rank coffee table (prototype; going into production this year): Roon & Rahn; lamp: flea market find; sofa: Lauritz.com auction house