My Houzz: Spots of Happy Color Balance Swaths of White
Thanks to careful use of contrast, a minimalist upside-down townhouse in Denmark is calm but not boring
Kasper Iversen
January 17, 2018
Photos by Mia Mortensen
Townhouse at a Glance
Who lives here: Kamma Wolff Christensen, her 4- and 6-year-old sons, her boyfriend and, every other week, his 13-year-old son
Location: Aarhus, Denmark
Size: 1,539 square feet (143 square meters)
Townhouse at a Glance
Who lives here: Kamma Wolff Christensen, her 4- and 6-year-old sons, her boyfriend and, every other week, his 13-year-old son
Location: Aarhus, Denmark
Size: 1,539 square feet (143 square meters)
Kamma Wolff Christensen, pictured, lives in a two-story townhouse in Aarhus, on the east coast of Denmark’s Jutland peninsula. It’s a little unusual in that it has a reverse floor plan: The bedrooms are on the first floor, and the kitchen, living room and dining room are on the second. The living spaces are therefore just below the roof and benefit from charming sloping walls, exposed beams and bright light.
“Most visitors get confused when they enter because they expect the public areas to be on the first floor. Once we are up here, they forget that there is actually a lower floor below,” says Wolff Christensen, deputy manager at Karrusella, a shop selling interior decor items, toys and clothing in downtown Aarhus. “But I think it makes good sense to spend time in this area, which has more light and high ceilings. At least that’s how I like it.”
Live the High Life With Upside-Down Floor Plans
“Most visitors get confused when they enter because they expect the public areas to be on the first floor. Once we are up here, they forget that there is actually a lower floor below,” says Wolff Christensen, deputy manager at Karrusella, a shop selling interior decor items, toys and clothing in downtown Aarhus. “But I think it makes good sense to spend time in this area, which has more light and high ceilings. At least that’s how I like it.”
Live the High Life With Upside-Down Floor Plans
Colors leap out around the home. Bar stools in sunny yellow and grass green stand in the dining area. The living room rug is made up of all the colors of the rainbow. The children’s room has a pastel blue theme, and there are bright red elements in the master bedroom. Yet the townhouse has a pure, minimalist aesthetic at the same time.
The decor actually has a very calming effect. “That’s no coincidence. I need balance in my home. It can be colorful, but balance is important for me in order to create peace and harmony. The colors make me happy while also adding warmth and the feeling of home,” Wolff Christensen says.
“Part of the secret behind that crucial balance is selecting a neutral color base and then sprinkling it with happy colors afterwards,” she says.
“I like the fact that large furniture like sofas, tables and chairs are in colors that you can look at forever. There is lots of white and a pale gray sofa. Then you can turn up the colors of the smaller furniture pieces and details. If I get tired of the green or yellow bar stool, they are easier to replace than the sofa.”
“I like the fact that large furniture like sofas, tables and chairs are in colors that you can look at forever. There is lots of white and a pale gray sofa. Then you can turn up the colors of the smaller furniture pieces and details. If I get tired of the green or yellow bar stool, they are easier to replace than the sofa.”
Sofa, pillows, throw and rug: Hay; coffee tables: Bean, Designer Zoo; framed photos: Bob Moon
More than the colors is carefully balanced here. Details from different origins, periods and styles are tastefully combined. Having hunted for the right decor for this home for several years, Wolff Christensen has quite a good nose for what fits together and how.
“Aesthetics is incredibly important to me, and everything I have in the apartment has been carefully selected,” she says, stressing that this is why its decoration has been a long-term project.
“Aesthetics is incredibly important to me, and everything I have in the apartment has been carefully selected,” she says, stressing that this is why its decoration has been a long-term project.
“I love contrasts when they go well together,” Wolff Christensen says. “That’s why I am totally in love with the old beams under the ceilings, which I have combined with both modern elements and older furniture. In particular, I think that a large, bright room like this one begs for color contrasts. In other words, adding colors to the many white walls is something that obviously needed to be done.”
Although Hay is Wolff Christensen’s favorite brand when it comes to new, modern furniture and home accessories, she finds other furniture, art and decor in vintage shops around Aarhus and elsewhere in Denmark or abroad while on vacation.
“I found the interesting painting on the wall over the yellow bar stool, for example, on holiday in South Africa many years ago. I think it is fun to mix items with different stories and backgrounds,” she says.
“I found the interesting painting on the wall over the yellow bar stool, for example, on holiday in South Africa many years ago. I think it is fun to mix items with different stories and backgrounds,” she says.
A balcony extends from the large kitchen and dining room. Wolff Christensen found the light blue metal chairs at a recycling shop in downtown Aarhus.
The feeling of balance continues downstairs in the bedrooms.
The master bedroom is dominated by shades of red. “Somehow it just felt quite natural to make room for the red elements here. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that a fortuneteller once told me that red is a healthy color for a bedroom,” she says, smiling.
Chair and bedcover: Hay
Dreaming in Color: 8 Ravishing Red Bedrooms
The master bedroom is dominated by shades of red. “Somehow it just felt quite natural to make room for the red elements here. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that a fortuneteller once told me that red is a healthy color for a bedroom,” she says, smiling.
Chair and bedcover: Hay
Dreaming in Color: 8 Ravishing Red Bedrooms
Although Wolff Christensen didn’t have an overall color strategy in mind when decorating the townhouse, the bedrooms have color themes. This creates a consistently calm atmosphere throughout the home.
When asked how much influence her two young sons had on the look of their room, Wolff Christensen’s answer is prompt: “None! They have a say in what their toys are, but that’s it,” she says with another smile.
Turquoise rules in this room. Wolff Christensen considers the color both classic and fresh, with a modern pastel twist.
Turquoise rules in this room. Wolff Christensen considers the color both classic and fresh, with a modern pastel twist.
Children’s clothing, toys and various bits of clutter find their way into an old cabinet, on the left of this photo, and a couple of old chests that also are painted bright colors.
“I love to be able to get things out of the way in a hurry,” Wolff Christensen says. “You don’t have to live with mess just because you have kids. That’s why it is quite handy to have simple, spacious furniture like the large closet for clothes and the old-fashioned chests for the Legos.”
Table, chair and lamp: Sebra
“I love to be able to get things out of the way in a hurry,” Wolff Christensen says. “You don’t have to live with mess just because you have kids. That’s why it is quite handy to have simple, spacious furniture like the large closet for clothes and the old-fashioned chests for the Legos.”
Table, chair and lamp: Sebra
Wolff Christensen purchased the old table with the drawer from La Maison in Aarhus.
After five years in their bright two-story home, Wolff Christensen and her family are moving on. They have found a new and bigger place near the harbor in a more eastern part of downtown Aarhus.
“But in a way, it is really sad to move away from here because I actually grew up down the street, and my mother still lives there. For this reason, [the area] will always be home to me,” Wolff Christensen says.
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.
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
“But in a way, it is really sad to move away from here because I actually grew up down the street, and my mother still lives there. For this reason, [the area] will always be home to me,” Wolff Christensen says.
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.
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
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A lot of striking coincidences with my own home! I also live in Amsterdam on an "upside down" house. Building the open-plan living areas on the top floor made total sense to us to profit as much as possible of the little sun light we have in this Northern countries. We also have a white basis, pared with oak details and contemporary -mostly Sandinavian- furniture and color added on the details, including, similar cushions from Hay and Ferm Living, the same Hay stools in army green by the kitchen island (also Kvid white cabinets with oak countertop) We have custom-made cabinets in all the rooms to keep them tidy -even with kids! :-) I guess we thought of the same feeling in the house: maximum light, calm and cozy atmosphere for family life without sacrificing style.
The room on the attic is one of the most beautiful features of this home. I love it!