A family with children's vacation home is both a renovation project and a sanctuary

But the house needed some TLC, and even though the family didn’t have much experience with renovations, they dove right in. We went up to visit them to hear more about their renovation project and why it’s okay for it to take time. After all, there also needs to be room for relaxation and good times along the way.

How did you go from coming up with the idea of a vacation home to choosing this particular place?

Stina: It was important to us to find a vacation home that could serve as a gathering place for our families, who live scattered across Denmark. And then we realized that we didn’t want a travel time of more than an hour ourselves; otherwise, we wouldn’t get to use it enough. In fact, for a while, we rented a vacation home one weekend at a time to try out different options and figure out what our needs and preferences were. That really helped us narrow things down, so it was time well spent. That’s how we discovered, for example, that we’d like to have an ice cream stand and things like that nearby. We found that here on Lyngvejen, which ties the whole area together with a restaurant, a mini-golf course, and the “Burger Corner,” where you can buy the biggest ice cream you can imagine. We think that creates just the right summer house atmosphere.

> Actually, what we did was rent different vacation homes one weekend at a time to try out different options and figure out what our needs and preferences were. That really helped us narrow down our options, so it was money well spent.

What did the house look like when you took it over?

Stina: The previous owners built the house with an eye for quality—it’s well-built. We also took over the house with all the furnishings—everything from toothbrushes to armchairs and patio furniture. We’ll be replacing things gradually. But it’s a process that takes time—and that’s fine by us. For example, I have some things from my grandfather that I’ve always known were meant to be in the summer house. It’s this old 8mm film camera that still has film in it from my mother’s childhood. I just think the case is absolutely gorgeous. It was meant to be here. When we hung up the first painting here, after we’d painted this room for the first time—that’s when we got that feeling that now we live here, now it’s our house.

> Somehow, it feels easier to renovate a summer house. If we hammer a nail in the wrong place—it’ll be fine. And there’s room for both of us to do it.

What made you decide to take on a “do-it-yourself” project like this?

Stina: We’ve seen a lot of summer houses where everything looked perfect on the surface, but they were actually just window dressing on the inside—either the roof needed replacing or the foundation of the addition was rotten. The work that needed to be done on this summer house was all the kind of stuff we enjoy doing, because the basic structure works really well. All that was missing here was a coat of paint, tearing down a wall, and rearranging things a bit. Somehow, it feels easier to renovate a summer house. If we hammer a nail in the wrong place—it’ll be fine. And there’s room for both of us to do it. So even though we don’t have much experience with renovations, it seemed manageable, and we can be here and enjoy it while we work.

What makes the house stand out?

Stina: The bedroom—it’s an addition from 2015. We love waking up here in the morning. The indoors and outdoors feel incredibly connected in that room, where light pours in and there’s plenty of space. I get the feeling that the garden extends all the way into the house. And we fell in love with the fact that the lot is so big and a little wild. It’s great for kids.