Signe has renovated her summer house with secondhand furnishings and a wealth of colors

How did you end up finding your beautiful architect-designed vacation home in Øer Maritime Ferieby?

We were actually on our Ascension Day vacation in Ahl, not too far from Øer, but one day we decided to take a quick trip to Øer Maritime Ferieby, which has a ton of great amenities. We quickly saw that there were a lot of vacation homes for sale, and by pure chance, there was an open house that very same day. The real estate agent there offered to show us one of the homes, and we were like, “Okay, let’s do it,” and suddenly we were standing there in the middle of a vacation home in Øer.

> It’s totally crazy what people throw away—and with most things, you can barely tell they’ve even been used

Nothing had been done to the vacation home since it was built, so we immediately got a bunch of ideas for what we could do, and we decided almost on the spot that we wanted to buy the house. Unfortunately, we got a message the next day that the house had been sold to someone else, so we had to put that dream on hold for a bit. Luckily for us, the buyer backed out, and we rushed to snap it up.

You completely renovated your summer house in 2020. What got you started on the renovation?

It really just happened naturally. The summer house was built in 1987 and was still in its original condition, so it was just a matter of putting on our work gloves and getting started. From the very beginning, our mantra was that we wanted to try to buy everything for the house secondhand. The renovation therefore turned into a sort of family project, where my parents would drive to one town to pick up a refrigerator and then to another town to pick up a sink. It really went from one extreme to the other. One day, someone posted that they had a bed available for pickup in Trøjborg, so I had to head out. Sure enough, there was an almost-new bed right in the middle of the street. It’s totally crazy what people throw away—and with most things, you can barely tell they’ve even been used.

Why did you choose to renovate and furnish your home using only secondhand items?

As I said, it was a matter of principle, so we had a shared project centered on renovating the summer house. I love hunting for secondhand finds, and for us, it turned into a hobby to find all these things for the summer house. At first, our families thought we were completely out of our minds, but the more secondhand items we found, the cooler it got. What started out as just our decision suddenly became a cozy little project that the whole family was involved in.

For me, it’s not important that the things I find have a specific brand name or that our summer house is furnished exclusively with design classics. What’s important, however, is that they’re well-crafted, high-quality, and functional. I’m especially fond of old furniture and items from the ’60s, which I think have great functional qualities. By decorating with secondhand items, you naturally achieve a more personal touch in your decor, and I think it’s cool to be able to challenge people’s perception of the typical decor from IKEA and Ilva. I also like the idea of reusing things, but sustainability wasn’t the main motivation for us. In fact, my husband teased me a bit at first, because all these trips also meant a lot more gas, but at least a lot of things got a new lease on life.

Do you have any good tips on what to do if you’re going on a thrift hunt?

In recent years, many people have discovered the appeal of secondhand shopping, so prices have risen significantly. It can therefore often be a challenge that everything is simply expensive if you’re hunting for secondhand finds in big cities. If you’re looking for bargains, it’s often a good idea to head to smaller towns. I have a soft spot for stoneware and glass vases, and you can really find some lovely secondhand pieces like that. I have a cabinet at home where I keep it all—my husband calls it the “decor cabinet.” When we have guests, he always opens it up just to show how crazy it is, but hey. If you know, you know.

> 1. Go for what appeals to you > 2. Prioritize quality and functionality > 3. Always remember to snap it up the first time—if you come back, it’ll be gone

Your summer house is a true mecca for a color lover. What is it about colors, and how do you dive into a color project like that?

Since the houses in Øer are architect-designed, they all follow a sort of design manual. That means each house has a specific color and style that we owners aren’t allowed to change. Of course, this can be a bit of a divisive issue, but it’s also part of what you’re buying into. I thought it was cool to try to create a sense of continuity between the interior and exterior, so our color choices just fell into place naturally. I started by creating a color palette for the house and the decor, and then it was just a matter of putting on a good painting playlist and getting to work for days on end. We ended up painting all the ceilings blue to create a cozy, cave-like atmosphere in the rooms with high ceilings, and in the kitchen we chose a mustard yellow since the ceiling is lower there.

> If you want to dive into a new color project, I think you should just go for it

Our guests are often a bit skeptical about our color choices, but when they see the house in person, they’re always surprised by the atmosphere the colors create. In Øer, our house is known as the “design house.” That’s really not my style, and it was never our intention for our house to be a showcase. I do think it’s wonderful, though, if it can inspire others. For us, the colors create a completely different atmosphere in the summer house because we feel enveloped by something. It creates coziness and a sense of togetherness. We have lots of colors at home, too, but at the summer house it’s easier to be more experimental with colors because we’re not there as often. If you want to dive into a new color project, I think you should just go for it. You don’t have to paint your ceilings, like we did. You can also just start by painting a single wall in a color you like.

You recently started a new business where upcycling also plays a central role. Can you tell us a little about it?

For several years, I’ve been working on a side project with my friend Lotte, who’s also a trained graphic designer. We both love finding a bit too many old things here and there, so we started collecting old art and lithographs from various auctions and thrift stores. As the collection grew, we got this idea to frame the art, and before we knew it, we’d invested in an old Morsø framing machine on DBA and were framing art in Lotte’s basement.

After several years of graphic design work in various industries, one of Lotte’s friends suddenly called one day and told us she’d found a space for us where we could open our art shop.

The shop space, of course, had the most beautiful glass ceiling and a completely original terrazzo floor, so we decided we simply had to take the plunge. We’re definitely inspired by this growing trend of beautiful, colorful mat boards, and we’re especially crazy about one-of-a-kind art from the ’50s and ’60s. By combining upcycled art with new colors, we create entirely new looks and give something old a new lease on life with a fresh twist. In many ways, that’s exactly what we’ve done in our summer house, too.