6 Interior Design Tips for Your Holiday Home from Sussie Frank and Vibeke Panduro

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With backgrounds in design and interior, and each owning an iconically decorated holiday home, Vibeke Panduro and Sussie Frank are the obvious choices to talk to when it comes to interior design tips. While Vibeke Panduro's holiday home 'Lille Svinkløv' is architecturally related to the iconic Svinkløv Badehotel – and is a statement in itself with its beautiful, blue kitchen – Sussie Frank's holiday home 'Det lille sorte' helped kickstart the now well-known pastel trend that has characterized many holiday homes on Instagram in recent years.

Here they share six of their very best tips for beautiful and meaningful holiday home decor. Also, get their best tips for finding the most beautiful second-hand treasures at the bottom of the article.

Sussie Frank 44 years old, home stylist and creative consultant, as well as co-owner of the paint company Color Stories. Lives daily in Randers with her husband Rasmus, their two children, Anne (17) and Peter (14), and their dog. Participated in Landfolk's makeover program, Holiday Home Transformations, in 2022.

Vibeke Panduro 50 years old, called Vibs (unless her husband is mad at her, in which case it's Vibeke). In addition to her adult children, she has two small puppies and has just started the craft and design company The Table Project. For many years, she ran the furniture and design company Skagerak with her husband, Jesper Panduro. Owns the holiday home ‘Lille Svinkløv’.

1. Use the holiday home's own style as a starting point

At home, Vibeke Panduro's decor is colorful, but in the holiday home, only the beautiful, cobalt blue kitchen breaks with the otherwise light natural colors. It's all about letting the decor suit the holiday home you have, she says.

In our new holiday home, there are some beautiful tiles that have been worn for many hundreds of years. You should make sure to reuse them. So it's very much about looking at the holiday home you are lucky enough to have and trying to make the most of it. To start from what's there, but also dare to make some slightly surprising choices.

Vibeke Panduro: »You have to think about what kind of place you have. Our holiday home is surrounded by nature, and even if it's not an interior design thing inside, inside and outside really connect in a holiday home. When we moved in, for example, the grass was mowed everywhere. It was simply a man who came and mowed the grass all the time. So it was that type of lawn. We didn't think that belonged to a holiday home. We have a small area outside, for if there are children who want to play or anything else, which I mow, but otherwise everything has just been allowed to grow freely«.

»So I think you should feel: where is the holiday home located, and what does the holiday home look like, so that what you choose for the holiday home also fits that. Sometimes there's a thatched roof on the holiday home. Then I think that what you choose inside should also connect with that. I probably wouldn't have bought a screaming green sofa, for example. Instead, it's linen, and then the kitchen is allowed to scream a little«.

It's not about being boring to decorate according to the holiday home you have, says Vibeke Panduro. »You can be a little surprised when you come in, I think. I like that. If you come in and think, wow – crazy color. Or when you come into an old holiday home, and some slightly more modern choices have been made. There can certainly be contrasts, but you should be a little careful and start from what's there. Are there some nice tiles, for example? You should make sure to reuse them. So it's very much about looking at the holiday home you are lucky enough to have and trying to make the most of it. To start from what's there, but also dare to make some slightly surprising choices«.

2. Create coherence in your trinkets ~ it gives the eye peace

Sussie Frank: »One of the things that can be incredibly cozy to decorate with in the holiday home is trinkets. It can be something you've found at a flea market, or something you've brought from home. But one of the things I myself can have a bit of a problem with is that it either ends up being too many trinkets, or it becomes far too incoherent and just ends up actually being a bit messy«.

Therefore, the home stylist's best tip is to gather your trinkets in small clusters and try to balance their height.

Otherwise, it can become complete visual chaos, so it almost topples over when you look at it.

»So instead of spreading vases, candlesticks, and lamps with lamp bases and all that, try to gather things at one end of a dresser, and place a stack of books at the other end, for example. Then there's a bit of counterbalance. So you have many, maybe three to five things, gathered at one end, and then books at the other end, perhaps with a small candlestick on top. If you have a lot of trinkets in a display cabinet, that's a bit different. It can be completely full and have lots of all sorts of different things. But on long surfaces, whether it's a dresser or a shelf, it's very smart to gather things in clusters«.

»And that thing with heights. If you have a lamp base with a tall shade, then use some candlesticks and vases of different heights in the same cluster. But if you have height on one side and just a cluster on the other side of, for example, a dresser, try to create a bit of counterbalance on the other side with a stack of books or magazines. Otherwise, it can become a bit too chaotic visually, so it almost topples over when you look at it«.

Want to experience the holiday home ‘Lille Svinkløv’? Book it here.

3. Don't throw everything away when you take over the holiday home

Because holiday homes are just shells that we must take care of and pass on to the next owners. We get to live our lives in these beautiful holiday homes and our homes, but in reality, life is much longer than the time we are here.

When you take over a holiday home, furniture is often included. Sometimes the same items may have been in the holiday home for generations, and they can feel quite old-fashioned, but Vibeke Panduro emphasizes that it can be a good idea not to just clear out the entire holiday home as the first thing you do. The old furniture often has both potential and a certain obligation to our surroundings.

Vibeke Panduro: »When you take over a holiday home, there are often furniture from the previous owners, and I think it's worth looking at these things and how they can be used. I have several things in our holiday home that in other contexts one would have thought were quite terrible. But in a new context, they can get new life and actually work well. So sometimes you just have to wait a bit before clearing everything out and renovating«.

»The old definitely gives soul and life, and you can certainly live with it for a while and feel it out. Because holiday homes are just shells that we must take care of and pass on to the next owners. We get to live our lives in these beautiful holiday homes and our homes, but in reality, life is much longer than the time we are here. So I just think we should take care of the places we have and pass them on nicely to the next. Be sustainable and update what we have. Take care of it so that it can have a long and good life«.

4. Use textiles to create an effect on a budget

Have you ever been in a room and thought it felt a bit cold or sterile? Then it might have been a room that was decorated without many textiles. Soft items, according to Sussie Frank, are some of the things that can have a big impact without costing much, and they are often a good way to introduce pattern or color into a room.

Sussie Frank: »Textiles just add so much softness and can really change a lot of the expression. Whether it's stripes, flowers, or patterns in general. It can really contribute a lot. For example, if you have a sand-colored wall and a brown armchair you inherited, place a floral or striped cushion on the chair, along with the brown, reddish tone. Just those three elements can give a room so incredibly much«.

»Textiles can be solid-colored cushions, it can be a linen cushion, something that gives the room softness, it can be stripes, dots, or flowers together. But the fact that there are some colors in it can really change the whole room. And if you can complement it with a poster or some art that has something in the same color, it's truly lovely in my eyes«.

5. Pass it on the third time you move it

Perhaps you tend to bring too many things home. Many of us have that problem, and Vibeke Panduro is no exception, she says. To declutter her belongings, she has therefore created a rule of thumb for herself, which is a pretty good tip:

Vibeke Panduro: »I try to tidy up my things now and then. If you've had something for too long, you can also feel that it's time to replace it. And don't forget it. I've been a bit too good at that, but now I've moved a few times, and then you have to take a stand and say, do you really need this thing? Then I have a veto right. If the item has been put in the cupboard twice, and I haven't had anything to use it for, I get rid of it the third time. For example, I have a nice brass box. It was very nice, and it was also from a well-known brand and everything, and then I put it away and moved with it twice, but it hasn't come out yet. So now it actually dies. Now it moves on and gets a life somewhere else«.

Then I have a veto right. If the item has been put in the cupboard twice, and I haven't had anything to use it for, I get rid of it the third time.

6. Avoid plastic substitutes ~ rather save for the real deal

And one of Sussie Frank's personal preferences is to avoid artificial materials if you can. For example, if you want a leather sofa, avoid just choosing the first and best option:

Sussie Frank: »Instead of buying one in PU or artificial leather, it's actually better to save money or sit on a cotton sofa. It just won't be good for the decor. So save for what you really want and don't buy anything plastic. It's not genuine and can quickly look a bit artificial. And it's better to pick a rose in the garden now and then, or not to have a rose, than to buy a plastic rose«.

Want to experience Lille Svinkløv yourself? Book ‘Lille Svinkløv’ here.