Houzz Tour: In Denmark, Keeping Things Bright and Bold
A stylist gives her apartment a fun and creative look with cheerful colors, graphic patterns and acrylic surfaces
If stylist Anne Rimmer had to live in an all-white home with natural tones, it would be a struggle. “Colors give me peace. I simply love colors. I’ve always loved them and I feel more in tune when I’m surrounded by interesting nuances,” says Rimmer, who indulges her taste for bold hues and patterns in a lively and witty way in her apartment in Aarhus, on the east coast of Denmark’s Jutland peninsula.
In Anne Rimmer’s home you’ll find flamingos in silver and pink, palm leaves, bold stripes, dots and furniture painted or upholstered in all sorts of bright colors. There are yellow accents throughout, but you don’t immediately think, “This is a yellow home.”
“Choosing one color and using it everywhere can easily backfire,” Rimmer says. “It’s a bit like a person wearing all blue. The trick is not to be afraid of using many colors that interact well with each other. You shouldn’t try to achieve a perfect look, where all the colors match each other. It should be like discovering an old dress in your wardrobe that just looks great. It should be careless and not look too planned.”
Thanks to a wooden plank table, Eames chair and other elegant pieces of furniture, the overall look is chic, but without the price tag. “When I read about people who’ve spent [$4,500] on a couch, I think for that money I could do something, such as sew a lot of couch cushions,” Rimmer says. “Virtually everything here is secondhand. I’m good at thrifting, and I also paint, sew covers and upholster everything. The advantage is that the entire thing can be changed if I feel like it.”
“Choosing one color and using it everywhere can easily backfire,” Rimmer says. “It’s a bit like a person wearing all blue. The trick is not to be afraid of using many colors that interact well with each other. You shouldn’t try to achieve a perfect look, where all the colors match each other. It should be like discovering an old dress in your wardrobe that just looks great. It should be careless and not look too planned.”
Thanks to a wooden plank table, Eames chair and other elegant pieces of furniture, the overall look is chic, but without the price tag. “When I read about people who’ve spent [$4,500] on a couch, I think for that money I could do something, such as sew a lot of couch cushions,” Rimmer says. “Virtually everything here is secondhand. I’m good at thrifting, and I also paint, sew covers and upholster everything. The advantage is that the entire thing can be changed if I feel like it.”
All the original stucco ceilings and walls have been preserved, infusing the rooms with character.
“I knew immediately that I wanted to live here,” Rimmer says. “There were plenty of opportunities to make our mark on our home without destroying the beautiful, original details.” A large arch marks the transition between the dining and living rooms, while a striped wall creates depth and drama amid all the white. Yellow acrylic lamps hang like funky exclamation marks over the plank table surrounded by mismatched chairs.
“I knew immediately that I wanted to live here,” Rimmer says. “There were plenty of opportunities to make our mark on our home without destroying the beautiful, original details.” A large arch marks the transition between the dining and living rooms, while a striped wall creates depth and drama amid all the white. Yellow acrylic lamps hang like funky exclamation marks over the plank table surrounded by mismatched chairs.
The striped wall was a must for Rimmer. After many years in a rented apartment, she was finally allowed to go crazy with all her ideas. “I’m just mad about stripes,” she says. “I am completely indifferent to whether stripes are kitsch or whether they’re ‘in’ or ‘out.’ I choose things I really like.”
As a true fan of kitsch, she obviously didn’t stop with the wallpaper, but added in a colorful mix of textiles, a delicate yellow coffee table, a black chandelier, hunting trophies spruced up with paint and a yellow acrylic shelf. She built the sofa herself using black pallets onto which she added mattresses, giving guests a place to sleep.
As a true fan of kitsch, she obviously didn’t stop with the wallpaper, but added in a colorful mix of textiles, a delicate yellow coffee table, a black chandelier, hunting trophies spruced up with paint and a yellow acrylic shelf. She built the sofa herself using black pallets onto which she added mattresses, giving guests a place to sleep.
The rustic plank table with wrought iron frame is complemented by a colorful mix of recycled chairs, which Rimmer painted and sewed the seat covers for.
The table was a secondhand find. “I was completely obsessed with getting a long plank table,” Rimmer says. “I searched for a very long time until I finally found this one. I bought it from a woman who’d found it in France but no longer had enough space for it. Shortly after this, of course, you could find plank tables everywhere!”
The table was a secondhand find. “I was completely obsessed with getting a long plank table,” Rimmer says. “I searched for a very long time until I finally found this one. I bought it from a woman who’d found it in France but no longer had enough space for it. Shortly after this, of course, you could find plank tables everywhere!”
Wallpaper can help shape a space. The black and white stripes in the living room provide a distinctive and stylish backdrop for the colorful items, such as the blue Eames chair, another secondhand discovery.
Rimmer’s home goods company began when she was in search of a shelf in her favorite material, acrylic. She had one made, and now sells them through her company, Dims.
This acid-yellow shelf is used to hold kitsch objects, including cacti, flamingo cards, a plastic gun and a dangling monkey. “I love everything kitsch, and I’m not afraid to throw everything I’m crazy about into the home and see where it all ends up,” Rimmer says.
This acid-yellow shelf is used to hold kitsch objects, including cacti, flamingo cards, a plastic gun and a dangling monkey. “I love everything kitsch, and I’m not afraid to throw everything I’m crazy about into the home and see where it all ends up,” Rimmer says.
Rimmer’s dog, Bertha, relaxes in a turquoise Ilva armchair, virtually the only new piece of furniture Rimmer and her husband bought.
The yellow acrylic lamps over the dining table are one example of Rimmer’s eclectic mix of textures, colors and contrasts.
The apartment was newly renovated when the couple moved in, with white walls and wooden floors. “It was an important factor for us, because neither of us are great craftsmen,” Rimmer says. It also made the perfect blank canvas against which to display her colors and patterns.
For the walls of the dining room, Rimmer chose a simple wallpaper with gold dots for one side, pairing it with a bolder design featuring flamingos on the other.
For the walls of the dining room, Rimmer chose a simple wallpaper with gold dots for one side, pairing it with a bolder design featuring flamingos on the other.
A home that celebrates kitsch needs to have flamingos, of course. “The more common designs with pink birds were a bit too girlie. So I searched online and found this wallpaper in black, silver and cream,” Rimmer says.
Rimmer has a knack for creating collage walls with an unexpected mix of items. “I take a lot of things without thinking about how they’ll fit together, and then I put them on the floor. I move things around and look at them again before I finally hang them up.”
The kitchen was the only room Rimmer didn’t like, but here again — without plundering her bank account — she’s given it a personal touch. “It was boring and standard in a very white and stainless steel kind of way, which didn’t suit the old house very well. By replacing the knobs with leather straps and putting wallpaper up as a backsplash, I tried to give it a more organic look,” she says.
In the bathroom, which is simple and white, Rimmer added a few bold colors, such as mint green and raspberry, and placed a pink flamingo on the windowsill.
The bedroom is in the basement, and the couple devised some creative solutions for the space. “The closet was already here. It was quite expensive, but not really my style, so I papered the doors with palm leaves,” Rimmer says.
“The radiators are hidden behind chipboard panels fixed with magnets, so they can easily be removed if we want to adjust the temperature — a simple and elegant way to make radiator panels.”
“The radiators are hidden behind chipboard panels fixed with magnets, so they can easily be removed if we want to adjust the temperature — a simple and elegant way to make radiator panels.”
The wallpaper is the same as in the kitchen, but here the pattern has been flipped on its side. The red acrylic shelf is from Dims.
Rimmer found this loveseat many years ago. It had been waiting in a garage until she had space for it. “It’s important to act quickly when you see something you like. I have more things that I’m just waiting to fit in,” says the stylist, who painted the frame and had the cushions upholstered in gray wool for a more raw and contemporary look.
Rimmer created another collage on this wall by the stairs. The graphic circles are “wall dots,” which she designs and sells through her company.
“I was fascinated by doing something with a round design, but I also wanted them to have some sort of function,” she says. “Therefore, they come with three different styles of bracket, so you can put a candle behind them, hook a hanger on them, or just use them as a decoration, like this.”
“I was fascinated by doing something with a round design, but I also wanted them to have some sort of function,” she says. “Therefore, they come with three different styles of bracket, so you can put a candle behind them, hook a hanger on them, or just use them as a decoration, like this.”
The white background highlights paper pompoms — a simple but very effective decoration.
Everywhere there are small vignettes and displays, such as here on the desk. The round stag illustration is one of Rimmer’s wall dots.
The apartment’s original details get a playful twist with colored dots.
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Who lives here: Anne Rimmer, a stylist, make-up artist and owner of small interior products company Dims, plus her husband and their dog, Bertha
Location: The Øgade district of central Aarhus, Denmark
Property: A 1909 villa apartment on two floors
Size: 1,399 square feet (130 square meters) with a large balcony and private garden