monochromatic gray living room

this red brick house in a copenhagen suburbdates from 1915. with her update nearly a century later, interiordesigner lene halse hornemann transformed the former clinic into an inviting familyhome. “hello, welcome. welcome to our house in copenhagen. i would like to show you how we live... welcome inside. follow inside! come dogs!”

deploying a nuanced palette of gray with definingaccents of black, the designer created a space that is at once serene and dramatic. for lene halse hornemann, color is more thana decorative element - it's emotional. “colours is very important. it takes you on a journey. it reminds you of places and it gives youimaginations of stories, where you wanna be or what you would like to. and that's why there's no white colours inthis house. only the ceilings is white.”

despite the use of steely gray hues, the roomsexude warmth. light is key in creating that effect - largenew windows were put in to let daylight stream deep into the house. the fireplace is the heart of the living area- and lamps, both designer and flea-market finds - create a sense of coziness on longwinter evenings. “i was trying to achieve the feeling inthe house of this is the place you wanna be. you only have this second, you only have thismoment and if you have to feel where is the best place to be i wanted to create that. not for myself because i don't live here bymyself.

i wanted to create that for my family.” lene halse hornemann lives here with her husband,two children and three dogs. the kitchen is where the entire family comestogether. the designer has built a career on designingkitchen islands for clients. she wanted her own kitchen to be as beautifulas it is functional. “it's a kitchen, but it's not just a kitchen. it's more than that because the granite here,the tabletop, is brushed. so it has like a softness, it's not polishedand shiny. it's more soft on the surface.

and it goes really well together with thecabinet which is made out of wood. and it goes from one drawer to the other drawer. and when you push the drawer it comes outand it's electronic. so it's practical, it's beautiful, but it'salso functional.” the house boasts 400 square meters on threefloors, but despite its rambling size, it maintains an intimate air. space is important to the hornemanns - andthey use every inch of it. “your house is your castle and you surroundyourself with things you enjoy and you make it cozy.

you know the danish word for hygge which iscoziness. so i think that's a big part of danish culture.” “we still bring a lot of friends and familiesback to our homes. so we have to open up our homes and maybethat's why we really consider how we live, with beautiful things. and not just beautiful things like shapes,but also good quality. danish people like good quality. and that makes it a little bit more fun.” this isn't the first house that lene halsehornemann has bought and renovated for her

family. but given how comfortably they've settledin, it may be a while before they move out of this gloriously gray home.

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