Every December, this Danish design blogger gives her house in Copenhagen a fresh new look to see the year out
This end of the living area was previously a conservatory, now fully insulated and fitted with beautiful new windows. The recycled-timber dining table is a custom piece by Thors Design, which specialises in patinated timber from decommissioned Danish harbours. Jill had the chairs reupholstered in one of her favourite velvet fabrics. Pendant light, Thomsons. (opposite) Green foliage, white plates, grey napkins, wood tones and a little brass complete Jill’s Christmas table. The shortbread is from gourmet cake company KageKompagniet. Plates, Lyngby Porcelain. Brass candlesticks, Gejst Design.
What happens when a rampant ideas person and her builder partner buy a home? They find themselves living in a blissful but bonkers state of constant reinvention. That is clearly the case for Jill Mee Lyme and her husband Peter, who juggle changing up their home on a regular basis with raising their three gorgeous children.
Jill is the well-known stylist/writer behind Shades of Grey, and interior design (especially the possibilities of rearranging and restyling homes) is her passion. Peter specialises in brick and stone works on a large scale and so, while some of his wife’s domestic projects mean “a little more work in the evening”, nothing seems to faze him.
Their design story started a few years back, during their search for a home. As soon as they arrived at a 1950s bungalow in Kastrup, a suburb of Copenhagen, the ideas started flowing. “Even at that first showing, there was so much to think about,” says Jill. “Peter said that if we removed all of the stuffing [the unnecessary walls of the home], it would be possible to put in a new open kitchen-dining area, and dig out the basement for more rooms.” With that in mind, the contract on the 175 square-metre home – which wasn’t fit to live in – was promptly signed and the couple got to work.
Today, the living area is one large 85-square-metre space comprising a combined kitchen-dining zone and a sitting room that once was much smaller but is now big enough for the whole family. Tying all the zones together is new herringbone oak parquet flooring with an oiled finish. “We spent a long time and way too much money choosing materials for the home we were dreaming of,” admits Jill. “I can spend days looking for inspiration on the internet and in magazines, and was keen on a few expensive joinery styles for the kitchen, but Peter’s priority was the appliances.”
To balance the budget, the couple bought affordable Ikea elements, which they spiced up with new fronts from
Form Plus and handles from Buster and Punch. That way, Peter got his Gaggenau stovetop, two ovens and a wine cooler.
All are in full use in December, when the family entertains at scale after rolling out a new Christmas look. To accompany their menu, the setting has to be novel but nuanced, in line with the home’s grey palette and golden highlights. “My only true Christmas tradition is changing the style every year – and adding about three kilos to my weight,” says Jill, laughing. “One year it was classic red, another time it was turquoise, and once it was pink.”
The family’s festive paraphernalia and regularly circulated furniture and accessories (featured in Jill’s blog) are kept outside in a huge industrial-size storage container, which the Lymes acquired during their renovations as a temporary storage solution. Now it’s like a treasure chamber for all her projects. “My parents are no longer with us, and so changing the yearly Christmas style has become my way of turning Christmas into something extraordinary,” she explains. “When our house was finished, I decided to go for it and bought pretty much every Christmas ornament I had always wanted – in colours and expressions that fit our home as it is now.”
But despite her enjoyment of the status quo, it seems Jill’s flirtation with flipping her home is far from over. “I still have plans for it,” she says with a twinkle in her eye. “Our house is an ongoing project, and my next one is a little balcony in the kitchen, or maybe a first floor – when Peter has time.”
See more of Jill’s styling work at shadesofgrey.dk
(all images except far right) This is more of a grown-up space, perfect for evenings. Great Ash velvet sofa from Eilersen. Black chair and coffee table, vintage finds. Against the internal wall is: a 19th-century oak console featuring a pink glass vase by Gunnel. Painting (on the wall) by Tommy Jill bought the generous sofa from Ilva and the OX Denmarq marble table from Amazing Living. Östmar and photograph by Lars Grönwall. Artwork (beside slip-covered white chair), also by Gunnel. Pendant light, Thomsons. The tree decorations are from Nordstjerne, with star and candlesticks from Ferm (opposite, top) Like generations of children many years before her, Gunnel hangs Living. Every year, Jill puts pine cones in clusters under a glass dome or (on branches) in a large vase. up her coats along the wall. At the back is an old-style cast-iron radiator, its paint flaked off long ago. PREPPING THE TABLE (opposite) Not your average Christmas cake, this attention-grabbing design in complementary colours is from local business KageKompagniet. Champagne glasses, Brocante Fund.