Lots of
ROOM IN THE HEART
Lene and her husband Jørgen live with their adult son in a beautiful natural setting in the former school in the town of Rudbøl in Denmark – very close to the rough marshland and the border between Denmark and Germany. The school was built back in 1923. The couple came upon the place by coincidence but immediately fell in love with it. The house was very decayed but Lene and Jørgen saw the possibilities and especially loved the mansion style and the tall windows. Actually, they only wanted to use it as their summer house but they quickly felt so at home here that they decided to move in permanently, and so they sold their other home. The charming house, the rough nature and the wind blowing across the marchland had indeed captured their hearts.
So far, they’ve been renovating for twelve years and still haven’t finished. Renovating the house has turned into a beloved lifestyle and they’ve done all the work themselves, apart from replacing the roof. At the moment, Lene is turning the old classroom and the original entrance area into a nice store where she wants to sell Swedish, French and Danish antiques to people who happen to pass by or have found her on the internet. The walls are 13 feet (4 m) tall so the classroom is nice and bright, and you can enter the garden through a French door. Lene has always been interested in renovating old things and visiting markets but once she moved into this home, the interest quickly turned into a full-time passion and that’s why she wants to set up her own little store.
The style in this house is a wonderful mixture of French country style and Swedish Gustavian style, and it fits so nicely to the almost majestic rooms with the big windows and high ceilings. All the rooms are nice and bright, and everything has been painted white, including most of the furniture which is mainly old. Lene combines it with lots of antique French candleholders and chandeliers, beautiful old baskets and boxes and lots of marvelous textiles in subdued colors. In this way, she creates a wonderful sense of calmness, a red thread and a very cozy feel in the entire home. Part of the loft has been turned into a fantastic living room with a wood-burning stove and you get to it through the hallway with the
beautiful, old staircase. Each recess has been utilized and up there, below the roof, the couple has found space for several cozy sitting areas.
The bedroom and the bathroom have been furnished in a timeless style with white tiles and panel walls. The sink table is actually an old dresser with a sink added by Jørgen. The closet in the bedroom is also an old piece of furniture that’s been painted
