A trip to the home of singer, interior designer and product designer Cecilie Noer marks the first in a series of features on people within the Paper Collective creative community. Artists, musicians, designers and other inspirational people who have shaped their homes and lives with their own particular creative flare.
Living just outside of Copenhagen in the Danish city of Roskilde, Nikolai Kotlarczyk visits Cecilie Noer at her family home with husband Daniel and their four children. We chatted about colour, mixing old and new and how to choose art that can be enjoyed by the whole family.
NK: Hi Cecilie, can you start by telling me about your studio and how you approached designing your home?
CN: To me interior design is very personal and should be approached accordingly. My own home is kind of like a studio, but it is also a playground where I can try out different things. I used to put my focus mostly on the aesthetic, but now I work more to balance aesthetics with functionality. We decided to build our own house 3 years ago. During that process, we really got to ask ourselves questions about what our needs really are. The whole building process was a pilot project for exploring how the house can be a perfect design for us and our needs.
NK: How do you like to work with colour within your interiors?
CN: I love colours, and they express a lot of personality. But at the same time, my approach is less is more, and I believe in utilizing a concept called proportional use of colour – that if you use a colour, it should be in proportion with its surroundings. This is especially important in larger rooms where too many colours can just become noisy.
NK: I can see you are not afraid to mix time periods and styles. How do you think combining these elements adds to your spaces?
CN: I love mixing vintage and new pieces for instance. We live in a world where we need to stop mass production and start repurposing what is already produced.Stop shipping goods from around the globe and start buying locally and reused items.
I recently read of the concept "Hipstoric". This is based on how generation X and boomers are searching for inspiration on Pinterest - people want to find new ways to honor the older items within their homes. I love that. And I think that is a great way to describe what I'm trying to do. Old furniture is bringing soul, personality and history into interior design.
NK: This combination of different styles is also evident in your art-wall. Why did you decide on such a mix of artworks, from colourful illustrations to very minimal photography?
CN: I love art, because it can bring up the same emotions as a vintage sofa from your grandparent's home. Haha. When I pick up art, it is because it speaks to me and reminds me of something. Again not a neutral surrounding, but a reason to start a conversation. And I think Paper Collective is very good at curating art pieces which can do that. When you put art together on a big wall, you also have to consider a bit about which artwork looks good together. But I like to challenge myself to put something together which creates many different stories.
NK: What are you looking for when you buy artwork for your children?
CN: I try to find something that will speak to my kids the same way art speaks to me. Something they can relate to. Often it is animals or something they learned in school – letters or numbers. At their age, school is a big thing, and they learn something new every day. But I also want something that can start their imagination and maybe be an object of their future memories. I also buy art together with my kids simply because as a interior designer, but also as a mom, I'm curious about what speaks to them.
Interview and text by Nikolai Kotlarczyk
Photography: Balder Skånstrøm-Bo
Find Cecilie's music on Spotify or follow her creative design studio on Instagram.