{"id":2482,"date":"2025-08-18T12:39:20","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T04:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/2025\/08\/18\/kitchen-of-the-week-a-scandinavian-design-with-a-proper-british-accent\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T12:39:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T04:39:20","slug":"kitchen-of-the-week-a-scandinavian-design-with-a-proper-british-accent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/fr\/kitchen-of-the-week-a-scandinavian-design-with-a-proper-british-accent\/","title":{"rendered":"La cuisine de la semaine : Un design scandinave aux accents britanniques"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As the keeper of a vintage, ice-box white kitchen, I can\u2019t help but wonder about life with a bit more color\u2014and space, too. I look at classic British design as interpreted by Plain English and deVol and dream of making dinner surrounded by a new paint palette and pantries galore.<\/p>\n

Sara Aagaard, the owner, with her interior designer mother, Frida Frank, of Copenhagen design emporium Shop Dora, felt much the same way. She and her husband and their two young boys are the lucky occupants of a grand 1928 villa in Copenhagen\u2019s Frederiksberg. Ready to combine and make over their existing formal dining room and small kitchen (\u201chidden from the rest of the house from the days there were maids\u201d), she took inspiration from the Brits. \u201cBut I didn\u2019t have the energy to start a dialogue with an overseas firm,\u201d she says, by way of explaining that to get the look, she and her designer, Frida, ordered classic fittings from Swedish company Kv\u00e4num, specialists in traditional, top-of-the-line millwork. They specified it be painted in Farrow & Ball shades\u2014dusky green and wild-card orange\u2014to create an airy, ethereal space that feels both old-world proper and fresh. And yes, unmistakably English cast in a magical Scandinavian light.<\/p>\n

Photography courtesy of Kv\u00e4num (@kvanumofficial).<\/p>\n


Above: The family took over the existing kitchen, dining room, and stair to create a roomy new open space\u2014one with 10-foot-plus ceilings. The kitchen features Kv\u00e4num\u2019s Broby cabinets and shelving in Farrow and Ball\u2019s Studio Green, one of our 10 Architects\u2019 Moody Paint Picks. <\/p>\n

Kv\u00e4num offers the cabinets in 12 others colors and applies them not only to kitchens\u2014this one is known as Broby Studio Green\u2014but to dressing rooms, laundries, and baths. The company describes the design as \u201cturn of the century\u201d in style: \u201ca traditional recessed door hand painted on ash with visible hinges.\u201d The new floor is oak in a herringbone pattern. (Thinking of installing your own version? See Remodeling 1010: The Difference Between Chevron and Herringbone Patterns.)<\/p>\n


Above: The bracketed shelves are usually faced with framed-glass cabinet fronts, but are here left open\u2014Sara refers to them as \u201cbookshelves\u201d and says, \u201cI didn\u2019t want everything to be hidden in cabinets\u2014it looks so boring and museum-like. I like that this is a bit messy.\u201d,<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the kitchen is used by two adults and two kids, it had to be designed for everyday life,\u201d she adds. \u201cWe painted the cabinets dark green so that fat fingerprints are hidden. In sunny weather, it\u2019s very, very green, and when it\u2019s cloudy it shows as almost black.\u201d<\/p>\n


Above: Set in a Carrara marble counter, the sink has a show-stopping brass mixer faucet from Danish brand Toni Amatur. The brass and opal glass globe ceiling fixtures are Michael Anastassiades\u2019s Double Angle and Triple Angle lights. <\/p>\n

A new French door, inserted in place of a window, opens to an outdoor dining area.<\/p>\n


Above: The hand-painted finish is visible on close inspection\u2014and \u201cwhen there are nicks and scratches, we just erase them with a paint brush,\u201d says Sara. The cabinet pulls are vintage British\u2014Sara oversees Shop Dora\u2019s antiques department and collected them over time. \u201cIt was hard to find thirty-four matching pulls; after looking for months, I decided it was even more charming that they\u2019re not all exactly the same.\u201d
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Above: The oak island is designed as a work table with an inset stove top. Inspired by Plain English\u2019s daring color combinations (see for instance A Polychromatic Dream Kitchen in Hackney and its British Standard Design in Bold Blue), it\u2019s painted Farrow & Ball\u2019s Blazer. Two of the drawers are real and one is false \u201cso there\u2019s room for legs and high chairs.\u201d
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Above: The fridge, freezer, and ovens are incorporated into a cabinet wall.
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Above: The room is painted Nights in White Satin, a color from Danish firm File Under Pop that changes in the Nordic light from a warm white to palest pink (for similar shades, see Architects\u2019 10 Favorite Warm White Paints). The back of the space opens to the dining area, and the French doors overlook a terrace and garden. See more of the space and its furnishings at Shop Dora. <\/p>\n

Three more kitchens that apply tradition with a twist:<\/p>\n