‘Before I painted this apartment it was white and light-drenched, like so many Danish homes, but I felt like I was living in a greenhouse. I went with my instinct and decided to go for a dark, dramatic scheme instead,’ says interior designer Michala Jessen of her Copenhagen home’s striking interior.
Perched on the fifth floor of an apartment block in the heart of the city, it is the flat’s penthouse location that affords it so much natural light. The space is wrapped by a 120-square-metre terrace, with sweeping views of the city skyline, including the glittering dome of Frederik’s Church.
Michala, who lives here with her son, Elton, painted the entire apartment in two shades of black – a blue-black for the bedroom, and a green-black elsewhere – using paint from Swedish brand Flügger. She chose matt walls and added coats of lacquer to the ceiling to achieve its reflective finish.
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‘The colours are almost black, rather than true black. They are much softer and warmer – an all-black space would have been too much,’ she says. The inky palette is reversed underfoot, with a light oak floor in the living area. A block of floorboards at the far end of the open-plan space is painted black, visually dividing the kitchen from the rest of the room.
Michala, who has run her interiors store and design studio Rue Verte for 22 years, has a refined aesthetic. ‘I like to layer textures – soft fabrics, rugs and curtains – and add something colder or clinical against it,’ she explains.
For instance, her kitchen includes stainless-steel cabinetry that gleams against the home’s charcoal backdrop – ‘Copper and brass are very in fashion at the moment, but stainless steel is timeless,’ she says. ‘I always choose shades that combine easily – there has to be a linking thread, and for me that’s the colour palette rather than the materials.’
The emerald velvet Meridiani sofa in the living room echoes the undertone of green in the nearly black walls, but also reflects the hues of the rooftop vista. Throughout the apartment, curated displays of cherished objects twinkle like jewels in the darkness. ‘I choose pieces that I think I will keep for many years,’ says Michala. rueverte.dk
This article first appeared in ELLE Decoration January 2017
