Warm & Welcoming

Cathrine Oxholm Sonne and Martin Lützau used simple design tricks to soften the hard lines of their home’s modern architecture

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Main living room

White walls and dark wood flooring act as a basic backdrop for the decor in the living room, which is a mix of contemporary and vintage furniture, statement lighting, and colourful artwork that sits together beautifully.

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Sense of space and closeness to nature was what first drew Cathrine Oxholm Sonne and Martin Lützau to this property located to the north of Copenhagen in Denmark. ‘We had been living in a house nearby,’ says Cathrine. ‘But it was in a built-up area where all the houses are positioned close to each other. We really wanted to have more space around us, so finding this house with so much land surrounding it – close to a lake and a nature reserve – was absolutely perfect.’

The property had been designed in the 1930s by a well-known architect in the minimalist style typical of the time, with clean lines, sharp angles, white rendered brickwork and an absence of ornamentation. While it had been extended in the early 1980s by the previous owners to include an extra downstairs sitting room, many of its original features were still in place, including the striking staircase, traditional kitchen and parquet timber floors.

For Cathrine and Martin, the challenge was working out how to preserve the property’s architectural heritage, while bringing in more of the beauty of the surrounding landscape, as well as making the hardlined architecture feel more cosy and welcoming.