Dublin: 1 °C Friday 29 March, 2024
Stylish cushions and a touch of greenery? See, it's easy. Shutterstock/Caroline Medeiros
SPONSORED

7 nifty styling tips to upgrade your gaff the Danish way

Jo Linehan explains how to make your place chic without the cost.

“OUR INSTAGRAM IS basically all Nordic-inspired. We look to the Nordic countries all the time, I love their style.”

Judging from the 14.1k followers GAFF Interiors have, they love it too. As one half of the duo, interiors stylist and star of RTE’s The Good Room, Jo Linehan knows her stuff when it comes to making your gaff look great.

Jo is one of four Irish influencers taking part in The Danish Experiment, a web series created by Carlsberg which will follow the group as they explore the Danish way of living, learning what makes them so different to their European counterparts.

NO FEE CARSLBERG THE DANISH WAY JB3 Julien Behal Julien Behal

The series will also see artist Maser, food trailblazer Kevin Powell and Kodaline bassist Jay Boland all discover what they can learn from Copenhagen. They’ll travel to the city for four days and be paired with a local creative to see what they can bring to their career.

So, how can we give our own homes a much-needed injection of Danish style? Fortunately, the Danes are known for their affordable and achievable interiors, as Jo explains below…

1. Buy small pieces whenever, wherever

“Danes aren’t stuck on spending a fortune, they’re quite into changing things up,” says Jo. “There has been this democratising of interiors the way that fashion and beauty have gone – now it isn’t something that’s elitist, it’s something everyone can get on board with.

“This means that places on the high street like Søstrene Grene and Penneys have started producing trendy, affordable interiors. Now at the weekend instead of buying a new dress, you can buy some new cushions and do your home up that way.”

2. You can never have enough candles

john-mark-arnold-223717-unsplash Unsplash Unsplash

“The Danes love a candle – they say that they use six times more wax than the rest of the world in Denmark. Who doesn’t love fifty or so candles alight all the time?” laughs Jo.

“Their whole cosiness thing I think really speaks to Irish people because we also have a cold climate and we do just want to come home and be super cosy and warm. Candles are a nice way of achieving that.”

3. Come closer to nature

“Danes are really great at embracing natural materials and I think that’s something that Irish people love to do too,” she says. “We’re quite a rural community, even people who live in the city love to have quite natural elements.”

“So invest in some gorgeous wooden wishbone chairs and lovely cottons for your bedspreads. Wooden furniture has become really cool again and even materials like walnut that wouldn’t have been cool for a while are coming back massively.”

4. Pick up some plants

nielsen-ramon-277806-unsplash Unsplash Unsplash

“The Danes are really into having little touches of greenery and flowers in your home, which we know improves your mood, if you work at home it ups your productivity and it cleans your air,” says Jo.

“The more in touch you can be with nature in your home, the more connected you are and the more chilled out you’ll be.”

5. Faux fur throws are a must

“If you’re looking for an easy way to create ‘hygge’ in your home, I love a great big throw or blanket,” says Jo. “Like when you get onto a couch and you’re freezing even though it’s May and don’t want to put on the heating. You can just sling a faux fur throw over an armchair or couch or put at the end of your bed.”

“It’s so luxe and it looks fabulous and it’s just a really great ‘hygge’ piece to have in your home.”

6. Clean the clutter out of every room

breather-196135-unsplash Unsplash Unsplash

“The thing we always talk about in GAFF is to pare everything back,” says Jo. “Most of us are living in very small spaces and we’re guilty of becoming completely cluttered so when you come home you don’t feel like you have headspace.”

“Go the Scandi way and seriously declutter your home. I think almost every woman has so many things in their wardrobe that they really don’t need. I’m super strict, I do a cull every month, and will only buy something if I’m getting rid of something.”

7. Join the navy (colour, that is)

“In terms of colours, really dark navy is the colour this year and I’m obsessed with it,” Jo says. “It’s such a handy one because it’s quite warming but it’s not as boring as black.”

“It’s neutral so you can have a navy bedspread or a navy couch and then you can incorporate all your other colour in each room from there.”

Want to find out what makes Denmark one of the happiest places in the world? Keep an eye out for the first episode of The Danish Experiment, which will be unveiled on TheJournal on June 14th. Follow Carlsberg Ireland on Facebook and Instagram to tune in to the series and for behind-the-scenes edits . Enjoy Carlsberg sensibly, visit drinkaware.ie.

Your Voice
Readers Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

    Leave a commentcancel