We visited a home in the heart of Copenhagen, and to be completely relaxed (pants optional!) is the only way in this spacious bright flat, where Emily Nathan resides with her two boys. Emily is a lively and warm California transplant, writer, storyteller, and lover of languages, and since moving to Copenhagen, started to explore the depths of the human experience through writing about the interior world. Ever the gracious host, and taking a nod from her Danish surroundings, we were greeted with a plate piled high with pastries and a lot of funny questions from her two boys. The mixture of influences feels intentional, with treasured prints from family back home, to classic Danish pieces and the overflow of books in every corner of the living room - a true writer's sanctuary (with room for a racecar or two)! We settled in for a good and very funny chat!
What are some of your favourite cultural experiences or
traditions you've encountered in Denmark?
I didn't have a lot of traditions growing up, so it's not difficult to charm me. My children’s father is Danish, and comes from a family with a distinctive culture I find enchanting, so we've worked a lot of the habits he inherited, especially around celebrations, into our children's lives. Then there are obvious lifestyle things like breathing clean air, or taking the kids to school in a large motorized wheelbarrow, essentially, that are right up my alley. Oh, the Christmas duck! And those brown potatoes. And risalamande. Frankly, most Danish holiday food is not my style, but I'll take that duck, those potatoes, and a bowl of whipped cream and rice any day.
Do you have any guilty pleasure books, movies, or TV shows that you secretly enjoy?
No contest: anything Kardashian. I'm ashamed to admit that I simply cannot take my
eyes off the screen, and also I’m not ashamed. The phenomenon, I surmise, is equivalent
to some combination of watching a train wreck and binging on junk food
when you've finally got the kids to sleep.
If you had to choose a theme song for your life, what would it be?
OOPS I DID IT AGAIN!
And that's the honest truth.
What's the best advice you've ever been given?
This, too, shall pass.
What's the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
Remove my eye mask and the one ear plug left in an ear; strain to determine which child is yelling or laughing or stomping down the hallway in my direction; glance at the window to check just how dark it still is outside; long for the days when I used an alarm clock.
How would you describe 'the feeling of home' and how have
you created a home around it yourself?
I’ve always been a nesting creature, the kind who literally can’t step inside the door of my apartment without removing my pants. I spend all my time at home in pajamas, essentially, and if I had my druthers I would eternally be sitting or lying on a padded surface of some kind. Home, for me, is where I can do all of that -- where pretty much everything is comfortable, so I can lie on the rug in my underpants or drag a duvet over to the sofa at 11 AM and haul my computer onto my lap. Yes, I work from home; and yes, that usually means from bed.
What's the main difference you have experienced moving from the US to
Denmark in terms of interior and aesthetics?
My childhood home overflowed with clutter, floor to ceiling. There was no space, no surface. A lack of aesthetic vision or harmony isn’t an American thing, specifically, but perhaps a tendency to overdo things is. In Denmark, homes feel clean — there's a lot of white, and light, and rooms are spare and bright. There is certainly a material preference here, too, toward woods, and ceramics, and natural textiles. Things are overwhelmingly beige in Denmark -- but not American suburbia beige, more like variations on eggshell and ecru. And there are always pops of color or pattern, like delicate florals, that might feel quite frumpy if an American tried to pull it off. You know how Europeans are effortlessly elegant? The nonchalant way they throw their scarf around the neck, or the drape of their trench? It's that; that's the difference.
What made you go for the FRIDAY sofa?
I went to the showroom and sat on it! No lie. It's blissfully comfortable, and it's the perfect depth for any and every leg arrangement. I love the lines; the subtle curves under the seat and the gently sloping silhouette. It's a beautiful mix of simple and luxurious.
