Winter nights in Denmark are dark and long. The makers of Forbrydelsen (The Killing) did a very good job of illustrating this in the latest series, I thought. However, Danish people don’t mind the darkness at all because they illuminate their homes with fabulous Danish design lamps. These are very fashionable indeed and it’s my belief that the joy associated with owning a lamp by Le Klint or Poul Henningsen has led to the demise of the functional curtain in Denmark. Most homes do have some kind of blind or curtain framing the windows, but in most cases these are purely for decoration and are never drawn.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a nosey person and I love looking into people’s homes when I’m walking past of an evening and getting a glimpse into how other people live, and this is facilitated greatly by the anti-curtain movement. After many evenings of research/being nosey, I can conclude that a fancy light is a must in the well-decorated Danish home.
The placement of the designer lamp is also given great consideration: not only must it be clearly visible from the street, but it must hang low enough to illuminate the table which inevitably is placed directly underneath. And now here’s a warning to foreigners visiting Denmark: beware the hanging lamp – you WILL bang your head on it. A lot.
A peek into most homes also reveals the great Danish passion for candles, which I also share. There’s nothing like lighting candles to up the hygge factor in a room. It could also be that those few extra degrees of warmth from the candlelight helps to replace those lost from not drawing the curtains.
Warmth in general is actually something to be given great consideration if one is spending any time in Denmark in the wintertime. Having found myself woefully inequipped when I moved here in December 2010, I have been steadily building up my winter wardrobe and I’ve finally reached a point where I can go out in sub-zero temperatures and be toasty warm at all times. Basic items I have invested in include: winter boots (fur-lined and waterproof), down-filled coats (knee length), woollen hats (head to be covered at all times, curly hair issue notwithstanding), woollen vests (non-scratchy), woollen jumpers (long enough to cover the posterior), and woollen gloves (with fleece lining).
The effectiveness of my winter kit has enabled me to spend many happy hours outside in temperatures hovering somewhere around minus 10, armed with my trusty camera taking pictures of, well, pretty much everything really! I can’t describe the ecstasy I feel as soon as the temperature drops and the snow starts to fall, so instead I’ll leave you with some pictures of my present winter-wonderland-nirvana…
I sne står urt og busk i skjul
Vinternætter i Danmark er mørke og længe. De, der lavede Forbrydelsen, var dygtige til at illustrere det, synes jeg. Alligevel er danskerne ligeglade med mørket, idet deres hjem bliver oplyst med fantastiske Danish-design-lamper. Disse er ret moderigtige, og det er min mening, at glæden, der kommer fra at eje en lampe af Le Klint eller Poul Henningsen, har ført til døden for fungerende gardiner. De fleste hjem har en eller anden slags gardin eller rullegardin, men de fleste gange er de ren pynt og bliver aldrig trukket for. Som tidligere sagt er jeg et nysgerrigt menneske og elsker at kigge ind i folks hjem, når jeg går forbi om aftenen. Det er fascinerende at se, på hvilken måde andre folk lever deres liv, og mangel på gardiner hjælper meget! Efter mange afteners undersøgelse/nysgerrighed kan jeg konkludere, at en kunstfærdig lampe er nødvendig i det velindrettede danske hjem.
Placeringen af designer-lampen er omhyggeligt overvejet: Den skal tydeligt kunne ses fra gaden og hænge lavt nok til at oplyse bordet, der ligger direkte nedenunder. Og nu kommer der en advarsel til udlændinge, som besøger Danmark: Du kommer til at støde dit hoved på lampen. Mange gange.
En kig ind i de fleste hjem afslører den store danske lidenskab for stearinlys, som jeg også deler. Der er ikke noget så godt som at tænde nogle stearinlys for at forøge hyggen i en stue. Det kunne også være, at de få ekstra grader af varme, der kommer fra stearinlys, hjælper med at erstatte dem, der tabes ved ikke at trække gardinerne for.
Varme generelt er faktisk noget, at man må overveje med omhu, hvis man besøger Danmark ved vintertide. Da jeg flyttede hertil i december 2010, var jeg sørgelig dårligt forsynet, da det kom til vintertøj. Siden har jeg samlet en rigtig god vintergarderobe, og nu kan jeg være udenfor i temperaturer, der ligger under frysepunktet, og være dejlig varm hele tiden. Blandt de grundlæggende artikler, jeg har investeret i, er vinterstøvler (pelsforede og vandtæt), dun-fyldte jakker (knælange), uldne hatte (hovedet skal dækkes hele tiden, til trods for hattehår), uldne undertrøjer (der ikke klør), uldne trøjer (lange nok til at dække bagdelen) og uldne handsker (med fleece foring).
Så effektiv er min vintergarderobe, at det er lykkedes mig at være udenfor i mange timer i temperaturer, der ligger på cirka minus 10 grader uden at fryse. Det har været dejligt at være ude med mit kamera, og jeg har taget billeder af, tja, næsten alting faktisk! Jeg kan ikke beskrive henrykkelsen, jeg føler, lige så snart temperaturen falder, og snevejret kommer, så i stedet for vil jeg efterlade dig med billeder af mit nuværende vinter-eventyrland nirvana…
All this is fascinating stuff and is very interesting.
Soon the sun will be rising higher in the sky.
Meantime, keep warm – it’s snowing here in Forfar.
ALAN (alias ‘Chancer’!!)
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Well, the forecast is looking like we’ll be hitting temperatures over freezing next week….I’m so disappointed!! I’m enjoying the snow while I still can, hope you enjoy the Scottish snow 🙂
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I so enjoy these posts! Sipped my breakfast coffee over this one. Now where can you buy these lamps in Scotland…… As for candles, I treated myself to the red lustre dove seen here. xhttp://www.emmabridgewater.co.uk/accessories/candles/icat/candles/
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Groovy candles! Maybe I should start an export business specialising in lighting…
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