apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I get the minimalist idea, but this home reminds me of a clean prison cell with a view. You could hear the woman's echo, that's how empty and cold it seems.
I'd find this place very depressing in the winter. At least have some comfy soft bedding.

Aster - I have been in one of those when I was young and I agree.

why does oprah hate the kid's room? if i was a kid a cave would be fun.

Funniest part is Oprah not believing how small the fridge is.

What I don't understand is how she seemed to gloss over the open view bathroom. You can see the toilet from the sofa! How does that work when you have guests?

Hehe, there's been a lot of commotion in Denmark over this, as this is definitely not a typical Danish home as the architect-owner claims. Just so you know. :)

Yes, I can't get over the open toilet (open to a bedroom is one thing, but open to the living room sofa?!) and the "master bed". At least 2 of the 3 kids get a room of their own!

I think the owner meant that what was typical was the straight lines and large windows -- the rest of it (except for the use of colour) sure wasn't typical in *my* experience of Denmark anyway! No way could our family of 4, close as we are, live there!

(And yeah, it was funny about the fridge -- you could just see that Oprah was wondering if these people actually EAT!)

Ooooh, this has been such a big deal. I live in Copenhagen, and can truthfully say, while this may epitomize modern state of the art Danish design/architecture, this is far from how typical people live.

The woman is an architect and the firm she and her husband own designed this. They are now selling, so they can live in something a little more suitable for a 3 kid family.

I have blogged about this, and given a video tour of my own pad in Copenhagen, a little more typical if I say so myself:

http://copenhagenfollies.blogspot.com/2009/10/keep-it-real-oprah.html

What a load of nonsense. That minimalist spaceship is no more a "typical" Danish apartment than Oprah's is a typical American one - but I guess your average family dwelling doesn't make very interesting TV....

I was watching this and thinking this can't be typical - glad to find out it isn't. It's way too open for a family of five! That open bathroom must be for show or for the adults at night when the kids are asleep or something.

Call me crazy, but I like a bit more privacy in terms of the bathroom. Not only is it "open" to the living room....
with the floor to ceiling living room windows....it is open to the entire city.
Not my cup of tea. It feels cold and bit too stark.

It's the size of one of Oprah's closets, no doubt.

Although the styling and 'open' bathroom may not be typical, I think the important lesson in this tour is that necessary size is relative. Generally, Americans (and maybe particularly sub-urban Americans) are accustomed to living in more spacious digs. In Europe, a smaller refrigerator and a single small toilet is typical, as are shared bedrooms or even a living room moonlighting as a bedroom. Jennie K’s home tour, although a different style, teaches us this same lesson: space is precious to many people in many parts of the world.

I think I'm most bothered by the fact that there doesn't appear to be a door between the childrens' room and the parents' bed. Not enough privacy.

Very nice apartment, and I don't think it's to small. There are small apartments very bad designed, but this is so smart. Love it!

@Comicgeek: Danes don't poop. Duh!

Many of the places Oprah traveled weren't typical (especially when poverty is taken into account), but extremes used to clearly illustrate architectural and cultural differences between those countries and America, as well as each other. Dream homes, basically. The Danish home showed that more money doesn't have to mean more and bigger things.

It's a little bit when some tourists from the midwest come to New York and can't understand why people would spend millions on an apartment rather than a house with land. Nothing's better or worse, but different people place different value on things like space, comfort and conspicuous consumption.

@Jennie K. Your place is absolutely gorgeous (and much more my style than the one on Oprah).

We had a very small fridge when living in Denmark but it worked well for us because the grocery store was just a few blocks away on foot. We did our marketing every couple of days and never had to stock up on huge amounts of anything. There were also two great bakeries just blocks away. We never bought packaged bread!

Guys - regarding the open view bathroom: I mentioned this over at Ohdeedoh, but I am pretty sure it will be LCD privacy glass! Take a look, it is cool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ECbrB9mlkI

You just flip a switch and BAM opague glass wall.

The woman is an architect so I am sure she will be aware of this. This glass is getting pretty popular in Europe.

I just think the place is TOO high end for the family to be sitting around in their living room watching each other take a poo!

It reminded me of a white Lego.

I live in Cph as well and I can't say that this home is average in any way. This family clearly has more money than the average citizen in town and neither architecture nor interior decoration are average either. Seriously.

And regarding the fridge size, well, I know many - me included - who have to survive with "half a fridge" in which the little freezer takes up a lot of space. One becomes resourceful, stores are practically around each corner anyway and at least one has food to put in that tiny fridge. For crying out loud.