Rural and aesthetic idyll
Mette really has a sense of aesthetics – also when it comes to decorating for Christmas. The style is a wonderful mix of traditional Danish Christmas, spiced up with lots of homemade decorations and antique finds from the south of France.
Mette and Jens have carefully restored the beautiful house, which is located in the countryside outside Øster Hurup, and they have managed to bring out all the best. They have created a large country kitchen with brick on the floor, and there are small-barred windows and visible beams in most of the old house. The framework for a Christmas in true country style is certainly present in these surroundings. Mette says that their Christmas is very traditional in a simple and relaxed way. One year it is the red color that dominates the Christmas tree, while it can be white and silver the next year. There are always a lot of old Christmas decorations, such as glass baubles, elves and old musical instruments.
One of the traditions that the couple has with their children, grandchildren and foster children is that there must be Christmas cheer on the table when they watch the Christmas calendar on TV. The decorations are always homemade with materials from nature. Mette loves the rural, Nordic, rustic Christmas with dried apples, oranges and fir in the windows. She makes the dried oranges and apple slices herself – preferably together with the children. Here in the house, coziness and togetherness are always the top priority. Not least in the run-up to Christmas. Everyone also helps make the decorations. Several times during December they eat rice porridge from Mette's old earthenware and drink elves' beer from old, mouth-blown porter glasses together with all the children. These are traditions that should not be changed, because everyone loves them.
Outside, you are welcomed with cozy arrangements of lanterns, baskets of fir and apples, and old French iron furniture. Mette does it all in a snap. As long as there are natural materials, you can make it look cozy in no time, she says. There are also lots of fir trees, cast in cement. The couple were eventually tired of all their Christmas trees for outdoor use, which they think belong, constantly falling over. Jens came up with the brilliant idea of casting them in cement. Now they stand firmly – both at the private entrance and at the shop that Mette has in one of the extensions.
Create the style
For a rural Christmas, you need lots of old Danish pottery and ceramics. A little gnome here and there, Christmas socks in which you can hide small surprises, lots of wreaths of fir and other greenery, a traditional Advent wreath and lots of clay decorations with moss, pine cones and candles are also included. You can make decorations in old jam jars, or you can plant small trees from the forest in them. Put the trees in with a little soil and cover them with moss. When Christmas is over, they can be planted out again. Take the family on a trip to collect moss and pine cones for all the decorations, and let everyone join in when it comes to decorating. There should also be room for the children's homemade decorations. The decoration on the long table was made by one of Mette and Jens' foster children and fits in perfectly.
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