This Coastal Cottage Went from Completely Blah to Totally Charming
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During the Covid-19 lockdown, Copenhagen pediatrician Lambang Arianto turned to his husband with an idea that could either be sanity-saving or a one-way ticket to Crazytown. Long a DIY dabbler, he wanted to apply for Sommerdrømme—or “Summer Dreams”—basically the Danish version of an HGTV renovation show. “He saw the program and was like, ‘We can do that,’ ” recalls communications director Kaspar Mørk Arianto. “I was like, ‘Are you kidding me? We’ve never built anything ourselves on a major scale!’ ” The winning couple from the show’s four teams would get to keep the vacation house they created. Spoiler alert: The Ariantos weren’t just chosen to participate—they won!
Before filming began, the couple was handed their project: a 990-square-foot minimalist blank box of a home with clean lines, shiplap ceilings, and huge windows—but “without any soul,” as Kaspar put it, much less a kitchen or even any plumbing or flooring. It’s on the island of Falster, the most southern island in Denmark, just an hour ferry ride from Germany. The rural setting is a “picturesque vision of a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, and it’s sitting close to the beach,” Kaspar says. But the house itself was hardly enchanting before this design duo made it into something worthy of the small screen and, well, everyday life. “We had six-and-a-half weeks to go from idea to finished product, so we worked around the clock,” he says.
Talk about good under pressure. The home now feels as cozy and collected as if it’s been around for decades. “We decided to call the design aesthetic B&B, but not as in bed-and-breakfast—as in Bali-meets-beach hotel,” Kaspar says, referencing Lambang’s Indonesian heritage. It’s chockablock with inventive DIYs dreamed up on the fly. “On the outside, it’s a very straight, clean, Nordic minimalist design,” Kaspar says. “We wanted to fill [the inside] with warmth and a bit of romance and that going-away-on-vacation feeling.”
BEFORE
Charm Factor: Rusty Red Wainscoting
The eye-catching color of the living room’s wainscoting (derived from the German word wageschot, meaning “wall board”) was inspired by the rusty red window trim of a nearby beach hotel. “Because this was a new house, we wanted to bring some local history to it,” says Kaspar. The couple used a paint scanning tool (for similar, nixsensor.com) to find an exact color match for the hotel’s hue. They balanced the warmth of the red with cool-tone furniture—including striped slipcovered seating (“Ektorp”; ikea.com). The light fixture evokes the feel of a thatched roof.
BEFORE
Charm Factor: Painted Furniture
To offset the modern feel of the room’s glass walls, everything in the dining area is vintage, including the retro 1950s school chairs. The couple sanded down the dining table and painted it blue and white to coordinate with the living room and kitchen. “New dining tables tend to be expensive; paint is an easy way to upcycle furniture,” Kaspar says. Still, they didn’t take one brush to the chest of drawers, instead preserving its original chippy color. “We paid $20 for it on Facebook—it had been in the same family since the 1910s!” Kaspar says.
Charm Factor: Convertible Cabinetry
The kitchen's two-part oak-topped island has a secret: The right-hand side is mounted on wheels and detaches. “In the summer, we roll it onto the deck as a mobile outdoor kitchen with a gas stove, grill, and hidden barbecue seasonings,” Kaspar says. A shiplap backsplash—painted a high gloss for easy wipeability—echoes the room’s planked ceiling.
Charm Factor: Basket Pendant Lights
“We love that in Bali, our favorite island in Lambang’s hoome country of Indonesia, wicker baskets hang from the ceilings of cafés and hotel lobbies, with lush tropical plants overflowing,” Kaspar says. Here, they did their own version: an installation of sundry fixtures and pendant lights tucked under textural baskets from big-box stores. Freshening up the look is a hanging herb garden.
Charm Factor: Salvaged Surround
The bedroom’s wall cabinet is composed of upcycled 1960s teak cabinet fronts bought off Facebook Marketplace. Set against white the white planked walls and ceiling, the wood-and-light blue combo is intended to conjure the feeling of a 1960s beach hotel. A rattan breakfast-in-bed tray reinforces the vacation-like feel. (Find similar vintage versions on Etsy and Chairish.)
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Charm Factor: Gallery Wall
Kaspar researched local poets who grew up on the island, then found poems by them about summer or vacationing. “They’re placed throughout the house—remnants of old voices from the local area,” he says.
Charm Factor: Flea Market Finds
An antique collection drawer from a flea market is the perfect hideaway for stones and shells from the family’s beachcombing adventures.
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Charm Factor: Salvaged Shutter Coatrack
In the twins’ room, Kaspar and Lambang hung a weathered Balinese shutter they found in an antique shop horizontally and screwed in hooks to make it function as a spot to store coats, hats, and swimsuits. Leaving the hardware intact adds to its appealing patina. The vintage 1980s rattan chest of drawers below was a $25 Facebook Marketplace find.
Charm Factor: Old-Soul Beds
The twins’ pair of circa-1890s brass beds still have their functioning porcelain wheels. “When you have a new space, bring some soul into the house,” Kaspar says, “because that’s what’s going to make a new place feel like it’s been there for ages.” With just MDF and casters, they added a rolling trundle to accommodate visiting friends.
Charm Factor: Hanging Centerpiece
By drilling holes in the table and building a frame of white-painted cane wood, the couple erected a creative overhead installation of hanging plants, a cotton lantern, and a string of lights. Bonus: It adds ambience without blocking views of fellow diners. To keep beach shovels and badminton rackets out of sight, they constructed the lidded bench from leftover deck wood.
Charm Factor: Secret Outdoor Shower
Curvy outdoor walls offset the sharp lines of the house, and inside of them is an outdoor shower that’s private but open to the skies and trees.
Charm Factor: Salvaged Brick Pavers
The couple laid the terrace floor using salvaged bricks from a 19th-century cattle farm. “It was inspired by my grandparents’ greenhouse,” Kaspar says. “I have fond childhood memories of how, when the sun went down, the bricks would remain hot. Now, our kids sit out there after the sun sets, soaking up the day’s warmth.”
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Charm Factor: A Repurposed Ladder
A flea market ladder enjoys a new life as a support for hanging plants and lanterns.
Meet the Family!
Homeowners Kaspar Mørk Arianto (left) and Lambang Arianto (right) with their 4-year-old twins, Java and Atlas
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