At home with Maria Franck
Mom to Olivia (7), Elinor (5), and Oda Marie (7 months)
Hi Maria! Congratulations on your new baby! Please tell us about yourself and your family?
“Thank you so much!
Well, I’m Maria, 33, mother of three little girls - Olivia, 7, Elinor, 5, and Oda Marie, who is 7 months old. My husband Jacob is 34, and works as a paramedic.
I have a Master of Arts degree from the University of Aarhus with a major in Danish and a minor in Journalism and English. When I’m not on maternity leave I work as a freelance photographer and writer, and as Content Manager and Creator at Angulus”.
Activity play frame and toys for Oda Marie
Oda Marie wearing pants and top from Bonton
Tell us about your home, and how you’ve decorated your place?
“We recently bought our house in the countryside. We used to live in a three-bedroom apartment in Aarhus, and now we have what feels like a hundred rooms and not enough furniture for the entire house. So, we’re slowly decorating our new home. We want to put thought into every piece of furniture we buy, so that we can keep it for a long time.
Right now, what is most important to me is that our house feels like a home, and our children are a big part of that. Their stuff and furniture are naturally a part of our home. We have toys in every room, little chairs for the kids to sit on like the Bonton rattan chair, soft furniture and pillows and blankets so there is always an opportunity to snuggle up. Our home is a great mix of design classics, newer quality designs, vintage finds and stuff from IKEA”.
In one corner of the living room: A soft duvet wrapped in Liberty bedding, books for reading, and the rattan chair from Bonton
What, to you, is essential when decorating the kids’ rooms?
“Our oldest daughters share a bedroom as well as a playroom. Essential in decorating the playroom are the children – it’s on their terms. It is their space to play, to make a mess and to be creative. This is where they have all of their colourful toys and plenty of storage. Our playroom isn’t the biggest room, so I wanted storage that would leave space for playing on the floor. Luckily, our house came with built-in closets, where they can put all of their toys – crawl into and build a fort. The girls also love dressing up so I bought a rack to hang all of their little outfits on. Now it is much more visible for them which makes them play dress up even more often.
The walls are decorated with stickers and drawings which they hang themselves with colorful tape. Olivia especially loves Christmas decorations, so we have a holiday feel all year round. Because the girls love to read books I chose a bookshelf in their room. It’s both very decorative with all the colors and makes it much easier for them to find their favorite books.
I like to keep a calm atmosphere in the room where they sleep. They don’t have many things in their bedroom. They have a wonderful closet for their clothes (but let’s not talk about the mess inside the closet!), two night lamps, including the Bunny Lamp, and baskets with lots of teddies. This room has a beautiful view over our garden”.
Oda Marie’s crib and bedding made from Liberty fabrics
The Bunny Lamp and 24 coloured pencils in the beautiful peacock pencilholder
Boheme chair from Bonton, Bunny Lamp and coloured pencils on the vintage table
What made you choose the bunkbed?
“Our girls have always shared a room and like any other kid, they wished for a bunk bed. A bunk bed is truly a little piece of childhood magic, isn’t it?
We wanted a quality bed that was big enough for our growing children – a bed that we could keep for many years. I was also aware of the fact that the girls, at some point, might ask for separate rooms. Naturally, we decided on the Oeuf NYC bunk bed, as it can easily be separated into two single beds, and in that way the girls can have their own bed in their own room, if they ever decide to.
The bunk bed also has plenty of space for growing children – even an adult can easily fit. We have a lot of friends and family who need to spend the night when they visit, and the bunk bed doubles up as a bed for guests.
Not to mention the beautiful design and wooden quality. Very easy on the eye for us and the kids love it!”.
The Perch Bunk Bed and the Boheme Rattan Chair are some of the few furniture pieces in the girls’ serene bedroom
Another view of the bunk bed. Also shown here is the chair from Mum & Dad Factory, and on it the lovely Bunny Lamp, which can be left on all night. On the bed lies a vintage quilt, a few teddies and pyjamas from On Cloud Nine
What are your favourite things to do with the girls?
“My favourite days are the days when we don’t have any plans. No school. No work. No cleaning. Then we turn up the music and dance like crazy! Or, on sunny days, we eat our lunch in the garden and lay down on the grass with blankets and pillows.
My husband is a paramedic which means we don’t often spend a whole weekend together. So when we finally have a whole day just the five of us at home it feels like taking a long, deep and calming breath.
If you ask the girls, they LOVE going to the beach and to the harbour, so we do that a lot as well. All year round. Some of their favorite summer activities include swimming, crab fishing, breathing in the fresh air, while we play hide and seek in the dunes during winter.
Olivia recently told me, that one of her favorite things to do, besides dancing, eating ice cream and playing Nintendo Wii, is going to museums and holding my hand. So that’s one of my favourite things to do now, too!”.
What interests you these days?
“If I can be totally honest I’m just very into my baby right now. I’m taking it all in. I’m in no hurry. This third time around I’m so aware of how quickly they grow up. So right now, I’m mothering. When I was a younger mother I was in such a hurry to ‘get back out there’: To have a career, work, have wine with friends, mingle, keep up. Right now, I just want to be a mother and let go of everything else. Focus on what is important right now. I know that at some point I’ll do other stuff, the kids will grow and naturally I’ll get back into the swing of things; I’ll be back working on my career and so on. But for now, I’m just very content in a way I haven’t been in many years.
So the short answer: My children”.
Who or what inspires you?
“I find so many women to be inspiring. It might be how they build their business, how they raise their children, how they dress, how they photograph, their music, how they handle going through hardships and how to empower each other. Women in general inspire me so much!”.
Thank you, Maria!