Bent and Per live at the water’s edge in the coastal town of Gilleleje. Where the sea is what you see when you look out the living room window, what you hear when you open the door. The sturdy log house was built by a former naval constructor and has a maritime feel that Bent and Per have preserved. Inside, it is warm and cosy, and here too, wood is the dominant material. The living room has a retractable shelving unit that functions as a flexible room divider, turning the room from one large space into two smaller rooms or vice versa. Both Bent and Per have worked with interior design and travelled widely, both on holidays and for work, and their home is a rich collection of objects from Denmark and abroad, selected with a keen sense of quality and materials.
Bent and Per first met Pia Jensen at the annual crafts market at the Frue Plads square in central Copenhagen in 2005 and got talking. The couple bought a rug, inspired by the colours of the Oman Desert, which had a colourway and tonality that matched the couple’s living room set perfect. A few years later, they contacted Pia again, as they needed a site-specific rug for their dining room. Here, in Gilleleje, with the sea as the closest neighbour, the rug would lie under the table and chairs, forming a space within a space and engaging in a subtle dialogue with the pattern in the existing rug, ‘Ørkensten’ (Desert Stones).
‘Pia came to see us, and we talked about the sea and the blue chairs that would be placed on the rug. Pia brought colour samples and a several watercolour drafts.
like, “That stripe should meet up with the other stripe right there,” and “You also need to draw in the green and brown shades from your interior.” Even though we have both worked with interior design and textiles our entire careers, the mathematical precision that is a part of her profession was a new world for us. Pia showed up with eight million different shades of green, so we talked colours for a long time. In the end, we picked the colours ourselves, and we are very happy with them. Pia sent us three cards wrapped with yarn to help us pick the specific colours
It was fascinating to meet someone who is so focused on the details of her craft.
A site-specific rug is a daily source of pleasure that adds emotional value to everyday life. It is important to surround yourself with beauty.’
Bent og Per
Himmel og Hav (Sky and Sea) – 1812
Wool on linen warp
244 x 233 cm
2007
‘The dialogue about the intense blue colour was important. That is why I maintained the quirky little detail in the title – the background music for our conversation was the “1812 Overture”, which matched our conversation in intensity. The blue colour brings out the pattern. If we had used a less intense colour the rug would have been lacklustre. The holes in the rug add character and a sense of graphic stringency to the overall expression.’
Pia Jensen
