25 MOLLIEMAKES.COM 31

NEW! tea & a chat NEW! tea & a chat

and things just snowballed. I started to get asked to do DIYs for websites like 100 Layer Cake and Oh Happy Day. Finally, I realised that I love making things and that’s the direction I should go in for the blog. It’s had many stages from the school days.

What was the trigger that started your business? I started the shop after I’d been living in Copenhagen for about six months. I couldn’t work in Denmark legally for the first ten months, so I was putting

The name stems from the fictional family I created to go with it – I called the dad Lars. Lars is actually my real dad’s alias! His name is Bob, but he used to play jokes on us as kids with the name Lars. It’s only by coincidence that I ended up moving to a country where Lars is every third guy’s name. It’s funny that although it’s a play on words using the British nursery rhyme, The House That Jack Built, the Danes don’t really get it at all!

After I got married, I shared pictures of our oversized paper flowers on the blog

Describe your style in a few words. Colourful, bold, layered. Sometimes clean, sometimes complicated. Humorous. For interiors, my ideal style would be a bit of Swedish Gustavian combined with a bit of French country. For my own personal style: bright and bold!

Which books and magazines are currently on your bedside table? The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Joy Cho’s Blog Inc, Kinfolk, Bolig Liv and the latest Domino that my mom brought over when she visited. I try and pick up a magazine from each country I visit.

Name your top three creative blogs. Design Love Fest (designlovefest.com) does a fantastic job of keeping it creative and cohesive, Oh Happy Day (ohhappyday.com is clever, and the Etsy Wedding blog, of course (etsy.com/blog/weddings).

Tell us how your blog came about – what’s the story behind the name? I started The House That Lars Built in 2008 for an interior design class at college. My brief was to design a house and I thought my fictional ‘clients’ would love to see the progress I was making. A blog seemed like the best way for them to see the furniture choices and floor plans, and they could leave me comments.

02

BRITTANY WATSON JEPSENThe designer behind The House That Lars Built writes for most top blogs – and you’ll certainly have repinned one of her creations

‘I might make a mistake and then – boom! – a new idea is born.’

01 03

When American-born Brittany Watson Jepsen moved to Denmark two years ago, she found that her degree in Interior Design wasn’t going to be as useful to her career as she thought: “Interior design as we know it in America doesn’t really exist in Denmark so I had to switch gears,” she said. And she certainly did, concentrating on her hugely successful blog and shop, The House That Lars Built.

Brittany wears many hats, morphing from product designer, to events stylist to illustrator. Her beautifully crafted

tutorials show how to make all manner of prettiness from floral crowns to her signature paper flowers.

If she’s not making for herself, she’s making for others. Brittany’s work appears in a number of blogs and magazines including Brooklyn Bride, Etsy Weddings, Oh Happy Day, design*sponge and Kinfolk. Her most recent collaboration was with Terrain, a sister company of Urban Outfitters. We caught up with Brittany at her Copenhagen home to talk Pinterest, poppies and photobooth props.

01 A sneak peek into

Brittany’s living

room reveals her love

of vintage maps. The

rug and pillow are

from Butik Nø

in downtown

Copenhagen, while

the geometric throw

on the sofa is from

Kathmandu, Nepal.

02 One of Brittany’s

popular creations

– a sticky-label-note

piñata heart. Cute!03 Flowers are a big

feature in Brittany’s

home, and inspire

much of her work.

30 MOLLIEMAKES.COM 25

Words: CHARLOTTE RIVERS & LARA WATSON Photographs and styling: AMANDA THOMSEN

tea and a chat with…

25 MOLLIEMAKES.COM 33

NEW! tea & a chat NEW! tea & a chat

32 MOLLIEMAKES.COM 25

more energy into my blog. We we were planning on visiting friends in London for the royal wedding, and – just being silly – I mentioned that I should make some souvenirs and sell them. My friend encouraged me to actually do it. In a very short amount of time another friend and I designed a line of products from commemorative dinner plates to a letterpressed procession map and I sold them on Etsy and a few shops in London.

We flew in for the wedding and had a ball! I wore an oversized paper flower on my head, because I thought everyone would be wearing a fascinator. I mean, we were in England, and that’s what people do, right? Well, we learned that it was mostly attendees at the wedding who wore accessorised hats so I felt a bit ridculous. It was a great marketing tool, though – I ended up on the front page of CNN and in Vogue. My friends and I were floored!

Is your creative process usually this accidental? It depends on the project. If it’s for a new DIY, it can happen in the most random of ways. I might make a mistake and then – boom! – a new idea is born, and I’ll use a sketchbook to draw it out.

I’ve been known to stare at products for prolonged periods of time. I look like a nut,

I visited Karen Blixen’s home (she’s the author of Out of Africa). It was lovely and she led a fascinating life. Plus, she loved floral arranging and keeping a beautiful garden, so I had a heyday!

Of all your projects, which one has been the most unusual? Well, I typically think the crazier the better for my projects! One time I made this huge, giant wedding ring as a photobooth prop – and then I had to drag it around Copenhagen for the photoshoot. I felt so

but it works. If it’s an illustration project then I’ll collect some images that inspire me and get to work with a sketch or two.

Where do you search for inspiration? These days it’s mostly Pinterest. I’ve somehow convinced myself that Pinterest is my work so I’m on there quite a bit. I also love exploring my surroundings for new inspiration. My travels around Europe have been essential. One of my most recent explorations was a trip up the coast of Zealand here in Denmark. My friend and

01

03

02

01 This quiet spot by

the window features

another colourful rug

from Butik Nø and a

portrait of Brittany

and Paul on their

wedding day. 02 Her favourite

oversized blooms are

the poppies and roses. 03 Brittany’s studio in

Copenhagen has a

window display

featuring her giant

paper flowers.

02

‘I think the crazier the better… I have a thing for oversized objects.’

01 Inside Brittany’s

studio, which she

shares with

photographers,

Amanda Thomsen

and Lina Ahnoff.02 Brittany’s

bedspread is made

from beautiful

geometric-pattern

fabric from the

Marimekko factory

in Helsinki. 03 No studio is

complete without

washi tape, right?

Brittany’s essential

craft supplies are

piled high.

01 03

NEW! tea & a chat

34 MOLLIEMAKES.COM 25

silly! I have a bit of a thing for oversized objects, so this happens to me quite a lot actually. People smile at me though…

What projects are you currently working on? I’ve just finished up an exciting project for Terrain – I made them hundreds of gift-topper-sized paper tulips, ranunculus and poppies. I’ve released my own 2013 calendars, and I’m focusing more on my blog. I’m working on a redesign at the moment, and I just added a new tagline: ‘An artful life’, because I want to focus on how we can all live artfully. I love showcasing a bit of my life combined with how to add beauty to yours.

My husband, Paul, and I are also in the middle of moving to America. He’s Danish so this will be a big move for us both. He’ll be studying in Utah, and I’ll be taking my work with me. I’ll have to create a community of collaborators from scratch again but I’ve done it before so hopefully, the transition will be a smooth one.

What’s the best piece of creative advice you’ve ever been given? My mom had a sign hanging on our fridge which said: “A creative mess is better than tidy idleness,” and it’s stuck. It’s helped expand my vision for what’s possible.

02

01

The House That Lars Built Brittany’s shop is the place to buy paper flowers, her Language of Flowers range of kitchen products, illustrated calendars and more. Brittany takes custom orders, loves collaborations and recently started making bespoke wedding invitations, too. thehousethatlarsbuilt.com

01 Brittany’s work

station: craft supplies

aplenty plus an

inspiration wall

full of bits and bobs

that she’s picked up

on her travels – love

those neon baskets. 02 Like Brittany’s

cute cape? Head to

Copenhagen shop,

Carmen. Her

vintage basket is a

thrift-store find.