I first learned about Cecilie Stöger Nachman’s work through a collaboration she did with the Copenhagen children’s store Studio Mini. Through Nachmans, Cecilie’s “mini universe,” she creates handmade items from her archive of vintage printed textiles. I immediately bought one of her fabric-covered boxes and have been using it as a place to store my daughter’s little treasures from childhood—found yarn, polished stone, pocket-sized paintings. I was immediately drawn to Cecilie’s style; his work feels special and endures like handmade items from generations past. So when I noticed that he and his family had moved to a new home that showed similar considerations, I tried to learn more.
Cecilie lives with her husband, Ulrik Ejlers, an art director at an advertising agency, and their two daughters—Hannah, age 7, and Dora, age 4—in Frederiksberg C, in central Copenhagen. They had lived in the area for about 15 years before finding their perfect place to live there. “[Frederiksberg] it feels like a city in the middle of the city, with leafy residential streets, and we love that it’s central and that both our workplaces are only a 10-minute bike ride away,” says Cecilie, who plans to step back from her in-house role at The Poster Club to focus on Nachmans 2.0 and launch a two-partner creative agency based in Copenhagen.
The 1,100-square-foot first-floor apartment is in a building built in 1901, and its original details are intact, although it needed extensive updating. “The apartment was in a very bad condition when we took it,” explained Cecilie. “Fortunately, the bathroom was relatively new and finished in neutral materials, and we kept the original floor plan. But we put in a new kitchen and hired a carpenter to build several built-in cabinets. We also redid the floors and repainted the entire area.”
The result is colorful and funny, but clearly mature. “To me, a home should reflect the people who live in it. Both my husband and I love color, so it makes sense that our home is full of it. We will never live in a completely white space.” Here’s a look inside.
Photos of Caroline Parkel courtesy of Cecilie Stöger Nachman.
Above: Cecilie in the hallway with the original pine planks she milled and painted with white lye soap. He says: “The smell is good every time we wash the floor.
Cecilie is looking forward to growing into a newly renovated space: “At the moment, our apartment is actually very clean to the extreme for me, but it’s a new home and these things take time.
Above: The Moroccan rug is from Larusi and the small fabric hanging in the hallway is by Helle Høgsbro of Crème de la Crème à la Helle. The 5 meter tall cabinet wall was custom built by a carpenter and hand painted in Griegst 07 Lia by Griegst for Blēo. (“We love Italy, and the color reminds me of the famous green panel at Da Giacomo restaurant in Milan.”)
Above: The kitchen is completely new and is the domain of Ulrik, the family chef. Downstairs is a green Pirelli rubber floor—“the kind you often see on yachts and yachts”—with a formal Ikea kitchen with stainless steel worktops and an integrated sink. The faucet, oven, and cooktop are all from Ikea. The ceiling lamp is a vintage Swedish piece. “Over time, I hope to fill the kitchen with vintage pottery and paintings to soften the industrial look,” she explains.
Above: The yellow paint is Farrow & Ball Dayroom Yellow No. 233: “We tried a bunch of shades because yellow is surprisingly difficult to adjust. This one creates a feeling of endless sunshine without being overwhelming.” The dining table was found at a Swedish auction; combined with classic Alvar Aalto 66 Chairs and Ilse Crawford Bench with Back 444 by De La Espada and cushion Cecilie upholstered in Josef Frank Textile Catleya fabric from Svenskt.
Above: The chairs are from Muller Van Severen—”a version of their First Chair, hand-painted by the designers themselves in their studio.” Cecilie helped install Muller Van Severen’s furniture exhibition at Copenhagen’s The Apartment in 2014. The ceiling lamp is a Rice Paper Shade from HAY.
Above: Cecilie and Ulrik have a carpenter build a bench in the pub that used to be a fireplace. “It provides practical storage and also hides our router—a little life.” The pillow is upholstered in Josef Frank Textile Poisons fabric from Svenskt Tenn. The floor lamp is the Atelier Areti Vertical One.
Above: Both works by Jean Arp are lithographs purchased at auction. Linda Sikora teapot purchased from Tetomo.
Above: The sofa is a Muuto Outline Sofa upholstered in Kvadrat Vidar fabric. The chair is a custom Alvar Aalto Stool 60. The Kaare Klint Safari Chair is a family heirloom. Artwork by Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd and Picasso lithograph.
Above: The cushions and ceramic table lamps are both from Helle Thygesen, Cecilie’s friend and collaborator.
Above: A vintage vico Magistretti Tadao bed frame in teak, and an Indigo Kasane Quilt designed and produced by friend Marie Bertelsen who owns Tetomo. The bedside lamp is an Artemide Tolomeo Clip Spot. The main artwork above the bed is a vintage Le Corbusier lithograph inherited from Ulrik’s grandfather and another is a work by Morten Buch. The wall color is 17 Mercer Street by Halleroed for Blēo.
Above: Cecilie’s home office is designed with a Kaare Klint 101 Pendant Light, Cecilie’s large bulletin board covered in a Josef Frank fabric from Svensk Tenn, and a Thonet Armchair in Rusty Red.
Above: A look at pieces from Cecilie’s fabric archive and the collection of rare and vintage ideas she uses for the Nachmans.
“I started making my fabric-covered boxes in the spring of 2020 when everything was closed during the riots. My love for collecting vintage fabrics suddenly became purposeful, and I loved the meditative process of working with my hands and covering everything from the outside,” she explains. “At the same time, we had our little daughter, and the boxes were collapsible so she could make them at home while she slept. There was a lot of interest, and that was the beginning of Nachmans.”
Above: A vintage pink Joe Colombo trolley holds “some of my many fabrics and ribbons,” she explains.
Above: “I have a large, old display cabinet in ‘my closet’ full of treasures that I’ve inherited or picked up on my travels: small chocolate boxes from Demel in Vienna, marbled paper boxes from Florence, Murano glass, Carl Auböck’s golden egg, Kähler and Griegst ceramics, pieces that I found for myself and my daughter.”
Above: Two girls sit in a room overlooking the garden. The display cabinet is a family heirloom that Cecilie painted and pasted with hand-printed wallpaper from Marthe Armitage Chestnut Wallpaper, attached using painter’s tape to the back. Rug by Mini Knots from Studio Mini. The elephants are from Tout Petit Atelier. The wall color is HA RO 24 Baby Blue by Halleroed for Blēo.
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