I think of the people who will be using or living in the space. Is it an apartment or townhouse, farmhouse or office building, a restaurant, or a brand store? I try to understand the function of the place – what will be going on there? Colors are not just colors. They are related to the material and the function.
I do not have one recipe for how I design a color scheme. To me, it’s more about balance and a sense of coherence in the spaces I work with. An interplay between people, functionality, light, objects, and color. I believe in essential emotions that I often turn to – calmness, wildness, humor, temperament, vibrancy, flow, tension, something that feels crisp. It is about finding the balance between them.
Outside of paint and tiles, we produce hand-painted wallpapers, textile, and bespoke objects. At the core of all our products lays a natural interest in materials. Lava stone, soil, water, sun, and air are core ingredients in our products, and in many ways in life in general. We try to balance these elements to create spaces that feel unified. Like an oil painting consisting of layers of brushstrokes and colors that we experience as a whole when looking at it.
At File Under Pop, we seek to make connections between our inner and outer space. One’s inner space that is just one’s own, and the outer room where many people can pass through – this is the one we help create. Our work aspires to facilitate spaces to live in - in all facets and respects of the word. We all need something to reflect ourselves in, to feel that we belong to a space.
"Color is a tool to create atmospheres and encourage emotional connections. I think that being human does not only entail happiness or having a good time."
It is important to create spaces to immerse ourselves in - to be quiet in. Somewhere one can be solitary, lonely or even sad. It is important to be able to enter a room that can include all facets of a human being.
We experience color through its interaction with light. It is an important aspect that one should always factor into a color setting. What kind of light do we have – morning or evening sun, from the east or south? The amount and quality of natural light a color gets give distinctly different expressions to a room.
Color can also affect one’s sense of spaciousness. We sometimes paint a ceiling in a vibrant color, above eye-height to create a new expressive narrative, a new space above the one, we are in. In a way, color can expand the walls around us – after all, a room isn’t just a box.
More than anything, nature! There are so many ways to meet nature – sailing, taking a walk in the forest, and strolling through Copenhagen, which is full of energy at the moment. Many aspects of nature inspire me and fill me with a sense of joy and freedom. It is a bit like being in a museum for a few hours, it softens your heart and opens you to experience a kind of transparency between yourself and your surroundings.
Most of all, we are fascinated by the meeting of materials. The delicate transitions that are created when a matt, painted surface and a shiny, hand-glazed tile are matched and create a new whole. It can be a very subtle union, yet it has a distinct sensuality that adds to the atmosphere of a space.
Tactility, of course, is not limited to surface structures. Many elements play a role in the way surfaces affect us — light that is reflected or sound that is softened by layers of materials. It all affects us.
"You can create strong stories through color – something poetic, something unexpected. Tensions between soft, calm, and lovely and something powerful, dark and somber. New rooms within rooms occur in these tensions. We also work to add pauses or even shelters within a space."
At File Under Pop, interiors are born long before objects come into it. After our work is done, the furniture moves in and adds to the story, a new chapter. All objects come with their own energy – that is why I feel happy when I look at an artwork or bask in the light of my favorite lamp. It pays off being a bit particular about what we surround ourselves with, be it color or objects, as with people. Which framework we choose to live deeply affects our quality of life.
