Hygge Meets Rubbish Disposal: My Love Letter to Australian Homes
This week at a networking event, someone looked at me in total disbelief and said: “Wait… you inherited your dining table?”. Moments like that remind me just how differently Danes and Australians think about homes, design, and the things we live with every day. As a Danish interior designer living in Sydney, I see those differences all the time. They’re so obvious to me, but often surprising (and a bit entertaining!) to my Australian friends and clients. So I wanted to share a few reflections on where I see the biggest contrasts – and how we might all learn a little from each other.
Sustainability = Longevity
Most people know that sustainability is a core principle of Danish design. And plenty of Australians care deeply about sustainability too. But how we express it in our homes can be very different. When many Australian designers talk about sustainability, the focus often lands on natural materials, eco-credentials, and visual beauty. All good things! In Denmark, we care about that as well – but the conversation almost always comes back to one word: longevity. It’s not just how the material is created, but how long it will live with you. Natural stone in a kitchen is a good example. For me, you don’t choose a stone just because it looks beautiful on Instagram. You choose it because it can last for decades (or even centuries!) if you look after it, and you know you’re not surrounding yourself with unnecessary toxins.
Photo from 3 Days of Design 2025, basically me in a playground!
When you design for longevity, the price tag can feel heavier upfront – but the piece stays with you as your life changes, instead of ending up in a land fill five years later. In Denmark, paying “more” for quality is normal. Most people would say it pays off in the long run: you buy fewer things, you buy better things, and they stay with you for a very long time. It’s also common to pass furniture down through the family.
I’m lucky to have several mid-century pieces from my grandparents. One of my favourites is a teak sideboard that used to stand in their dining room in Jutland. I remember the sound of the doors sliding open when they’d take out the silverware or tablecloths. And yes, it has sentimental value, which of course plays a factor in me keeping it and looking after it. But it’s also incredible quality, made from solid oak and so well-looked-after that it looks like a brand new custom piece! I hope both grandma and grandad are looking down, happy that their furniture is still loved and used.
In Australia, asset longevity feels less common. In fact, I find myself occassionally talking to clients about ‘re-sell value’, even if it’s something I don’t like the idea of focusing on. I think many of us want to buy well and buy once (and I’m lucky – that’s true for all my clients), but with stores like Kmart and Target, it’s incredibly easy to grab something “good enough for now”. The temptation is real: it’s quick, it’s cheap, and if it breaks, you replace it. Sadly, these stores are famous for “inspired by” versions of design classics at a fraction of the price. And while I’m all for good design being for the masses, my Danish philosophy always pulls me back to one question: Will this last and age well, or is this just a quick fix? And that leads directly to the next point: maintenance.
Maintenance - the Love Language of Good Design
In order for anything in life to last a long time, we have to maintain it. Our relationships requires time and effort to grow and blossom. Our health requires us to exercise and eat nutritious meals, etc. Anything worth preserving requires us to continously look after it. The same is true for good design.
That beautiful oak dining table or the stone kitchen benchtop, require oils and nutrients through its lifetime .I often hear Australian designers or homeowners talk about this as a negative: “Oh, I don’t want stone, it’s too much maintenance.” To me, maintenance isn’t a burden, it’s a mindset. I'd argue it shouldn't even be up for discussion. Our philosophy in life should be that everything requires maintenance if we want to preserve it - it's how we look after ourselves, our family and our surroundings.
Now, it's perfectly reasonable for you to agree with me on this point, but one thing I think we can both agree on is the prevalence of design trends in Australia - so let's talk about where that comes from in our culture.
Design ‘Trends’
You don’t have to scroll far on social media or flick through many TV channels to find a renovation show, a house flip, or a “dream home” reveal in Australia. As a massive sucker for Grand Designs, I’m absolutely not complaining. But at some point, most of these shows talk about “the latest trends”. And if you follow design accounts online, the trend talk is constant. I must admit I fell into the trap when I started my design business a couple of years ago - I thought being a ‘design thought leader’ in Australia meant that you had to know what the latest trends were. Oh, how wrong I was. And I felt awkward doing it - back then and now. Cause it doesn't align with my Danish design values.
Timelessness is at the heart of Danish design, and your home is YOUR home, so if you want a purple kitchen, go for it! Danish design is all about mindful living, and a big part of that philosophy is that a home must be mindful of the family it serves as well as the community it contributes to. So, honestly, when someone talks about the latest design trends, I zoom out. I don't care what's ‘in’ because at some point it'll be out anyway - which just doesn't sit well with my way of thinking about design. My grandma's mid-century furniture is finally back in style, but I have loved it ever since I saw it for the first time 30-plus years ago - and no magazine can tell me I was wrong in between.
Custom console from the Mosman project
So my advice is to keep out of the noise around you and follow what's in your design heart! It'll make you feel at home, I promise. You can thank me later.
Furniture Recycling
Naturally, if we don't follow trends, we'll most likely have less of a need to replace and/or recycle furniture. But I have to give Australia credit here: if you want to furnish a home quickly, this country has amazing options. There are second-hand stores everywhere, and they have incredible stuff! If you follow me on socials, you'll know it's my secret 'go-to' for unique pieces. The same goes for FB marketplace -this is not an ad, but you and I both know that even if you hate Meta, their marketplace is a treasure chest... - and the same goes for Gumtree, if you're lucky.
In Denmark, we have very similar offerings - second-hand stores full of once-loved furniture and 'Den Blå Avis' ('the blue newspaper', which is not an actual newspaper but the Danish equivalent to Gumtree). But there's one place in Australia, where you find incredible things, and we have nothing like it in Denmark - any guesses...? Yep, the street.. like ANY street, as long as it's just before council pick-up.
To me, this shows one of the major differences between Australian and Danish culture, I.e., how we deal with (design) waste. In Denmark, unless you're lucky to be in a small apartment in Copenhagen, where the council will help you get rid of your furniture, it is YOUR responsibility as the owner of a piece of furniture or building waste from your renovation, to dispose of it. That means, if it's good quality, you take it to a second-hand store, and if it's not, you take it to the recycling plant for safe disposal.
When I heard that you simply put all your 'rubbish' outside just before the council clean-up in Sydney, my mind was honestly blown?! "What do you mean I don't have to rent a trailer to get rid of my bulky waste?!" And while I appreciate this scheme helps out a lot of families, as they save time not having to take their stuff to the waste management site, I also think the downside is that people sometimes put out perfectly fine pieces that COULD be reused. In Denmark, you know that when you buy a piece, you'll be holding on to it for quite some times, and many of us have probably held onto things for longer, simply because we didn't have to deal with getting rid of it, hah!. But it also makes you rethink any purchase, because you consider the WHOLE cycle that piece has to go through.
What This Means For Your Home
It’s easy for most of us to focus on differences, when it comes to culture, but of course, there are a lot of similarities between Australian and Danish design culture as well. My reflections come from genuine curiosity about why we think differently about design in the two countries and what the best way forward is for all of us. So here are a few things, I hope will help you with your space, as you don’t have to be an honorary Dane to bring sustainability and meaning into your home:
Ask the longevity question: Before you buy something, ask yourself: Will I still love this in 10 years? Could I imagine passing it on? If the answer is no, maybe there’s a better option.
Create one small maintenance ritual: Oil your dining table once or twice a year. Reseal your stone when the seasons change. Fix that loose handle you’ve been ignoring. Treat it as a way of honouring your home, not just “jobs to do”.
Treasure-hunt second-hand – with intention: Use op-shops, Marketplace, Gumtree and yes, even council pick-up days, as treasure hunts. Look for pieces you can imagine living with for a long time, not just filling a gap for six months.
Please read this with the love it’s written with. I’ve been smiling the whole way through writing it, because I’m endlessly fascinated by how our broader cultural values show up in these “small” design decisions. It’s only when we see another way of doing things that we hold a mirror up to our own habits. My hope is that this little Danish–Australian reflection makes you just a tiny bit more curious about what you bring into your home, how you care for it, and how long you let it stay.
Nadia
