People
We visited Communications Advisor, Anna Thygesen, in her home at Amager.
In a penthouse apartment at Amager surrounded by art and colorful, Indian plaids resides Communications Advisor, Anna Thygesen, in her fourth year with her boyfriend, Bill, and their son, Vilhelm. The interior style is bohemian, Thygesen admits – although the expression is followed by a gentle eye roll. White walls are almost non-existent. Instead, they are filled with artwork her and Bill have collected over the years. “Whenever there is a free spot, something goes up,” tells an art enthusiastic Thygesen.
When Thygesen is not relaxing at home, she runs her PR company, WeDo Communication, where she advises companies about crisis communication. The regular podcast listener may also have heard Thygesen’s firm voice and opinions in the different news podcasts she has both hosted and guested. We asked her about interior design, inspiration, and her dream home.
Where do you live?
I live at what is called Copenhagen’s Manhattan. No, I’m just joking. I live at Amager, Holmbladsgade. And now to the scoop: this building is from 1922 and it was actually ILLUM’s first storage. Now it’s been made into apartments where they have kept the New Yorker style since it is an old warehouse.
How would you describe your home?
I hate the word, but it’s a little bohemian with lots of colors and with a focus on art in all shapes and forms. I like second-hand and vintage. I am a bargain hunter. But I also like to make sure I don’t have too much unnecessary stuff. Just the things I need, and then with plenty of room for guests.
Is interior design important to you?
It's of huge interest to me. Nothing is here by accident. But I’m also a very practical person, so I have a style and I stick to it.
What gives you a feeling of home?
The feeling of home is something familiar. Something that makes me feel safe. When you have lived in many different places and countries you become good at adjusting, so to feel home faster you develop a few tricks. I like colors so I always start with that. It’s all about surrounding yourself with something that expresses your personality.
Is there anything in your home you feel a special attachment to?
Well, this is where the bargain hunter comes to the surface. Everything is for sale, but of course I care more for some of the paintings that have an emotional value. But, I mean, if people are willing to pay, I would sell anything.
Five questions for your interior style:
What’s your latest purchase?
A kilim carpet for the kitchen.
Which brands are most present in your home?
Quote Copenhagen. It’s everywhere.
What’s a good buy for you?
Something I have wanted for long and that gives me joy.
How would you define good taste?
Even though I don't like the term, it’s when someone has considered their style and has an opinion on how they dress and live.
What’s something you always have in your home?
Wine. Not necessarily fancy, just good wine.
What is the first thing you do when you get home?
It’s coming upstairs to the kitchen. Also, during wintertime. It has such a vacation house feel to it because you are so close to the weather. If it’s pouring rain, you can see it. It’s extremely cozy.
What or who inspires you most currently?
The conversion to a greener world. Especially how we navigate it as individuals and how big a difference we can make without destroying the quality of life. We must be careful we don’t become climate anxious.
And what do you mean by climate anxious?
That we feel so much guilt in this that we can’t live life.
What is the best choice you have made in your career?
Thrusting myself. I have been involved in major business scandals, but I don’t believe that is where it stems from. It’s from all the minor issues at work: Where am I going? What do I want? It has meant more for me to be firm about that. I haven’t been particularly ambitious. I have just known what I wanted and what I didn’t.
What is your definition of success?
I’m pretty clear about that because I lost my parents at a young age. My dad committed suicide when I when 17, and my mom committed suicide when I was 21. So my mantra became to have a good life. And that is what success is to me. I normally say I’m successful but it’s according to my own measures; I can pay rent. I can buy all this stuff. I can go on holiday, throw a party, go out to dinner. I can live my life without worrying about what other people think of me.
Do you have something you live by?
The only thing I have control over is that I don’t have control over everything. But I think everyone should make an effort in life. I was really given a task in life when my parents died the way they did. A task to live life. And make an effort. My parents wouldn’t have wanted me to destroy my life because they chose to commit suicide. I’m 100 per cent certain of that.
If we had a look inside your closet, what would we find?
Colors, proper wool, and good quality for the price. I also have items I don’t use, but every time I open the closet and see them, they make me so happy so I’m not getting rid of them.
How does your dream home look?
Like this. I have what I’ve made for myself. I also have an old, seven-storey house in the south of France – that's also a dream home. It’s not to say I have all the best things in the world, but more that you have to appreciate what you got. I’m not dreaming about stuff. I live in the present and I like that.
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