[this post is the second in a series of guest posts we'll be sharing from our summer correspondent in copehagen, brittany watson]

I’m cozied up not in a cute cafe overlooking the gorgeous rivers, but in a, umm, quaint 7 Eleven in Stockholm with about twenty of my closest Swedish friends ordering French hot dogs while listening to “Hopelessly Devoted to You.” But, enough about lovely Sweden, let me tell you about some Danish design!

This week I bring you the home and office of husband and wife furniture and product designers Kai Legaard and Tina Christensen of Legaard & Christensen, known for their work with Ikea and other furniture and design. This spring I unknowingly selected a modern and functional Legaard & Christensen swinging chair to decorate a home for people with autism I designed in one of my studio classes at the Corcoran. Imagine my delighted surprise when I discovered that Kai and Tina were practically my neighbors here in Copenhagen, living just five minutes away by bicycle (that is how we get around here in Denmark, you know.)

Tina was kind enough to take time out of her crazy schedule to talk furniture and Scandinavian design. She and Kai started their firm in 2000 after their years of experience at Ikea.Today they continue to design for the Swedish powerhouse along with Danish manufacturers and design houses like Erik Jorgensen, Maki Aps, and Georg Jensen. Tina takes a methodical and thoughtful approach to all of her projects, keeping the user in mind at every step of the process. The result? Designs that are efficient, sustainable, and, of course, absolutely beautiful.

CLICK HERE for the rest of brittany’s post (including the full range of images) after the jump!

Tina and Kai’s home is a charming little cottage just north of Copenhagen with a beautiful garden, white clean walls, and, of course, lots of wood. Their fireplace is quintessential Danish.

Tina approaches the home as a place of comfort. She designed this sofa, which can be arranged in a variety of different configurations for Georg Jensen. They keep it in the configuration seen here, perfect for lounging and cozying up, and only move to the sofa into its more proper position twice a year, “Once for Christmas and the other for Easter when guests come.” I dig the huge empty frames on the floor…so open to interpretation, right?

The family’s furniture collection mostly features their own work but also includes classic pieces like a Bruno Mathson chair (2nd image from the top). The armoire (above) showcases their collection of stoneware from southern Denmark, where Tina’s family hails from (as well as mine, back in the day…AND their last name was Christensen, too…hmmm, I wonder….)

Tina offered me a refreshing drink made from her flower garden. Turns out they make a lot of their own food and drinks from their stash of homegrown herbs and spices.

This is a little hideout in the backyard (Danes LOVE to cozy up). The swinging chair in the yard is one I used for my project. You’ve seen it before, no? I’m pretty sure Ikea still sells it. If you like the the blue one in back I’ve got bad news for you, this is the only one in the world. They’re quite comfortable AND beautiful.

The home’s white sun room (top image at the beg. of the post) features some of the furniture they designed for Ikea earlier in their career and leads into Tina’s office, a recent addition to their old house. Here she is with her talented fourteen year-old daughter, Frederikke. just arriving home from her metal-smithing class with two gorgeous rings she had pounded into being with her own two hands. Jealous!

Tina and her husband design colorful, toddler-safe toys beautiful enough to be left out and displayed as part of a room in. Are you listening moms? No clean-up!

This stool pictured in the image 3rd from the top of the post is Tina’s capstone project from her studies at the Royal Academy in Copenhagen- and is absolutely gorgeous in person. Tina and her family were so gracious to let me explore their Copenhagen charmer and discuss our mutual love of all things beautiful. She spoke with such modesty yet her talent is undeniable. I’m secretly hoping that a little research will reveal that we are indeed related, can you imagine the fantastic centerpieces?

Well, I believe I’ve overstayed my welcome here in 7 Eleven and now it’s time to go up the street to do some sketching at the royal palace. See you next week!

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About Brittany: Brittany Watson grew up teething on the seaweed of Southern California while surrounded by a musician/artist family (minus a businessman father.) Her mother’s favorite quote was “a creative mess is better than tidy idleness” and so her childhood was spent creating art work, music, and yes, lots of messes. Her father thought she should study law while her mother though she was better suited as an artist so she chose a happy median, art history. On her way to becoming a museum curator she was haunted by those creative messes and enrolled in permanent “creative mess status” otherwise known as a master’s in interior design at the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, DC. Now in her second year she has worked with professional creative messers during her spare moments including summer gigs with Jonathan Adler and Celerie Kemble in NYC. There she designed products for Tiffany and Co., Schumacher, and Dempsey and Carroll and helped create beautiful interiors for fancy schmancy penthouses. She can currently be found earning a sore bum from miles of cycling around the city of Copenhagen while studying textile design and writing her graduate thesis on what else…design blogs!