Joanna Goddard, Cup of Jo

During her days in Denmark, the lovely Mette wears many hats: blogger, potter, designer of children's clothing, wife, and, most of all, mom. Here, she invites us into her home and tells us a bit about juggling it all...

What's it like to raise a child in your town?
We live in a medium-size city called Herning. The city has all the things you need: theater, music club, a great library and one good cafe. I've lived in the countryside, and in big cities like Copenhagen and San Francisco. We visit Copenhagen once in a while and go traveling to make sure we show the big world to ourselves and to our two-year-old son.

Can you tell us about your family?
John is very fond of vintage watches like Rolex, and he loves everything sweet. Our son Seth's favorite thing is an old hobby drill that his grandfather gave to him, and he just loves cheese. Oh and me? I love chocolate, coffee and everything in my studio.

Why did you choose to have all white walls? (I like it!)
White walls reflect light and make our small apartment look bigger. The big empty wall is my piece of "artwork." It's like a promise that we won't use all our space and, instead, leave something fresh and unfinished.

What are these small white pieces of art in your living room?
Ha! Those are little drawings of new designs. The wall soon gets filled with those little pieces of paper like a big mindmap.

What inspires you?
I'm mostly inspired by scenes, may it be nature or art. It sounds abstract but it's not. For example, I might see a picture from the twenties of a couple at a fair. It has a great feeling, and they are very properly dressed. Then, another day, I might see some packaging in mustard and white with great lettering. These two things and their feelings combined would then be used for a children clothing design later.

Can you tell us about your pottery and children's clothing company?
I've been a potter for twelve years. It's important for me that my pots are used by the people buying them. I want them to actually put salad in it and not just leave it on the shelf. I've always made clothes, so when we had Seth, of course I had to make some for him. It turned out that people liked them, so I started making more, and now the studio is part-time pottery and part-time design.

Your artwork is amazing.
When John and I moved in together, we created different areas for each other. The place with all the art is John's corner. He is a true collector, and this is probably how all our walls would look like if he could decorate them. He also has a history box containing a lot of archaeological finds from the time when he was instructing volunteers during digs.

What a lovely bookshelf.
The top part contains John's books. The middle section is for my books, magazines and notes. The loveliest part is that the shelves have three cabinets, where we keep our clothes and movie-showing device (aka a television).

Are you teaching your son to cook?
Sometimes Seth cuts a tomato but it's rather messy. When he gets older, I will teach him cooking if he is interested. He already makes a lot of food in his play!

What are your favorite family activities?
Going to the library on Sundays and have coffee in the library cafe.

Does it get cold where you live?
I'd actually love to live in a colder climate, where you use more wool and wear cozy sweaters. It does get cold here but mostly just rains. We got this sheep-hide rug from when I worked at a Swedish pottery. They have such great-looking sheep.

What are those lights on top of your son's wardrobe?
Those are Christmas lights in birdcages. We call them fireflies. They give great light at night.

Lovely! Thank you so much, Mette. Find past Cookie house tours here.