by Anna Skovby Hansen

June 25, 2025

She can’t stand the phrase “could you just real quick” – because nothing is “just real quick” when it comes to quality craftsmanship. Birna Bäck keeps alive painting techniques most people have long forgotten. To her, good craftsmanship is a matter of respect – for the material, the tradition, and the people who will live in the space afterward.

»My childhood home was full of color. I clearly remember the dining room was green, the living room yellow, and the hallway pink,« says Birna Bäck.

In her own home in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, it’s a warm, muted beige that welcomes you in the entryway. And so does Birna.

»It feels like getting a hug every time I come home,« she says with a smile, pointing to the wall – which, of course, she painted herself.

Color has always been a natural part of Birna Bäck’s life, starting from her earliest steps in a childhood home where her father was anything but afraid of bold choices. The same green from her father’s dining room now brings life to the walls of her own open-plan kitchen.

»It’s about creating a flow between the colors – without ending up with a rainbow,« Birna Bäck explains, adding that for her, color is about more than just aesthetics.

»Green stimulates the appetite, which makes it a great choice for a dining room. Red, on the other hand, can feel a bit stressful,« she says.

The Path to the Brush

Colors have followed her since childhood, but they’re not the only legacy she carries as a painter. Her grandfather Arne was also a painter – and a teacher at the School of Conservation – and he was especially skilled in traditional techniques like wood graining and marbleizing.

Wood graining is the art of making ordinary wood look like something finer: mahogany, teak, or rosewood. Back in the day, it was used as a cost-effective way to imitate expensive imported woods. Over time, it became an art form in its own right – painting wood to look like the real thing.

Marbleizing is, in short, a technique for mimicking various types of marble using paint alone.

»In that way, I’ve followed in his footsteps. I still do wood graining and marbleizing – and not many people do that anymore,« says Birna Bäck.

There was something about the painting craft that immediately spoke to Birna – the creative aspect, the sensory experience, the physicality of it. She could feel it in her body when the color hit the wall, when the techniques came to life in her hands. She threw herself into the training with passion and graduated with top marks in her final journeyman’s exam.

Craftsmanship Takes Center Stage – Even in the Living Room

After completing her apprenticeship, Birna Bäck stayed on at the same company. It felt like the natural next step – she knew the coworkers, the routines, the kinds of jobs. But many of the assignments she was sent out on were marked by tight deadlines and quick fixes. She began to miss depth – and quality.

It was during that time that the idea of starting her own business began to take shape. In 2017, she made the leap. She left the security behind and launched her own painting company. And she hasn’t regretted it for a second.

The walls of Birna Bäck’s apartment hold more than just color. Photos of her two children at different ages hang on the walls – some in frames, others pinned up more casually, like little snapshots in time. But unlike the typical family portraits found in most homes, her kitchen-living room clearly bears the marks of her profession: paintbrushes in coffee mugs, stir sticks on the counter, paint buckets half-tucked beneath a shelf, and color swatches with scribbled notes scattered like breadcrumbs from her trade.

Preserving Traditional Painting Techniques

Birna Bäck brings spaces to life through her thoughtful color choices and careful brushwork. She actively preserves traditional painting techniques and insists on restoring older buildings on their own terms – even when it requires a slower, more deliberate approach.

På Dag Hammarskjölds Allé på Østerbro i København ligger nogle af de gamle, mondæne herskabslejligheder fra 1877, hvor selv opgangene er fornemt dekoreret. Her findes et af de projekter, Birna Bäck med stolthed viser frem. Da hun første gang trådte ind i opgangen, var væggene præget af tidens tand, og marmoreringerne var reduceret til blege skygger.

»De var helt girafplettede,« fortæller hun.

I 2023 gik Birna Bäck og Frederiksberg Maleren i gang med at genskabe det oprindelige udtryk – med de samme klassiske teknikker, som hendes farfar engang mestrede.

Graining and marbleizing require time, precision, and a special kind of patience. As Birna speaks, a woman walks down the stairs and greets her with a smile:
»You really spent a lot of time here,« she says, hurrying out through the large mahogany door.

Birna lets her eyes wander across the newly revived walls in the stairwell.

»There aren’t many people doing this kind of work anymore. The glaze I use – I can only get it from one place.«

The glaze is a thin, transparent material that gives the walls warmth and character once again.

»This is one of the projects I’m most proud of,« says Birna Bäck, adding that she never accepts jobs where she’s asked to paint over original marbleizing.

»I just won’t do it – it completely destroys the soul and history of the building,« she says firmly.

And even though graining and marbleizing are demanding – and technically challenging – she always embraces the task.

»It honestly breaks my heart when I see it done wrong. If no one insists on preserving these techniques, we risk losing them,« she says.

The Human Touch Is Never 100% Flawless

Birna laughs when she calls herself “occupationally damaged.”

Dining out is rarely just about the food. Her eyes instinctively scan the space: Are there drips in the woodwork? Do the curtains match the wall color? Is the wallpaper applied correctly – or peeling at the edges? Is the tilework even?

»I hate drips. Those little streaks of paint that run impatiently down a surface. Or when painters leave curtain stains behind. Sometimes I think about leaving my business card – just in case they’re considering redoing it,« she says.

But Birna Bäck is quick to point out that perfection isn’t what she’s aiming for.

»Painting is a craft – and hands are human. That’s why you don’t get a gold medal when you finish your training. A gold medal would imply that your work is flawless. The highest honor you can receive at the school is a silver medal,« she explains.

She holds herself to her own standard of success: »Could I live with this myself?«

If the answer is no, she redoes it. Immediately.

»I’m not a nitpicker,« she says, laughing.

»But it has to be done properly.«

What might sound like perfectionism is, in truth, a matter of professional pride and conscience – and a deep frustration with how the craft is sometimes misunderstood.

»People often say, ‘It’s just a living room that needs painting.’ But they don’t understand what it actually takes,« Birna says.

She explains that even a small job often takes five days – not because she’s painting for five full days, but because of all the prep work, drying time, setup, and the many fine details that need to come together.

»I usually say, everyone can paint – but not everyone paints well. And I cringe a bit at that ‘just a quick job’ mentality. Because it’s not ‘just quick.’ I’ve gone through formal training. I know what I’m doing,« says Birna Bäck.

The Final Touch on Architecture

For Birna, painting is about far more than just color and brushwork. It’s about pride, professionalism, and the responsibility that comes with leaving your mark on a building — and honoring its traditions and history, one brushstroke at a time.

»There’s a deep satisfaction in being the last person on a project – in knowing that your work is the part everyone sees,« says Birna Bäck.

As she points to a label on a paint bucket – showing the official MALI code, which lists the paint’s chemical content – she explains how regulations have tightened over the years. The products she works with today are tested, controlled, and fully documented.

She grins and adds with a wry smile:

»So no – painter’s brain isn’t really a thing anymore.«