It is important to wake up to something beautiful I think. When I was in my twenties, I painted my bedroom dark green like the forest and hang a beautiful picture at the end of my bed. The picture was by the Swedish artist Harald Wiberg, whom I adore (try google his name and you will see what I mean).

In another house, I awoke to the view of a picture by another Swedish artist. The motif was from Selma Lagerlof’s tale about Niels Holgersen and his travels, and when I lay in bed in the early hours looking at it, I could imagine how it would be to fly high up in the sky on a white goose with all the Swedish lakes below.

In my last house, I woke up to the sight of heather-clad hills. It was a big oil painting of Kai Drews, a Danish painter, and I bought this painting for almost nothing at an auction many years ago. It is so beautifully done, and I loved to look at all the details. It reminds me of the wonderful holidays of my childhood, which we always spend in Jutland – a part of Denmark where heather still grows in abundance.

I cannot show you the pictures because of copyrights, but I can show you the beautiful colours of heather…