Former “Sommerhytta” Winners Reflect on the Show and their New Career as Designers

There is no doubt that “Sommerhytta” has become an audience success. The program, in which four pairs of participants compete to build the finest cabin, was first broadcast in 2017.

Now the seventh season is rolling across the screens, and many are eagerly following who will complete the weekly assignments and finally run away with the prize – their own cabin.

Two of those who sit down on the sofa to follow what happens in the cabins are the former “Sommerhytta” winners Kjartan Haugen and Knut Ivar Pelerud.

The pair were involved in it all in 2019, and two weeks into this year’s season they have had time to make up their minds.

– Take our mistakes with us

– We know each other very well. Both physically and psychologically, says Pelerud to Dagbladet.

– The participants probably lie awake a lot at night pondering and thinking. We spent the night many times when we were involved, he continues and says that they often lay awake to see how the various tasks on YouTube could be carried out.

Had to leave out: – Challenging

So far, the participants have had time to build flooring and bedrooms, and Pelerud and Haugen agree that it is a bit early to say anything about favorites yet.

– But it looks like everyone managed to lay parquet and we struggled with that, because we laid the parquet the wrong way. So it can almost look like they’ve seen “Sommerhytta” before and caught on to all the mistakes we’ve made, laughs the couple.

Nevertheless, there are several things the former winners miss in this year’s season.

– I think it gets a bit boring when everyone has exactly the same cabins and they each have their own plot of land which is also very similar, because then there is not as much scope and then they may not have as much room to be creative, like we was, says Haugen.

– And then the cabins are the same this year as last year, so it won’t be so exciting, because it’s a bit of the same solutions, adds Pelerud.

– We want to see more mistakes, quite simply!, laughs Haugen.

Nevertheless, they have good faith that the participants will show even more of themselves and put a more personal touch on the cabins throughout the season.

– It is much more tiring than what it looks like on TV. You do things you’ve never done before – on TV – and in addition you have to tell what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, says Haugen.

Break

Pelerud records:

– We thought we got some help when the camera wasn’t there from the carpenter, but it was nothing at all, apart from that round on Monday. So we feel a bit sorry for the participants in that sense, and think they are very clever.

New career direction

Since they themselves took part in the competition for the dream cabin, there has been a lot on the plan for the couple.

Shortly after they emerged victorious from the program, they were able to reveal that they had become parents to a little girl. The daughter was named Olivia Quinn.

They have undoubtedly spent a lot of time with their daughter, but in the future they do not rule out new adventures on TV.

– Now she is almost four years old, so now we can perhaps start to leave her a little. Up until now we haven’t been able to leave her, but maybe she can start being looked after by someone else soon, the couple laughs.

– Haven’t seen a single episode

Pelerud and Haugen have certainly had time for something else as well. After the “Sommerhytta” participation, it didn’t take long before they were able to step down in their old jobs to focus more on other things.

– I guess we didn’t have a plan for it before we joined “Sommerhytta”, but after it started to air on TV, we saw that there was an opportunity to build on this, explains Pelerud.

The side job they are aiming for is as designers. Recently, they have been able to create their own outdoor furniture collection in collaboration with Kalma interior, and they have more plans as designers in the future.

– There is a lot we can thank “Sommerhytta” for, they say.