Danish design: the furniture, lighting and tableware to know
Danish modern furniture grew out of the 1920s, when Kaare Klint taught his students at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts to pair modern needs with traditional cabinetmaking; Arne Jacobsen, Hans Wegner and Finn Juhl carried it into a thriving industry from the 1940s to the 1960s. Exports of Danish furniture rose from DKK 9.8 million in 1953 to DKK 257.8 million in 1964. Many of those pieces, and the porcelain and silver of older workshops, are still made by the houses that first made them.
Furniture
The chairs, tables and sofas of Danish modern, and the houses that make them.
Fritz Hansen A furniture house founded in Denmark in 1872 that makes Arne Jacobsen's Egg, Swan and Series 7 chairs.Works: Superellipse table, Egg chair, Series 7, Ant chair, Swan chair
Carl Hansen & Søn A family-owned furniture maker on Funen, founded in 1908, that makes Hans J. Wegner's Wishbone Chair.Works: Wishbone Chair, Safari Chair, CH25 Easy Chair, Shell Chair (CH07), Elbow Chair (CH20)
Fredericia A family-owned furniture maker founded in Fredericia in 1911, best known for Børge Mogensen's Spanish Chair and J39.Works: 2213 Sofa, Trinidad Chair, Ox Chair, The Spanish Chair, J39 Mogensen Chair
HAY A Copenhagen furniture and homeware company founded in 2002 by Mette and Rolf Hay.Works: Élémentaire, Prince chair, Palissade
W.W. Artek Stool 60 Alvar Aalto's Stool 60 made by Artek in Bothnia Blue, Factory Yellow and Powder Pink for Wood Wood's 20th anniversary in 2022.
Muuto A Copenhagen design company founded in 2006 that makes furniture, lighting and accessories with Scandinavian designers.
PP Møbler A cabinetmaking workshop run by the Pedersen family that makes Hans J. Wegner's furniture, among it the Round Chair.Works: Round Chair, Peacock Chair, PP201, PP52/PP62
Vipp A family company that began with a pedal bin made in Randers in 1939 and now makes kitchens, lighting and furniture.Works: Vipp kitchen
House of Finn Juhl The company that holds the rights to Finn Juhl's furniture and has put more than 40 of his designs back into production.Works: 45 Chair, Pelican Chair, Baker Sofa, Chieftain Chair
Montana Furniture A family-owned maker of modular storage and furniture, built around Peter J. Lassen's Montana System and made on Funen.Works: Montana System, Panton One
&Tradition A Copenhagen furniture and lighting house founded in 2010 that makes Verner Panton's Flowerpot lamp, reissues mid-century designs and commissions new work from designers such as Jaime Hayon.
Audo Copenhagen A Copenhagen furniture, lighting and accessories house, formed in 2023 from Menu and by Lassen, that makes Mogens Lassen's Kubus candleholder and Flemming Lassen's Tired Man chair alongside new work by Norm Architects.Works: The Penguin Lounge Chair, The Tired Man, Plinth
Brdr. Krüger A Copenhagen furniture maker, founded as a woodturning workshop in 1886 and run by the fifth generation of the Krüger family, known for the Bølling Tray Table and the Arv chairs made for noma.Works: Bølling Tray Table, Ekko Chair, Arv chair, Arv table, Arv Plus Table
BoConcept A Danish furniture company, founded in 1952, that designs customisable sofas, chairs and tables and sells them through franchised BoConcept stores in more than 65 countries.Works: Paraggi
Bolia An Aarhus furniture company founded in 2000 that designs sofas, chairs, tables and accessories with designers from many countries and sells them in its own stores.Works: Hayden
Ferm Living A Copenhagen design company that makes furniture, lighting and accessories for the home.Works: Vist
Dinesen A family wood-flooring maker founded in Jels in 1898, known for wide solid and engineered planks in Douglas fir, oak, ash and pine.
Sika-Design A family-owned rattan furniture maker on Funen, founded in 1942, that makes its own designs and wicker chairs by Nanna and Jørgen Ditzel, Arne Jacobsen and Franco Albini.Works: Hanging Egg Chair, Madame Lounge Chair, Charlottenborg Chair, Renoir
FRAMA A Copenhagen design studio making furniture, lighting, tableware, fragrance and body care in natural materials, with its own store, bakery and coffee bar in the city and a store in Tokyo.Works: Shelf Library
Eilersen A sofa maker founded as a coachbuilder's shop in Skamby on Funen in 1895, known for deep, down-cushioned modular sofas such as Great Ash by Jens Juul Eilersen.
Andersen Furniture A Danish furniture maker founded in 1916, part of Design Concept Denmark, known for solid-wood furniture for homes and professional spaces.Works: A-Shelf
Lange Production A Danish furniture house founded in 2006 that reissues the steel-and-leather furniture of Fabricius & Kastholm and the moulded-plywood furniture of Grete Jalk.Works: GJ Bow Chair
GUBI A Copenhagen design house for furniture, lighting and objects, reissuing 20th-century designs such as the Bestlite and Multi-Lite lamps alongside new work like GamFratesi's Beetle chair.Works: Beetle Dining Chair
Normann Copenhagen A Copenhagen design company for furniture, lighting and objects, started as a shop in 1999 and making its own products since the Norm 69 lamp in 2002.
Sibast Furniture A Danish furniture house that brought back Helge Sibast's No 8 dining chair of 1953 in 2013 and now makes chairs, tables and sofas, among them the Bent Hansen designs it took over in 2025.Works: Sibast No 8, Primum Lounge Collection, Inverse Side Table, aluminium
Lighting
The lamps designed in Denmark that hang in homes around the world.
Bestlite BL1 Robert Dudley Best's adjustable table lamp of 1930, with a hinged arm and a bell-shaped shade, now made by GUBI.
Louis Poulsen A Copenhagen lighting maker founded in 1874 that makes Poul Henningsen's PH lamps.Works: PH lamp, PH 5, PH Artichoke, AJ lamp
Rope Trick An LED floor lamp Stefan Diez designed for HAY in 2013, its shade held up by a stiffened rope; no longer made.
Gräshoppa Floor Lamp Greta M. Grossman's floor lamp of 1947 on a backward-tilted tripod, with a long conical shade that turns, reissued by GUBI.
Le Klint A lamp maker founded in Odense in 1943 that folds cross-pleated lampshades by hand, to a technique the Klint family worked out around 1900.
Multi-Lite Louis Weisdorf's lamp of 1972, with two quarter-sphere shades that turn inside a metal ring, made by GUBI.
Semi Pendant A pendant lamp of two quarter-circles set back to back, drawn by Claus Bonderup and Torsten Thorup in 1968 and made by GUBI.
LYFA A Danish lamp maker founded in Copenhagen in 1903, closed in 1998 and relaunched in 2020, that reissues lamps by Bent Karlby, Simon P. Henningsen and Jørn Utzon and adds new designs by GamFratesi.
Nuura A Copenhagen lighting company founded in 2017 that builds its collections around the chandelier, with shades of hand-blown glass.Works: Miira, Blossi, Apiales, Petalii Floor
Flowerpot A lamp of two facing half-spheres designed by Verner Panton in 1968, made today by &Tradition as pendants, table and floor lamps in many colours.
Strand A family of pendant and table lamps by Benjamin Hubert's studio Layer for Muuto, with shades of a sprayed fibre material over a thin steel frame.
Norm 69 A self-assembly pendant lamp of 69 folded plastic pieces, drawn by the architect Simon Karkov in 1969 and made by Normann Copenhagen since 2002.
Formakami A series of paper lantern lamps by the Spanish designer Jaime Hayon for &Tradition, in ivory white paper with black stained oak.
Tableware
Porcelain, silver, glass and steel for the table, from Copenhagen workshops and beyond.
Ripple A series of mouth-blown ribbed glassware by Ferm Living, from drinking glasses and carafes to champagne saucers, bowls and a thermal French press.
Royal Copenhagen The porcelain factory founded in Copenhagen in 1775, known for its hand-painted Blue Fluted and Flora Danica services.Works: Flora Danica, Blue Fluted Plain, Blue Fluted Full Lace, Christmas plates, Blue Fluted Mega
Kähler A ceramics house founded in Næstved in 1839, known for its ruby lustre glaze of 1888 and today for hand-painted vases and tableware such as Omaggio and Hammershøi.Works: Omaggio, Hammershøi
Holmegaard Danish glass from the Holmegaard works near Næstved, founded in 1825 and known for Per Lütken's Provence bowl and Idéelle glasses and Jacob E. Bang's vases.
Kay Bojesen The silversmith Kay Bojesen's designs: the Grand Prix cutlery, made by his granddaughter's company, and the wooden monkey and animals, made by Rosendahl.Works: Grand Prix
Stelton A Danish maker of steel tableware founded in 1960, known for Arne Jacobsen's Cylinda-line and Erik Magnussen's EM77 vacuum jug.Works: Cylinda-line, EM77
Eva Solo A Danish design company, owned by the Engelbrecht family, whose bird feeders, lanterns, vases and other goods for home and garden are sold across Europe, Asia and Australia.Works: Eva Solo tea maker
Lyngby Porcelæn A porcelain house founded in Kongens Lyngby in 1936, known for the fluted white Lyngby vase and today for the Rhombe tableware and Tura vases.Works: Lyngby Tura, Lyngby vase, Rhombe, Thermodan
Dolly A porcelain salt and pepper set by Ross McBride for Normann Copenhagen, made as one rounded U-shaped piece divided inside into two chambers.
Magma A triangular vacuum jug by Francis Cayouette for Normann Copenhagen; it won a Good Design Award in 2005.
Familia A china dinner service and kitchen series that Ole Jensen designed for Normann Copenhagen; it is no longer made.
Textiles
Upholstery fabric, rugs and throws designed and woven in Denmark.
Kvadrat A textile house founded in Ebeltoft in 1968 that makes upholstery and curtain fabrics for architects and designers.Works: Hallingdal
Georg Jensen Damask A Danish weaver of damask table linen and home textiles, founded by a family of weavers in 1756 and based in Kolding.Works: Sct. Knuds Ørne, Becker 63, Abild, Christmas tablecloth, Easter tablecloth
Ege Carpets A carpet maker founded in Herning in 1938, making wall-to-wall carpets, carpet tiles and rugs for hotels, offices, shops and ships.
Design objects
Small objects for the home by Danish designers: turned wooden birds, teak ducks and spring-mounted figures.
Architectmade A Danish house that makes wooden design objects by architects and designers, among them Kristian Vedel's BIRD and Hans Bølling's Duck & Duckling.Works: BIRD, Duck & Duckling
Elephant Kay Bojesen's wooden elephant of 1953 in oak, with a trunk and legs that move, made today by Rosendahl.
Bear Kay Bojesen's seated wooden bear of 1952 in oak and maple, with arms and legs that move, made today by Rosendahl.
Royal Guard Kay Bojesen's painted wooden soldiers of the Danish Royal Guard, first made in 1942 and made today by Rosendahl.
Sögreni Bell A bicycle bell by Sögreni of Copenhagen in brass, copper, stainless steel or matte zinc.
Monkey Kay Bojesen's jointed wooden monkey of 1951, in teak and limba, made today by Rosendahl.
Original watering can A 1.7-litre watering can in stainless steel with a long, thin spout and a rounded handle, designed by Peter Holmblad for Stelton in 1978.
Pedal bin The steel pedal bin Holger Nielsen made in Randers in 1939 for his wife's hair salon, still made by Vipp and held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Funnel A collapsible kitchen funnel Boje Estermann designed for Normann Copenhagen; it won a Good Design Award in 2005.
Kubus A geometric metal candleholder of open cubes, designed by the Danish architect Mogens Lassen in 1962 and made by Audo Copenhagen.
Interconnect A sculptural candleholder of a sphere, an angle and a line, designed by the New York stylist Colin King for Audo Copenhagen.
Ornament bird feeders Hanging bird feeders in stainless steel, among them an acorn, a basket and a sphere, designed by Tools Design for Eva Solo.
VOLA Taps made to order in Horsens since 1968, built on the wall-mounted mixer Arne Jacobsen and Verner Overgaard designed for the National Bank of Denmark.
Architecture
Cabins and small buildings designed in Denmark and made to be set up anywhere.
