Today, Danish design is known for simple geometric shapes and clean, uncluttered lines and it’s a popular form of interior design style.
Here’s a brief insight into the history and development of Danish design, and some great ideas for getting the Danish look in your home.
The emergence of popular Danish design
The heyday of Danish design was the 1950s and 1960s, when designers and architects such as Finn Juhl (sometimes called the father of Danish design), Hans Wegner, Arne Jacobsen and Verner Panton came to prominence with their new ideas.
Many of the leading Danish designers had trained as cabinet makers, and brought that sense of traditional quality to their new designs.
Inspired by Charles Eames, architect Arne Jacobsen designed the famous Ant chair in 1952, initially for the canteen at Novo Nordisk, an international Danish healthcare company.
He soon found that there was a demand for the new small, lightweight, stackable chair from owners of the new apartments that were springing up. With limited space and small kitchen areas, the Ant chairs (named for their shape, as the back of the chair resembled an ant with a raised head) were perfect for modern living and became a design classic.
The Ant was followed in 1958 by the Egg chair, designed for the Royal Hotel, in Copenhagen. Based on an oval,the Egg quickly became popular for its comfort as well as its looks.
The genre continues to flourish today, though, with many of the new generation of designers re-working the classic and retro designs into something edgier.
How to get the Danish look
The twin concepts of Danish design are ‘simplicity’ and ‘functionality’.
Furniture should have clean, uncluttered lines and is often raised off the floor on legs to give a feeling of space.
Walls and floors in the room should be light, for example white-painted walls and blond wood floors. Window dressings should be simple and let in as much light as possible.
Keep decorative accessories to a minimum to enhance the feeling of space.
1. Elba TV cabinet, Pash Living
This Elba TV cabinet, a mix of contemporary lines and colours with retro influence, is available in walnut or oak.
Inspired by Danish designers, this classic piece of furniture is sure to be the talking point of any room.
The combination of drawers and doors offers a variety of storage solutions, and there are no handles to the drawers giving this cabinet a sleek, minimalistic look and feel. Hand crafted by skilled craftsmen in the UK. £849, available from Pash Living.
2. Bell pendant light, Normann Copenhagen
From modern design company Normann Copenhagen comes this bell pendant light, £229.
It has an iconic bell shape, rounded and simple, with a matt finish.
It comes in four different sizes so can be use in a variety of ways, the smaller sizes can be used for hanging by beds or in rows above a kitchen surface. Available from Cloudberry Living.
3. Arne Jacobsen-inspired Egg chair, Pash Living
Almost sixty years after its creation, the Egg chair continues to be a design classic. The design is still in production, and a modern Egg chair by Arne Jacobsen’s retail partner Fritz Hansen costs around £4,500.
If you can track down a vintage Egg chair from the 1960s in good condition, it’s more likely to cost in the region of £8,000 – £10,000.
To add a little style to your home at a more affordable price, this reproduction Egg chair is based on Arne Jacobsen’s original design and is available in a range of finishes and a choice of colours. £399, available from Pash Living.
By Sara Walker
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I absolutely love the bell pendant! Great choices.
Danish design. I had a class in school about Danish design. The perfect ingredient of simplicity and functionalism added to design was the best goal to achieve in that time. Remember it was a modern age.