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Buying furniture from heritage design houses like Carl Hansen and Fredericia means investing in quality and craftsmanship. These houses have mastered their trade over decades, ensuring each piece is meticulously designed and built to last. In contrast, brands like Bolia and BoConcept focus more on trends and marketing, outsourcing their production.

Invest in Timeless Craftsmanship: Heritage vs Lifestyle Furniture Brands


Buying furniture from heritage design houses like Carl Hansen and Fredericia means investing in quality and craftsmanship. These houses have mastered their trade over decades, ensuring each piece is meticulously designed and built to last. In contrast, brands like Bolia and BoConcept focus more on trends and marketing, outsourcing their production.


Published by danish design co | September 11, 2024

danish design co | September 11, 2024

Invest in Timeless Craftsmanship: Heritage Furniture vs. Trendy Lifestyle Brands

Buying furniture from heritage design houses like Carl Hansen, Fredericia, House of Finn Juhl, Gubi, Montana, Naver, Fritz Hansen, and Skovby is a fundamentally different decision compared to purchasing from lifestyle and marketing focused brands. The key difference lies in the deep-rooted expertise and dedication to craftsmanship that heritage design houses embody. These companies have been perfecting their craft for decades, collaborating with world-renowned designers and ensuring that every piece they produce reflects a legacy of quality, attention to detail, and timeless design.

When you buy from these houses, you're investing in furniture that has been meticulously designed and crafted by artisans who have spent years mastering their trade. Established furniture houses maintain control over every step of production, from sourcing the highest quality materials and craftsmen, learning their crafts in dedicated production facilities; so ensuring each piece is built to last. This commitment to craftsmanship and sustainability is at the core of their ethos, making their furniture more than just objects it becomes part of a family's story, passed down through time.

In contrast, marketing focused brands operate as lifestyle companies, focusing on marketing, changing what they offer to match trends and outsourcing their production. The difference in purchase decisions is significant: buying from a heritage design house is an investment in long-term quality, craftsmanship, and timeless design. Purchasing from lifestyle brands is often driven by trend-based aesthetics and marketing appeal. They are fabulous at marketing though! The value of heritage furniture design houses lies in their lasting craftsmanship and attention to every detail in their dedicated production.

Take, for instance, the No.1 Sofa, a testament to the enduring appeal of heritage craftsmanship. Designed in 1955 by Borge Mogensen, one of the most famous furniture designers of the 1950s, this sofa unites a defined shape with a milder, more intimate character that can fit any living room. This designer sofa embodies Mogensens signature minimalist style along with functional details that feature removable and mobile cushions. The resulting effect is a classic furniture piece with a unique personal character that has lasted through the years despite everchanging trends. A tightly upholstered frame and loose cushions on the seat as well as the back mark this sturdy sofa. Its rigid frame contrasts well with the soft upholstered seats and back cushion, and the conical wooden legs add a nice vintage touch to this modern classic.

Similarly, the Spanish Chair by Børge Mogensen, produced by Fredericia, exemplifies the profound difference that comes with buying from a heritage furniture house. When you purchase this iconic chair, you're not just buying a piece of furniture; you're investing in decades of craftsmanship, design legacy, and expert material selection. The Spanish Chair is made with solid oak and premium saddle leather, materials chosen for their strength, durability, and the way they age beautifully over time. Every aspect of its construction is deliberate crafted by artisans who understand the nuances of woodworking and leatherwork, ensuring that the chair will last for generations while developing a unique patina that enhances its character. Fredericia trains and employs these artisans indeed a role at Fredeirica is much sort after.

In contrast, lifestyle brands may offer visually appealing pieces, but their outsourced production often involves lower-cost materials and mass-production methods. This approach compromises the long-term durability and craftsmanship of the furniture. A chair from these brands may look modern and stylish at first glance, but it typically lacks the artisanal quality and heritage that define a piece like the Spanish Chair. The focus is often on aesthetics and marketing appeal rather than creating a timeless, heirloom-quality piece.

Buying from heritage furniture houses such as Fredericia means owning a design with history and integrity, made to stand the test of time. It's a piece designed to improve with age, where each mark on the leather or wood tells a story. With a heritage piece like the Spanish Chair, you're investing in quality, craftsmanship, and a legacy of design, while mass-produced alternatives often lack that depth, offering only temporary visual appeal.

Investing in such pieces from heritage design houses means you are acquiring items that are not just functional or stylish, but also carry a story, a legacy of design excellence, and an assurance of quality that transcends time. This is the true essence of purchasing from heritage furniture houses a commitment to owning something timeless, crafted with unparalleled skill and dedication.


2 seater sofa  designed by Juul for Jens Juul EilersenThe Juul 701 sofa is the epitome of Jens Juul Eilersens trademark minimalistic furniture design. A product of his unwavering and unadulterated passion for his work, the Juul 701 is fashioned from the best materials. With the entire manufacturing process being overseen by an expert craftsman, the high quality of the final product is, without doubt, a guarantee. Be ready to step into the world of luxury and recline in utmost comfort.
1. 701 Sofa

The Juul 701 sofa is the epitome of Jens Juul Eilersens trademark minimalistic furniture design. A product of his unwavering and unadulterated passion for his work, the Juul 701 is fashioned from the best materials. With the entire manufacturing process being overseen by an expert craftsman, the high quality of the final product is, without doubt, a guarantee. Be ready to step into the world of luxury and recline in utmost comfort.


From $ 5,380


Danish furniture designer Jens Juul Eilersen is a 3rd generation designer for the brand Eilersen, best known for their sofas. Having been exposed to his family business since he was young, Jens Juul Eilersen took over management in the early 1960s and has since created some of the most modern and popular luxury “state-of-the-art” sofas. Jens has a passion in precise calculations and this can be clearly seen in his sofa designs which are born out of careful proportions and craftsmanship with only the best curated materials.

Designed by Jens Juul Eilersen for Juul

3 seater sofa designed by Eilersen for Jens Juul EilersenThe Mission Sofa is a 2016 collaboration of well-known Japanese furniture designer, Yuzuru Nishiyama and the Eilersen team headed by Jens Juul Eilersen. Since the 1800s, both Danish and Japanese design have taken different elements from each others cultures. Inspired by the tradition of Japanese simplicity and harmony coupled with Danish expertise and approach to functionality in furniture making, the Mission Sofa is a modern and contemporary take on the classic London sofa, showcasing a stringent body with slender legs and eye for detail.
This designer furniture piece sports a loose back and seat cushions that ensure optimum comfort. Its slim body also makes a great choice for urban living spaces where space constraint is an issue.
2. Mission Sofa

The Mission Sofa is a 2016 collaboration of well-known Japanese furniture designer, Yuzuru Nishiyama and the Eilersen team headed by Jens Juul Eilersen. Since the 1800s, both Danish and Japanese design have taken different elements from each others cultures. Inspired by the tradition of Japanese simplicity and harmony coupled with Danish expertise and approach to functionality in furniture making, the Mission Sofa is a modern and contemporary take on the classic London sofa, showcasing a stringent body with slender legs and eye for detail. This designer furniture piece sports a loose back and seat cushions that ensure optimum comfort. Its slim body also makes a great choice for urban living spaces where space constraint is an issue.


From $ 7,183


Danish furniture designer Jens Juul Eilersen is a 3rd generation designer for the brand Eilersen, best known for their sofas. Having been exposed to his family business since he was young, Jens Juul Eilersen took over management in the early 1960s and has since created some of the most modern and popular luxury “state-of-the-art” sofas. Jens has a passion in precise calculations and this can be clearly seen in his sofa designs which are born out of careful proportions and craftsmanship with only the best curated materials.

Designed by Jens Juul Eilersen for Eilersen

lounge chair designed by Gubi for GamFratesiThe Masculo Lounge Chair designed by Danish-Italian duo GamFratesi, is part of its popular and contemporary Masculo Collection. Designed for the fine dining restaurant Copenhague at Maison du Danemark in Paris, the lounge chair marries the idea of Danish elegance and simplicity with the Italian refinement and playfullness.
Its eye-catching design is challenging to the senses, with a sculptural structure that excites the eyes.
3. Masculo Lounge Chair

The Masculo Lounge Chair designed by Danish-Italian duo GamFratesi, is part of its popular and contemporary Masculo Collection. Designed for the fine dining restaurant Copenhague at Maison du Danemark in Paris, the lounge chair marries the idea of Danish elegance and simplicity with the Italian refinement and playfullness. Its eye-catching design is challenging to the senses, with a sculptural structure that excites the eyes.


From $ 2,286


GamFratesi studio was founded by Danish architect Stine Gam and Italian architect Enrico Fratesi. This award-winning Danish-Italian design duo is a rising star in the design world with their poetically organic, yet defined, style that bridges northern and southern design culture. 
  
  GamFratesi’s designs take their creative drive from a combination of tradition and the contemporary in an experimental approach with materials and techniques. With their dual traditional background, Stine and Enrico draw on classic Danish furniture and craft traditions, as well as the classic Italian intellectual and conceptual approach. From this cross-cultural substrate they create furniture that respectfully reflects tradition while also featuring subtlety embedded stories, symbols and associations. 
  
GamFratesi are the award winners of the 2015 Finn Juhl Architectural Prize, 2015 Milano Design Award, Guest of Honour at the 2014 Stockholm Furniture and Light Fair, 2013 Elle Decoration International Design Award and the Three-Year Working Grant from the Danish Arts Foundation.

Designed by GamFratesi for Gubi

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Reviews


★★★★★

Excellent custom made furniture worth the wait time and investment. Great customer service too!


Sishreyas Subbaraya
★★★★★

Danish Design has always been my go-to place for furniture shopping. They have the most fashionable but also timeless pieces. And while some are not cheap they are made with great quality. We bought our favourite dining walnut table that is ever so timeless but also the most versatile being able to sit 6 and up to 10-12 when we extend it. It is our third time renovating and we are taking this favourite piece w us in our move… and more importantly we always get great service from danish design even after many years.


Yiling Liu
★★★★★

Best furniture in town. Go check out pieces from Finn Juhl, especially the chieftain chair!


Dileep Marar
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