18 Scandinavian Design Brands You Should Really Know About If Interiors Are Your Thing

Scandinavia is home to one of the most popular design aesthetics for interiors. During the 20th Century, Scandi countries — Denmark, Norway, and Sweden — launched hit after hit of beautifully simple and sculptural ‘form follows function’ furniture, lighting, and homeware designs. Many of these pieces are rooted in the Scandinavian passion for nature, and as a result, they are constructed from natural materials like wood, leather, cotton, and linen.

Ultimately, these Scandinavian design brands' enduring appeal is in their versatility. Scandi furniture and lighting seem to be able to sit with other interior looks and styles — it never fights for attention, it simply adds an element of chic modernity to a space.

So, which are the brands creating Scandinavian design that still resonate today?

1. Anderson Furniture

Part of the Design Concept Denmark family, Andersen Furniture has a long history of working with architects and designers — think Jacob Jensen, Ditlev Karsten, and Charlotte Honcke, to name a few — to curate Scandinavian furniture designs which balance comfort and practicality.

Founded in 1916 by master cabinet-maker I.C.A. Jensen and in 1978 taken over by brothers Knud and Vagn Andersen, the brand roots itself in the use of traditional crafting techniques to produce solid wood furniture which is tactile, quietly chic, and everything you’d want from a Scandi brand.

2. FDB Mobler

Intended as a rebellion against the status quo, since its launch in 1942 FDB Mobler has been producing functional furniture not just for the wealthy, but for everyone. This much-celebrated Scandinavian design brand rebelled against the heavier furniture of the forties and instead cut a design dash with practical and lighter designs for the everyday.

The J46 spoke-back chair (designed in 1956 by Poul Volther) is one of FDB Mobler’s best-selling products. Instantly recognizable, it epitomizes the brand’s flair for producing furniture which is both practical and elegant in equal measure.

3. Fritz Hansen

Fritz Hansen, founded in 1982, is the eponymous brand of cabinet maker Fritz Hansen and one of the foremost Scandinavian furniture design brands. At the turn of the century, Fritz’s forward-thinking son, Christian, experimented with steam-bending techniques and established the brand as a world leader in molded and laminated wood furniture.

Over the decades, the brand has worked with leading Scandinavian designers and curated some of the world’s most recognized — and iconic — contemporary furniture designs. In 1944, architect and designer Hans. J. Wegner created his first iconic chair for Fritz Hansen in the form of The China Chair; in 1955, Verner Panton created the Bachelor chair in bent steel; and in 1958 Arne Jacobsen penned the Egg Chair. Over the decades following, this list of designers and designs associated with Fritz Hansen has simply multiplied.

4. GUBI

Danish design brand Gubi is one of the true gems of Scandinavian design. Its roots are in the swinging 1960s (it was founded in 1967 by Gubi and Lisbeth Olsen) and it is widely recognized the world over for its simple-yet-striking furniture and lighting shapes.

Most people — interior designers included — cosset a sleek GUBI design piece for their home. Gubi’s most famous creation? Well, it might just be the Beetle Chair. Although a more recent design (2013), GamFraseti’s masterpiece for Gubi almost instantly became a design icon. Versatile, perfectly scaled, and available in an extensive range of upholstery options (all of which are alluring), this is a Scandi design brand you need to know about.

5. Grythyttan

Stepping outside for a second, Grythyttan Stålmöbler is a Swedish furniture company known for its classic, durable, and timeless garden furniture designs, particularly its steel-framed garden chairs and tables.

Founded in 1930, it is a family-owned business that specializes in the craftsmanship and the use of high-quality materials such as natural woods and steel. The A2 chair, designed by Arthur Lindqvist, is something of a benchmark of the brand’s enduring design philosophy.

6. HEM

This thoroughly modern and homegrown Stockholm brand first hit the design scene in 2014. HEM collaborates with vanguard designers to create furniture, accessories, and lighting for both homes and workplaces.

While some of HEM’s designs adhere to the more restrained Scandi style — natural woods and a distinct lack of ornamental design detail — others veer towards a punchier use of bold color and pattern (I just love the Molino salt and pepper grinders!) Needless to say, there’s something for everyone.

7. IKEA

Ask anyone to name a powerhouse Scandinavian design brand, and their answer is most likely to be IKEA. Instantly recognizable thanks to its bold blue and yellow colour scheme, IKEA has been producing all things furniture, lighting, and homeware since Ingvar Kamprad founded it in 1943 at the age of 17.

It’s earned itself a reputation as a high street favourite thanks to an offering of economical flatpack furniture and affordable lighting and homeware. However, it also delivers on an ability to curate pieces with oodles of style and design flair, too.

Its latest STOCKHOLM 2025 collection is peppered with some of the best IKEA products — ones that hone a distinctly chic feel, for example. Elsewhere, the KONSTFULL Collection contributed by designer Ilse Crawford — a limited series of beautifully sleek glass vases — proves IKEA can produce a high-end design look, for less.

8. Montana

Montana has been family-owned since its inception by founder Peter J. Lassen in 1982. Peter penned ‘The Montana System’ — a shelving system with 36 basis modules, four depths, and 43 carefully created finishes, which is what the brand has possibly become best known for.

However, there’s an extensive list of other products too: dining tables, chairs, benches, mirrors, and more. All offering a sense of Scandi design simplicity at its best.

9. Muuto

Functionality and craftsmanship underpin everything that Muuto curates. The name ‘Muuto’ comes from the Finnish word Muutos, which means ‘new perspective’.

As you might anticipate, the Muuto designs are all eye-catching and contemporary, and distinctly their own. The Top Pendant Light (available here at Heal's) exemplifies Muuto’s ability to reinterpret a classic. Taking a classic cone-shaped pendant, Muuto has made it out of spun metal using innovative technology. The Unfold Pendant Lamp is rather recognizable too, constructed in flexible silicone rubber and available in a spectrum of beautiful color shades.

10. New Works

Danish brand New Works collaborates with designers who share a similar tendency to focus on detail and materiality. The result is a selection of furniture and lighting that is alluringly diverse yet coherent.

For example, the marble Florence Coffee Table, designed by Knut Bendik Humlevik & Josefine Hedemann, sits beautifully alongside the soft glow of John Astbury’s Margin Pendant Light, and the subtly curvaceous Covent Residential Sofa, designed by ARDE Design Studio. It’s all very neat.

11. Skagerak

Skagerak, a Danish brand founded in 1976, takes its name from the strait in the North Sea which lies between Denmark and its Nordic neighbours Norway and Sweden. Having been family-owned for many years, Fritz Hansen acquired the Skagerak brand in 2021.

Skagerak is known for producing a mix of indoor and outdoor furniture options as well as homeware (they are an excellent source for things like towel roll holders and wall hooks, to name a few!) and all with a key theme of sustainability running through each design. Because Skagerak works with such a strong commitment to sustainability, you’ll not be surprised by the fact that many of their products are made from, and finished in, natural woods, leather, cotton, and linen.

12. String

Sharing a particular synergy with period-appropriate 1960s and mid-century modern furniture, the iconic String shelving system first launched onto the design scene in the early 1950s, conjured by Swedish architect and designer Nisee Strinning for a competition held by the Bonnier Public Library — the brief being to design an affordable and easy to assemble shelving system.

The rest is history. From smaller one- and two-shelf options suitable for the most petite of spaces, to larger full-wall library and display-appropriate versions, the String shelving system was, and remains to this day, one of the most enlightened and intelligent Scandi designs on the market.

13. &Tradition

Launched in 2010, Danish brand &Tradition creates modern furniture, lighting, and object designs influenced by the legacy of Danish craftsmanship. Whether its starting point is new or re-issued, &Tradition says it is ‘passionate about designing the classics of tomorrow’.

The brand's offering includes a peppering of iconic classic designs such as the Mayor Sofa designed by Arne Jacobsen and Flemming Lassen in 1939, the Flowerpot Pendant Lamp designed by Verner Panton in 1968 (which may be one of the world's most iconic lamps), and the Little Petra Sofa and Petra Lounge Chair, both designed in the 1930s by Viggo Boesen.

14. Cane-Line

Since its inception in 1987 Cane-line has expanded from its initial focus on selling interior pieces in Scandinavia to being an international brand selling indoor-outdoor furniture options in over 100 countries. The core offering is ‘functional luxury’, often incorporating handwoven design touches and details into the durable and weather-resistant furniture.

So while you get an undeniably Scandinavian infusion of craftsmanship and style, you also get practical characteristics like UV-resistant materials and quick-drying cushions.

15. Louis Poulsen

Since 1874, Danish lighting brand Louis Poulsen has continuously paved the way for innovation and aesthetics in lighting. The brand produces indoor and outdoor lighting designs that not only look great, but which shift an interior’s atmosphere into more alluring territory.

The aesthetic rolls with the Scandinavian tradition of ‘form follows function’ and the brand likes to think of its designs as akin to works of art — luminaires which carry their own story and which function in every curve and detail. A prime example of Poulsen vision, the PH5 pendant light was designed in 1958 by writer, designer, and architect Poul Henningsen. Henningsen aimed to capture ‘golden hour’ and in response to the glare from incandescent bulbs created a multi-tier shade which has become an icon of 1960s lighting design.

16. Carl Hansen

Ever heard of the Wishbone Chair? This is the Danish powerhouse behind the design. Carl Hansen is also known for its CH25 Lounge Chair and CH07 Shell Chair, among a plethora of others. With over a century of experience, the brand has actually amassed quite a list of furniture, and its furniture can be seen in many households worldwide.

Carl Hansen is the largest manufacturer of Hans J. Wegner designs. They also produce pieces by Arne Jacobsen and Borge Mogensen. Unsurprisingly, it's a brand which is deeply rooted in Danish design history, and it sees itself as something of a guardian of the ‘classics’. It continues to expand its international reach with a thriving and accessible network of global retailers.

17. Fredericia Furniture

The family-owned design company Fredericia prides itself on crafting modern originals, and it's been in business since as far back as 1908. Its list of designs is impressive, to say the least, and it has the right to manufacture and sell some pretty sleek scandi pieces by the likes of Borge Mogensen, Nanna Ditzel, Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, Kaare Klint, Space Copenhagen, Cecilie Manz, Jasper Morrison... the list goes on.

18. Hastens

Bed specialists Hastens has a strong brand identity — the striking blue and white check pattern of their bed frames and mattresses is rather recognizable. This long-standing Swedish bed brand has been building beautiful beds since 1852, and takes great pride in having nurtured six generations of master craftsmen, and using only the most sumptuous fabrics and premium materials in their product. The brands commitment is to providing you with exceptional sleep quality. Suffice to say, you’re guaranteed to sleep well if you’re bedding in with a Hastens.

Because Scandi furniture is so versatile, you can rest easy that whichever Scandinavian brand you shop with, you're guaranteed a piece of design which will embody timeless style. An investment not just for your home, but for generations to come — a Scandi design piece is an investment piece and an heirloom for future family to inherit, use, enjoy, and thank you for.