It all started with a friendship, (as good things often do), which dates back to my early 20s when I was working and studying in Madrid.  I met Henriette in one of my Spanish classes and we became excellent friends, (athough the studies suffered a bit..). Over the years that followed we travelled continents together, living in places as glamorous as Costa Rica and Leeds. We remain close friends to this day.

Henriette is Danish and whenever I visited her in Copenhagen I was always fascinated by her home. White walls, stripped wood floors, beautiful furniture, and always a wonderful warmth and cosiness. But one of the things that struck me, and has always stayed with me:

All her chairs had names.

Over the years I discovered the stories behind her furniture. The lovely comfy armchair in the corner was an Elizabeth armchair, designed by Ib Kofod Larsen, (and probably still my favourite armchair of all time), the Hans Wegner wishbone chair was gifted to her by a close family friend who worked as a master carpenter at Carl Hansen. There were beautiful ceramics on the windowsills and even an old silver vending machine in the corner. These pieces are treasured and loved, beautiful things made to last.

Stedsans feels like the culmination of this philosophy I discovered all those years ago. It started what became a lifelong love of Scandinavian design, particularly the mid-century pieces which then introduced me to designs from earlier in the 30s and later in the 70s and I have been sourcing sofa and armchair frames and working with upholsters to refurbish them for over a decade now.

Throughout that time, Henriette’s home has always remained a touchstone for the kinds of interiors I love. The mix of old and new, objects with provenance and a story to tell – chairs with names. I think this connects us with our homes and creates a real sense of place.

“Stedsans” is one of those wonderful untranslatable Danish words – the closest we can get in English is ‘sense of place’. That’s what I hope to help you create in your home. By choosing a piece of furniture with its own identity, its own story – its own name – you can bring a sense of place home with you.