BoConcept: a Danish giant
Whether or not you’re already familiar with BoConcept, the well-known furniture brand from Denmark, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye open for some new home décor inspo!
Does the name BoConcept sound familiar? If so, we’re not surprised: this brand from Denmark is one of the most relevant in the world, and we’re not even talking about a last-minute phenomenon! Maybe you already know and love their furniture, but do you actually know how long this brand has been around? Well, it was founded in 1952 by two Danish craftsmen and cabinet makers, Jens Ærthøj and Tage Mølholm. Just think about this: almost 70 years ago! As a result, BoConcept had all the time needed to become Denmark’s most global retail furniture chain, with more than 250 sales units in 64 countries around the world. Pretty impressive for a company that started out with four employees, right?
Of course, as you can imagine, it is most definitely not by chance that a brand that started out from scratch has been able to become one of the world’s most relevant and important furniture companies. What makes BoConcept so unique? First of all, uniqueness is actually one of their key features. In fact, all of their furniture is highly customizable: every customer is an individual with unique personality, taste and needs, therefore it just very naturally follows that one size does not fit all, pretty much as with clothes. Which features can you customize? Normally, you can almost build your own ideal piece of furniture, since features such as the upholstery, the color, the size, as well as other materials, are all based on the preference expressed by the customer.
The style that characterizes this Scandinavian brand was heavily influenced the functionalist aesthetics that all of a sudden gained great popularity in Denmark during the 50s; because of this, their furniture still bears the mark of that first imprinting. Nevertheless, this does not imply that BoConcept has remained stuck in the past! Their collections are designed by a team of highly creative designers who’d never forget to take inspiration from the past, but who would also never allow the brand to repeat itself. In addition to the team of designers and consultants, BoConcept often teams up with designers that do not belong in the BoConcept “fixed” family, and these collaborations usually end up gaining worldwide recognition. For instance, in 2013, BoConcept won the prestigious Red Dot Award, thanks to the Ottawa collection, designed by Karim Rashid.
One more feature that certainly does play a big role in the success of BoConcept, is the affordability of the furniture. Of course, this does not mean the furniture’s quality is poor, but rather, it shows the ability of the brand to balance quality, design, customization and price. We shouldn’t be surprised: one of the beliefs of BoConcept is that they should spoil their customers by offering them a great value, at a reasonable price. If somebody has the refined taste to be able to recognize the quality and the craftsmanship behind a BoConcept piece, why shouldn’t they be able to enjoy it at home?
One of the key features of BoConcept is the ability of fusing together old and new. Sometimes, old and new may be perfectly balanced, while some others, one or the other may prevail. For instance, the armchair and footrest combo below is an example of old-school prevailing on the new! This curvy armchair might be a bit too curvaceous and cushioned for the 50s, but as far as the overall shape, the upholstery and the color go, this may very well be long in the reading room of a 50s home.
On the other hand, we can also find examples of the contrary. Take a look at this all-white console table and chair: it’s as minimal as it can be, and, especially because of the wooden ending of the legs, it clearly was designed in full Scandinavian tradition.
We could find many and many examples of the influence of Danish interior design tradition on BoConcept designs. Take this leather chair, for example. Take a look at the angle at which it is inclined, the material -- leather, the color, as well as the cushions’ thickness. Doesn’t it remind you of one Erik Jørgensen’s armchairs?
At the same time though, inspiration doesn’t necessarily come from within! Great designers know that the key to creativity is looking for inspiration everywhere, even in other countries’ cultures! Thanks to this way of conceiving art and design, many pieces of furniture that bring together Danish and foreign traditions have been created. For example, the daybed below has clearly been designed with Japan in mind: we can see that from the simple essentiality of the lines and the flat board, which reminds us of a tatami.
Again though, the main influence does remain that of Scandinavian design. Nice hygge vibes can be found in this living room design: everything -- from the pure whiteness of the chairs (softened by the wooden legs), to the warm wool rug, to the dark aquamarine of the sofa -- everything speaks of relax and coziness, even though most of the color palette used to decorate this room is cold.
In case you weren’t already familiar with BoConcept, we hope you’ve enjoyed taking a dive into their world! Click here if you’d love to find out more.
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