A Furniture-Loving Couple’s Classic and Curated Copenhagen Home

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“It was definitely not love at first sight,” Kathrine Poulsen insists, recalling the moment she met her husband, Christian, 10 years ago. The company they both work for, House of Finn Juhl, had just opened a showroom and office in Copenhagen, and, up to that point, Christian had the place to himself. “And then I came along and invaded his space,” recalls Kathrine. Over time, though, they realized how similar they were. For starters, they shared a love of furniture design. It’s what has kept them at the brand, which holds exclusive rights to reissue the furniture designed by Danish architect and furniture designer Finn Juhl. Today, they’re both partners there, Christian serving as Chief Sales Officer and Kathrine as Chief Brand Officer. “On many days, we are together almost 24 hours a day, but fortunately, most of the time, that works very well for us,” Kathrine says. 

While they may not have experienced love at first sight with each other, Christian and Kathrine do know the feeling. They were immediately sold when they saw a listing for a circa-1895 house pop up in Copenhagen’s historic Humleby neighborhood three years ago. Once upon a time, the house had been split up into multiple apartments across three floors, but it’d been thoughtfully renovated by the last owners as a 1,400 square foot, single-family home. This made it easy for Christian and Kathrine to step in and gradually make it their own, starting with painting the central staircase a deep reddish brown. They were also drawn to the community. “We hoped for children playing in the streets and a real relationship with our neighbors, and that is exactly what we found,” shares Christian. Within a few months, their now-six-year-old son Henry was knocking on doors, asking new friends to play. 

When the pair met, Christian owned a large collection of vintage Danish furniture. The Chieftain Chair, a Finn Juhl design, has had a special place in his life since he was a teen. Anytime he’d visit the Trapholt museum, he’d ogle the throne-like piece that was part of the museum’s permanent chair exhibition. “It was unlike anything else. I decided very early that one day I wanted to own one,” he says. That day came when he was 23 and he spent nearly every penny he had on the chair—it was the first serious piece of furniture he’d ever bought. 

Over the years, the couple’s home has become a more international mix that spans a dark brown De Sede sofa, small tables built by Christian himself, and, most recently, works by the Korean artist Kim Hyejung. “We probably share an attraction to things that feel special and aren’t immediately recognizable or easily replaceable,” says Kathrine. While iconic furniture adorns their space, music fills the air. Christian’s record collection has quickly outgrown the living room cabinet, spilling over into big wooden boxes. “At the moment, we’re listening to Kurt Vile, and P6 (a Danish radio station) is always on when we’re not playing vinyl,” adds Kathrine. 

Below, in their own words, the creative duo gives us a tour around their curated Copenhagen home and share how they’ve slowly and thoughtfully filled it with small treasures.

modern danish living room
Kathrine: This room is where we spend most of our waking hours. Playing with LEGO on the floor, making food in the kitchen, drinking coffee in the lounge area. It’s just the space where everything is going on at once. | The Chieftain Chair by Finn Juhl, DWR; The Poet Sofa by Finn Juhl, DWR.
modern apartment with brown staircase
Christian: Today, the Chieftain Chair is still the one piece in our collection that I would never part with. It’s a substantial piece that invites you to lean back and relax. For me, it’s the place to enjoy a cup of coffee, while our son Henry loves climbing all over it. The insides of the armrests are reinforced with metal, so it’s incredibly sturdy and can easily handle a six-year-old treating it like a climbing frame.
Kathrine: When it comes to furniture, we don’t often find our pieces in Copenhagen’s vintage stores. We probably enjoy the thrill of finding a good deal on online marketplaces too much. However, for beautifully curated vintage pieces we would recommend: Dansk Form, BBBigum and Særligt Samlet.
sculptural ceramic sink
Christian: Our work has been less about a complete renovation and more about finishing it and giving it warmth and personality. Throughout the house, we have introduced built-in cabinetry and paneling, as well as custom bathroom furniture. One of the more sculptural pieces in the bathroom was designed and cast by a small independent designer in Athens. 
Kathrine: We bought it on Etsy. We liked the idea of introducing something handmade and unexpected into the house rather than choosing a conventional bathroom unit.
round dining table in open kitchen
Kathrine: A large work by Gudrun Hasle has followed us from our previous apartments. It is probably slightly oversized for what was originally a modest worker’s house, but that is exactly why it feels right to us. We like playing with scale. We might place a huge artwork next to a microscopic object rather than trying to create a perfectly balanced composition.
Christian: Around the dining table, we have vintage steel chairs by Henning Larsen. We love that they bring something quite different into a home where Finn Juhl naturally has such a strong presence. The Sahco curtains throughout the house have different qualities—lace, pattern, weight and texture—and help soften the rooms and add another layer to the furniture and art. | Art by Gudrun Hasle via Galleri Tom Christoffersen.
wood shelves with ceramics
Christian: We tend to add Finn Juhl pieces when we have a real emotional response to them rather than because we need another piece of furniture. We already have enough furniture for an entire boarding school! The Pelican Chair wasn’t necessarily love at first sight for us, but after working with it for so many years, it gradually became something of a companion. When we saw the animal-inspired textiles from Sahco, we suddenly imagined the chair in a radically different version, and that was what it took for it to find its way into our home.
Kathrine: The bowls have been collected over the years and are vintage pieces by Grethe Meyer for Royal Copenhagen. We have quite a few of them and also use them in the kitchen for cooking, baking, etc. | The Pelican Chair by Finn Juhl, DWR.
tan bedroom
Kathrine: It was important to us that our bedroom felt like a hotel room, and we think it does. The artwork above the headboard is by Mathias Malling Mortensen. | Blanket, Magniberg.
modern bedroom shelving
Kathrine: This is our guest room (and office space). The pieces on the Panel System, designed by Finn Juhl, have been collected over the years. There are a few pieces from Mexico that we especially love: a small marble ball nestled in a stone and a black incense burner, both of which we found at a little studio in Mérida. The marble piece wasn’t actually for sale, as it was part of the studio’s display, but we somehow managed to convince her after we kept coming back. | Duvet and pillowcases, Magniberg.
black modern shelving unit
Kathrine: We like living with furniture long enough for it to become part of our lives rather than treating it as something precious that shouldn’t be touched. There needs to be room for a child to swing next to a collection of ceramics, and greasy little fingerprints on natural leather simply become part of its patina.
modern leather desk chairs
Kathrine: This is mostly where I sit and draw. The desk was made by Christian, and the chairs are by Poul Kjærholm. Christian gave me the bronze tape dispenser by Mats Theselius as a gift. It is a small, very heavy object, and to me, it says that Christian sees me. The desk and the tape dispenser are small symbols of the fact that he understands my desire to make things—to have a creative practice of my own alongside the creativity I am fortunate to experience through my work at House of Finn Juhl.