FDB Møbler was originally started in the early 1940’s where a group of Danish designers were tasked with developing beautiful, functional furniture at attractive prices.
Among these designers were internationally renowned geniuses like Børge Mogensen, Poul Volther and Jørgen Bækmark.
They had their heydays in 1950-70’s where Danish furniture designed boomed globally and because FDB Møbler could provide beautifully designed and high-quality furniture, and not only reserved for the most prosperous in society, they obviously entered a lot of homes.
After this period, the taste unfortunately moved towards more mass-produced furniture and the factory finally closed in 1980.
But in 2013 COOP (the original company behind FDB Møbler) decided to dust off some of the old designs and they relaunched some of the old classics.
They became immediately very popular and they have since launched many new pieces based on the original designs and some new ones that share the same DNA.
From the beginning when we started CPHAGEN we knew that we had to have these gorgeous, and accessible, pieces of furniture in our catalogue. We were the first ones to sell them in the region and some of the first ones to sell them outside Denmark.
We would love for these classics to enter your home as well.
FDB MØBLER
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FDB MØBLER
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FDB MØBLER
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Danish Christmas, or Jul, is all about family, traditions, drinks and food. Especially the two latter.
But what you should know is that the Danes, unlike the Belgians for instance, start Christmas preparations very early. The first Christmas advertisements arrive in October and by the end November we have already had quite a few julefrokoster (Christmas lunches/dinners) with friends and colleagues. The julefrokost with the family usually takes place on December 25th
Julefrokost is hygge at its finest: loads of food, drink (especially snaps!), a beautiful table and good company. If you’re invited to a julefrokost, don’t expect it to be an eat-and-run situation. These can last all day/night and seem to be an excuse to get seriously plastered.
What is also very important for us is how we do the Christmas decorations. Lots of candles, lots of pine-inspired decor. Colors tend to be white, red, gold, silver and green but as with Scandinavian interior design we tend to go subdued and minimalist. Not too much kitsch outdoor lights on personal homes or apartments, but the main streets of the city do get dressed up.
And there is also a long tradition of creating your own Christmas decorations, often together with the kids. The most typical ones are Julehjerter (Christmas Hearts) and Julestjerner (Christmas Stars) that are made from folded paper and can be hung up with string.
But let’s come back to food and drinks which are the real stars at Christmas.
Christmas Eve dinner taking place on the 24th is hyper-traditional. Duck and flæskesteg with crispy pork rinds, as well as boiled potatoes, caramelized potatoes, brown sauce (gravy) and pickled red cabbage.
Dinner is, naturally, followed by dessert and everybody has Ris a l’Amande, a cold, creamy rice pudding made with vanilla and almond slivers, on top of which you pour hot cherry sauce. And then eat FOREVER. Traditionally, it is made the day before or in the morning and set out during the day to prevent Nisser (elves) from playing pranks.
The game with Ris a l’Amande is that the host mixes in one (or more if there are kids at the table) whole blanched almond. If you find the almond, you get a prize (mandelgaven). And you have to keep eating the pudding until someone finds the almond.
In addition to the traditional Christmas eve feast we are also big on sweets things.
A personal favorite is æbleskiver, which have no apple in them (although they used to). They’re fried dough balls that you dip in jam and powdered sugar.
Marzipan is also very popular. In my family we have the tradition of making konfekt which is basically marzipan in all sorts of shapes dipped in melted chocolate with extras like nougat or nuts. It’s a fun tradition that I really enjoy doing with the kids.
On the drinks side, a special mention goes to Gløgg, a hot spiced wine with almonds and raisins, that actually originates from Sweden.
Skål, velbekommen og Glædelig Jul !
]]>Our goal is to make at least one event every month so when our good friend Charlotte approached us to hear if we would be interested in supporting the NATO Charity Bazaar we didn’t hesitate to turn it into a charity VIP event.
We love supporting charity but we thought it would be nice to spice things up at the event with some Nordic alcohol.
So we contacted another good friend, in this case Klaus Ståhlberg who is the man behind the fantastic Helsinki Café who promotes Finnish brands of alcohol in Benelux. And they also provide cocktail bars for events. A perfect match for us!
To make things even more interesting Klaus has recently bought an old caravan that he has turned into a rolling bar and our event was to be the caravan’s maiden voyage.
Needless to say, that this night combining charity, Finnish gin tonics, Nordic design items and Indian Summer temperatures was a massive hit.
A lot of people showed up and they were really generous both in the shop and in the caravan so the NATO Bazaar can expect a substantial donation.
We would therefore like to thank all of you for showing up for this amazing event.
We will definitely make more events and the next one will in fact be announced very soon so stay tuned.
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Welcome to the new CPHAGEN blog. We are so happy that you are following our journey.
The idea of the blog is to cover many different subjects linked to the Nordic countries: Architecture, design, cuisine, lifestyle, culture or simply things that we find cool and might even be in the shop.
But first allow me to write a few words on the creation of CPHAGEN and a little bit about the ambitions we have for this Nordic Liftestyle Store.
I actually had the idea more than 10 years ago. Having left Denmark already in 2001 for Paris and then Brussels in 2005 I always felt that many of the beautiful products from my home country were missing. There were of course really expensive designer objects and furniture and a bit later very cheap products from for instance Flying Tiger Shop or Søstrene Grene but I felt that the fantastic everyday items that I grew up with were somewhat missing. The beautifully designed houseware, the stylish and functional pieces of furniture, the super cool accessories that Nordic women and men wear effortlessly were not really available, especially not in Brussels that has now become my second home.
I also knew what I didn’t want. I didn’t want a shop that would only cater to Scandinavian expats who would much rather be at home. I wanted to avoid the very local stuff and food that only this group would like.
The ambition was to find (and keep looking) for the gems, the brands that are popular in Scandinavia but not readily available in the rest of Europe. Or even products that are just emerging in the Nordics and would have a natural fit in big cities with a diverse population. Yes the ambition is to not only be present in Brussels but now I am getting ahead of myself…
So as you can imagine I have thought a lot about this concept but let’s fast forward to March 29th 2018 when the shop opened (the e-shop actually opened a few weeks before). I will cover the creation/construction of the shop space in a later blog post.
Today 5 months later I am really happy with the result. Not everything is working perfectly but I see more and more happy faces in the shop and satisfied customers who are discovering cool Nordic things. And we are even expanding. Bolette, the social media and digital marketing genius, has joined part time and we are already seeing a big growth online.
We are of course surfing on the big Nordic trend that has swept over us in the last years but I think it’s not only that. I truly believe that we have (for most parts) found the right products, the right concepts and not least we are striving to provide an authenticity and service that you don’t see in many places.
Welcome to CPHAGEN and welcome to our new blog
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