Malte masters finish and finesse: »As a cabinetmaker, you’re the kind of person who always needs to touch things«

Time flies in the workshop. There’s sawing, sanding, and oiling, and the air is thick with the scent of the woodshop – that warm, earthy smell that fills the room when the machines heat up the wood. All around, sawdust gathers in little islands on the floor, and the cabinetmakers move with quiet concentration, each absorbed in their own process.

One of the furniture makers is fully focused, sanding the base of a tambour cabinet by hand, stirring dust into the air with every stroke of the sandpaper. There’s been a renewed interest in this classic piece, Malte explains. The tambour cabinet had its heyday in the mid-20th century and is known for its distinctive slatted wooden doors that slide up and down or side to side – perfect for tucking away a TV behind sleek rolling panels.

The “karlekammerskab” is no longer just for the servants

Another piece that deeply inspires Malte is the karlekammerskab – a traditional Danish armoire once used in servant’s quarters.

»It’s a standalone cabinet – a high-quality piece of furniture with fine details. These days, a wardrobe is often just something you rush to IKEA for, toss into your apartment, and when you move, it’s such a hassle to take apart that you just throw it out,« says Malte.

»Imagine if we were each given just one karlekammerskab when we moved out of our parents’ house and were told, ‘This is the limit of your consumption.’ We really don’t need a 30-meter-long wardrobe. People have 200 shirts hanging, but you can’t possibly wear 200 shirts,« Malte notes, glancing around the workshop.

For Malte, the karlekammerskab represents a furniture culture that’s slowly fading – one where you choose with care, look after what you own, and let it follow you through life. A culture that stands in contrast to the cheap, mass-produced alternatives.

»I’m drawn to the karlekammerskab because it also reflects consumption patterns we need to pay more attention to in the future. Maybe we should produce fewer pieces – but in higher quality. Furniture that accompanies you on your journey through life,« says Malte.

Close to the wood

Designing furniture meant to last is at the core of Malte’s own production. In addition to working closely with architects like Norm Architects and Space Copenhagen, he also creates furniture under his own name – Malte Gormsen – crafted in his workshop in Herlev and displayed in his showroom on Dronningens Tværgade in Copenhagen.

One of the pieces he’s particularly proud of is the MG106 chair, created in collaboration with architects from Space Copenhagen. It’s a dining chair with oak armrests and a seat woven in natural-colored paper cord.

»It has a classic design language, and we’ve been able to keep evolving it – from an armchair to a side chair, to a lounge chair, to a sofa. And next up is a barstool. It’s incredibly adaptable,« says Malte, as he runs his hand along the back of the chair.

The chairs are on display in the small showroom just next to the workshop. The atmosphere here is different – more gallery than production. It’s hard to resist running your fingers over the armrest, feeling the silky-smooth wood that was crafted just on the other side of the wall.

It’s not just the production that happens close to the furniture – the wood practically grows in the backyard. A large portion of it comes from Frederiksdal, near Lake Furesø.

»We think it’s most meaningful when we can source wood from our own surroundings. Produce it here. Use it locally,« Malte explains.

»We can’t completely avoid exporting our pieces – but we can try to reduce the materials we use and be more thoughtful in our approach,« he adds.

In the workshop hall, the wood lies stacked to dry, layered high along the walls – ash, maple, red oak, and cedar – each plank with its own character and grain, telling the story of the tree’s life. But once dried, the wood lives on – in a new form.

The last bastion of classic cabinetmaking

A love of wood runs almost literally in Malte’s veins. He grew up surrounded by the scent of sawdust and the sound of sandpaper buzzing against timber. His father is both an architect and cabinetmaker, and as a child, Malte often joined him on the job – whether in the workshop or on a construction site.

He decided early on to follow the path of woodworking.

»I’m dyslexic, so I realized pretty early that a craft would likely be the right path for me. I love creating with my hands – this creative process where ideas are constantly emerging,« Malte explains.

As a teenager searching for an apprenticeship, he found the perfect match at one of Copenhagen’s old-school cabinetmaking workshops – Niels Roth Andersen. There, he was allowed to follow the wood all the way – from raw log to finished piece.

»I was lucky. We made Fin Juhl furniture and pieces by Vestergaard Jensen. It was the kind of place where you really learned the craft from the ground up – you truly got to work with the wood,« Malte says.

But the journey took a small detour. When he couldn’t land an apprenticeship straight after 9th grade, he decided – at just 16 – to head to Scotland. There, he lived with a family in the Highlands who ran their own woodworking business.

»It was probably a bit different from what most kids my age were doing. I worked in the workshop day and night – it was way out in the countryside, so there wasn’t much else to do,« Malte says with a smile.

Things moved quickly from there. So quickly, in fact, that Malte had already founded his own company before even finishing his apprenticeship. After hours at the workshop, he would head out in the afternoons to take on side jobs – everything from windows to kitchens. Before long, he broke into the retail world, where he was soon hired by several major brands.

»I built a name for myself and a business that handled a lot of retail interiors for brands like Malene Birger and Diesel. So once I had registered my company, there was no turning back,« Malte recalls.

At just 19, the apprentice was working evenings and weekends. All those extra hours made the craft second nature.

»You don’t become a skilled craftsman in three years and eight months, working 7 to 3. You’ve got to put in more time. It’s just like becoming a top-tier Michelin chef – it takes 10,000 hours, and then some,« says Malte.

From Noma to City Hall: A Versatile Portfolio

If you’ve ever watched one of those popular home makeover shows, you’ve likely heard the word finish thrown around again and again – as the final details are lovingly perfected: a flawless curve, a seamless joint, a silky-smooth surface. Finish is Malte Gormsen’s trademark – and it’s what has led him to some truly ambitious projects.

From Noma, Geranium, and the Office of the Attorney General to Tscherninghuset and Herlev Citizen Service Center, he’s contributed everything from custom-made dining chairs and wine bars to reception desks, wardrobes, waiter stations, restroom interiors, and lounge areas.

His portfolio is filled with high-profile collaborations, but when his daughter asks what he’s most proud of, it’s not necessarily the Michelin stars or luxury brands that come first – even though he values those projects and the people he’s met through them.

»Some of the most meaningful projects we’ve done are probably the school projects. We’ve furnished several schools in Stockholm. There’s something special about that, because we’re reaching a broader audience. Many of our other projects are aimed at a more economically exclusive segment, but with the schools, we’re reaching more people,« Malte says.

The beech is back

Malte glances up at the large planks stacked against the workshop wall. He places a hand on one as he starts talking about oak – one of his all-time favorite woods.

»Oak contains tannins and has incredible strength. That makes it incredibly versatile – we can use it for many purposes and stain it to achieve very different looks,« he explains.

Oak has become the darling of the wood world in recent years, dominating furniture design in both classic and modern styles. But Malte believes the time has come to shine a light on a species that’s long been overlooked.

»I think Danish beech is absolutely fantastic. It’s completely underrated. My generation – and those older – associate it with yellowish school desks, public offices, and institutions. It has a bit of a dusty reputation and some unfair associations,« he says.

»Today, we export more than 90 percent of our beechwood in raw form – or burn it for firewood. And that just doesn’t make sense. It’s far too good for that,« he adds.

Danish Farming Culture – and a Tradition Tracing Back to the Egyptians

You probably know the architects Arne Jacobsen, Finn Juhl, and Hans J. Wegner – creators of some of the furniture we now consider Danish design classics. Pieces that live on across decades and trends. Just like a well-composed piece of music can outlive its composer, a chair or table can continue to speak to us long after its time.

In the TV show Denmark’s Next Classic, the very goal is to design a future classic. But for Malte, that’s not necessarily the ambition.

»I find it exciting to look back at the classics. But honestly, I think it’s just as interesting to go even further back in time – to the Danish farming culture, where function and durability were what mattered most. Or even further, all the way back to the ancient Egyptians. Many of the techniques we still use today – like joinery – can be traced directly back to the pyramids,« Malte explains.

For Malte, it’s all about awakening the senses – feeling, seeing, smelling, and truly understanding the material.

For Malte handler det om at åbne sanserne. At mærke, se, dufte og forstå materialet.

»As a cabinetmaker, you’re someone who constantly needs to touch things. You work through your senses. And I believe both furniture culture and architecture have the power to awaken them,« says Malte.

In the adjoining showroom stands the newest addition to his own collection: an oak sofa with a woven seat – the kind of piece that immediately invites you to sit down and listen to the subtle creak of the material as it responds to your weight.

I det tilstødende showroom står det nyeste skud på stammen fra hans egen kollektion. En sofa i eg med flettet sæde, som man straks får lyst til at sætte sig til rette i og lytte til materialets sitren, når der kommer vægt i sædet.

»Much to the frustration of my family, I prefer to make everything myself. I’d honestly rather live with a beer crate as a coffee table until I either make the right one — or find it. I’m a huge fan of old things. They don’t have to be classics, just well made,« Malte says, who admits he can spend hours scouring the internet for unique secondhand finds.

And whether any of Malte’s own pieces will one day become classics – only time will tell.