FURNITURE FOCUS: sebra

MIA DELA IS THE BRAINS behind Sebra - the Danish furniture and accessories design brand with the ever-growing UK and international presence.

35-year-old Mia - mum to Gustav, 7, Alfred, 3-and-a-half, and another on the way - puts this growth down to a universality of aesthetic awareness among the new parenting generation. “Our design has a very Scandinavian feel to it, which luckily many more than just Scandinavians find nice,” says Mia. “And we may be a Danish company, but we are experiencing more and more that products are universal. Children all over the world seem to like many of the same things - animals, nice colours and patterns.”

Sebra’s wares are about much more than animals, nice colours and patterns however. Their furniture range has issued some of the cleverest, most innovative designs for children of the last couple of years. Says Amanda Short, who sells the range in her store, Nubie, the products are incredibly robust and well-made, well-thought out, and aren’t afraid to cater to “those parents who still wish to pull in the pinks and blue shades too, so often missing from modern children’s furniture.”

Well-thought-out means the wooden Kili bed, one of Sebra’s best sellers, for example, transforms from a baby cot to a bed that takes children up to the age of six (Mia’s eldest son, Gustav, used it until that age). The black and white table and chair [pictured above] is basically a cube where the seat pulls out of the table - making it perfect for small rooms (which, let’s face it, most of us have), or for living rooms. Their modular groups of storage [pictured right, £132 from Nubie] are free-standing or can fix to the wall. None of the pieces are ever fussy or over-designed. This, Mia - who studied and worked in clothing before having her family and realising there were too many gaps in her nursery to ignore - puts down to her Scandinavian heritage. “In general I like things to be simple, and functional - in design as well as in life.”

Sebra, see www.sebra.dk for international stockists; www.nubie.co.uk