Reform Furniture: democratising design

Buying a kitchen used to mean choosing between affordability and style. Reform wanted to change that and allow people with an interest in stylish kitchens to be able to get one with an affordable price-tag.

Budget designer kitchens

“Design is at the heart of Reform”, says Michael Andersen, co-founder of Reform furniture.

Reform guides people through the process of purchasing an Ikea kitchen. Next, they strip down the cabinets and replace the Ikea surfaces with luxury finishings, creatively delivering a designer kitchen at a fraction of the price.

Trial and error

As the company matures and expands its offering, there are now designers producing collections especially for Reform. Still, experimentation, creativity, trial and error remain central to the process. According to Michael, “We rarely know if a design will sell or not until we test it on the market” - even if Scandinavian design aesthetic is a strong ‘brand’. “Initially we didn’t really want to use the Scandinavian branding, but with time, things kind of took their course and it’s now part of who we are.”

The hardest part is probably now, going from start-up to running a big business. Starting up was not that hard. ”

- Michael Andersen

From start-up to big business

Michael was in the construction business for many years before becoming self-employed at sourcing white kitchens for construction firms. When his business partner Jeppe Christensen got in touch with the idea for Reform, the two teamed up to launch the company in 2014. “We both quit our jobs and put all our money into the business,” explains Michael. Today, the company has 60 employees across five countries and is on a growth trajectory. “The hardest part is probably now,” Michael explains, “We’ve now gone from start-up to running a big business and we have to deal with all the organisational and management issues that come with that. This is a new challenge. In comparison starting up was not that hard.”

A loan to keep expanding

“To grow, you need money,” Michael adds, “Although we had money in the bank, we were afraid to spend it and we didn’t want to go down the equity path because we didn’t want to sell part of our business. So we preferred to get a loan. It offers certainty at least.” With an EU-guaranteed loan from Vaekstfonden, backed by the EIF under the Investment Plan for Europe, Jeppe and Michael found the peace of mind they needed to invest in growing their company. They hired six more people and began to focus more on marketing and sales as they aim to boost their business in the US.