Brian Jacobsen, Danish wood furniture designer

An interview with Brian about his work as a wood furniture craftsman.

Watch or listen to the full Homelife for Extraordinary Impact interview on all major podcast platforms and YouTube.

You can also read some of his written responses below but first…

Connect with Brian on his website & Instagram.

What are some of the places that have most felt like home for you?

Whenever I think of home, I think of the house we lived in until I was 5 years old. The was a church which my father worked in as a deacon. He’d host guests of the church and do maintenance. I remember playing in our yard and spending lots of time in the kitchen with my mom.

What do you see as the link between your professional expertise and home?

Our home is filled with my creations, not exclusively, but there are many small objects, photos, paintings, etchings and furniture pieces spread out all over our home. In the future, when we’ll be home owners, that will be more profound, since I’ll be free create the home we want. We’re both looking forward to making custom modifications to our future home.

So in that sense, my professional expertise is very prevalent throughout our home, though my wife 100% has a say in it too. We do what makes the most sense and I got rid of a bunch of my pieces back when we moved in together. I also made it a lot easier to move across the world, not having to haul too many pieces across the sea.

When home is going really great, what does it look like and feel like? How do you feel?

We recently moved and are still getting settled. As I get older and wiser, I feel like home has to make you feel safe and comfortable and that to me means it has to contain things that are meaningful to us, not just whatever is trendy, but our home also has to be functional. It has to be easy to put things away and make it look clean. It’s okay to make a mess, when you’re doing a project, but it has to be easy to clear everything out when you’re done.

Having a clear mind, is often connected to having a clean home. Once it’s clean, then you can enjoy being surrounded by objects and furniture you cherish, with the people and pets you love the most.

What are important daily, weekly, or otherwise regular rhythms important for you to keep a great homelife?

Some years back I read a book about the habits we create and how they end up controlling our lives. I’ve always tried to treat myself as being a dumb animal. I know that if I need a new healthier habit, I just need to make it easier to do, than doing the old unhealthy habit.

We live in a state that’s dark at winter, so I bought a light therapy lamp and put it next to out bed, so that every morning, I turn that on instead of our normal bedside lamp. It makes our mornings easier and our eyes a bit more sparkly. I feel like that can be said about most of our home life, we make it easy to feel comfortable.

What’s a prized possession of yours or one of your favorite home purchases?

It’s a brass and orange glass petroleum lamp that’s been in our home since I was a child.

I’ve had it in every home I’ve ever lived in and it really represents the feeling of home to me. My childhood was chaotic, but the lamp represents the calmness I’d feel when we all sat down and played a boardgame. The orange light it gives calms me down and gives me that nostalgic feeling of listening to a song you’ve heard a million times.

What's one thing you do or unique hack that helps you in homelife?

I feel like the best hack is to create good rhythms and keep updating your home to make it easy. Of course I care about estetics, but really, a well designed product sound be just as useful as it is pleasing to look at. When something doesn’t do what it should do well, I get rid of it. Generally I won’t buy it at all. I get mad when we spend money on products that break. The way I was taught how to make furniture has made me very aware of sustainability. You might as well do a good purchase once, instead of making the same purchase over and over.

I make things that will last you a lifetime and more, so when people use the same materials to make products that last you a season, that pisses me off. Spend the money it costs to buy something well made and cherish it, enjoy the beautiful patina it will gather from being used and save the money and time from buying it again and again.

Interesting stuff, right? And the raw conversation went into much greater depth. Thanks, Brian, for the interview!

I hope you enjoyed this free article.

In the coming weeks, premium subscribers will also receive a full analysis of the raw interview. Get that quick-read writeup which includes:

• My commentary after comparing this interview with other findings

• 3 actionable ways you can apply fresh insights to your home

• Standout themes & inspiring takeaways

Until next time,

– Matt Barrios

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