Customise This!
Contemporary luxe with careful detailing is what sets apart the inaugural furniture collection by interior designer Hendre Bloem.
We’ve featured the work of interior designer Hendre Bloem around here before (cue sexy Cape Town penthouse) and are huge fans, so we’re thrilled that this creative has just launched his inaugural furniture collection – calling it “a celebration of simplicity”. If his style to date is anything to go by, you can expect a clean-lined, contemporary aesthetic with handmade and bespoke details that take the everyday to the next level.
“My designs (to date) have been a combination of curated items from other designers, but there have always been a number of bespoke, custom pieces that I would design specifically for that project,” he says, having found himself at this point 9 years after launching his interior design business. By now, he knows what clients want, he knows where the gaps in the market exist and is perfectly placed to fill them.
The collection features tables, seating, storage, mirrors and art – a tight selection of those everyday items we live with but are designed by Hendre to bring an elevated sense of luxury to the home by way of luxe raw materials like oak, smoked mirror, marble and hot rolled mild steel; the latter is the star of the collection and loved by Hendre for its unique qualities. These raw materials are left bare to celebrate an honest sense of luxury and to capitalise on their innate character.
The pieces are largely monochromatic, in keeping with his signature palette, but every now and then he has incorporated juicy and vibrant colour in the form of emerald green, plum red and blush pink. Curved, raw steel legs in the Roll Table, strips and scallops of smoked mirror (rather than a single sheet) as in his Illus and Arch Mirrors and tubular oak legs as in his Stomp Table all reveal a bent for playfulness with form and materiality, but the overall feel is understated, even minimalist.
Hendre’s own artworks accompany the collection too. The works beautifully speak to each individual setting but won’t break the bank either. His framed watercolours and acrylics are abstract and set a mood without saying anything overtly.
Hendre is a man who understands the market and according to him, customisation is key. Given that, every item in the range is entirely customisable, from its dimensions to its colour and finish. So essentially, you have a made-to-order designer collection for lovers of the contemporary look.