European Union: 10 Belgian Homes

Wenes asked artists from Studio Simple to devise an imaginative storage solution for the bathroom. Starting at one end of the room and working their way across, the team assembled chests and cabinets found at a thrift shop and painted them all white. “It’s like a mosaic,” says Wenes. “It’s a very personalized concept—I feel like it’s my bathroom.”

Two glass facades in the living space allow for an unencumbered view of the beech tree.

Indoor Sunbathing“In the morning, the eastern light comes into the small terrace by the kitchen,” De Smedt says. “If I have work to do at home, which I do a lot, I’ll sit at the dining table and just look out. And in the summer, I’m out on the terrace. On clear nights, I’ll head upstairs. There’s a skylight and you can see the stars. Even in the city, you totally can! The skylight really changes the condition of the interior. If you light that gap in the evening from the outside, it’s as if there is daylight.” The Inconstant Gardener“I have a lot of cacti, which is probably because I don’t have a green thumb,” admits De Smedt of his sculptural flora. Inspired perhaps by his neighbors’ greenhouse just across from his patio, the architect’s next project for the apartment involves turning the terrace into something of an oasis—as long as the plants are hardy. “I have an idea to grow some ivy.”

A pair of interior architects with a years-in-the-making furniture collection recast an old Belgian factory—in Bellem, a 25-minute drive out of Ghent and halfway to Bruges—as a playful family home. The stars of the living room are a pair of pink Bird chairs by Harry Bertoia for Knoll, accented by a brass-and-steel coffee table designed by homeowners as well as vintage marble-topped and wood occasional tables and antique rugs are from Morocco. Photo by Frederik Vercruysse.

Adding 290 square feet to this already small (just 566 square feet) black A-frame in Brecht, Belgium, was all the local building ordinances allowed, but the architects at dmvA found that a single wing extended out to the side gave resident Rini van Beek all the storage and living space that she needs.

Located just off the entry hall, this room opens onto a lush garden. The residents commissioned the overhead light from designers Sylvain Willenz and Hubert Verstraeten. “The use of red billiard ball references Charles and Ray Eames’s Hang-It-All coat rack,” says Smith. The wall-hung light is by the contemporary São Paulo–based designers Luciana Martins and Gerson de Oliveira. The rug is a Moroccan patchwork from the 1960s; the teak-and-leather Kilin chair is by Sergio Rodrigues; and the cane-backed sofa is a student daybed designed by Hans Wegner for Getama in the 1950s.

Designer Christiane Hogner, Bruxelles

The cabin's curved zinc shell exudes a rugged, industrial look.

A shot of the studio filled with their different product lines. Photo by Filip Dujardin