Nathalie Deboel’s ‘Nomad’
The interior designer’s very first furniture collection is handcrafted in her home-country of Belgium, and brings furniture to its essence of being a lifelong ‘travelling companion’.
Having graduated from her Masters’ in Interior Architecture from the Sint-Lucas in Ghent in the late 90s, the portfolio of Nathalie Deboel’s Interior Design practice has grown steadily over the last twenty years. Besides an established client base in Belgium, her practice is involved in an increasing number of international projects in locations such as Saint-Tropez, Marbella and Verbier, which has led to her expanding her office with a second stationing in Brussels (the first studio being in Knokke). As for many designers, the lockdowns put in place due to COVID-19 surges around the world has led this interior designer to reconsider her practice, resulting in her furniture series ‘Nomad’.
From being constantly on the move to working completely from home, Deboel immersed herself in the habits of nomads during the lockdown. More particularly, she focused on the wooden sticks nomads carry to create temporary homes and furniture wherever they go. The ‘Nomad’ collection is built around the concept of this rounded wooden stick as a basic, utilitarian element. On the origin of the collection, Nathalie Deboel states: “In my projects I would strive to create quiet and balanced interiors, while I myself was constantly on the move. During the lockdown, I literally and figuratively came home. My many walks in nature brought inspiration and clarity to my thinking. Simplicity in design, materiality and connections became the thread of the Nomad collection.”
Consisting of a bookcase, a rectangular and a round table, a daybed, and an armchair — the pieces in the ‘Nomad’ collection are made of solid oak or walnut, with subtle details in brass and completely hand-made in Belgium. The connections between the wooden elements have been worked out in such a way that no screws or bolts are needed. The collection will be further expanded in the coming weeks and months with new designs. According to Deboel, these pieces aim to be timeless objects that have been conceived as ‘travelling companions’ and – by analogy with the nomadic way of life – follow the path of life, wherever it leads.
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