Sam & Io

At a stone’s throw away from Antwerp Central station we visited a vintage flat on the top floor of an old townhouse. After sharing 6 different houses and switching between Ghent, LA and Antwerp, former Nome co-worker Sam, finally found the perfect place of his own. Even his cat Io is feeling right at home in her little hammock under the window. “The walls were leaking and the paint is peeling off here and there, but the light in here is wonderful. I always leave all the doors open to let it flow freely”.

Schooled as an interior architect, Sam has been working for the last 2 years in retail, currently at Aesop’s Antwerp store. “On the side I am creating a collection of interior objects, under the name of our own design atelier, ‘Krüger Pladet’, together with furniture designer Julia Krüger. The first project will be all about ‘scents’. I stuffed all my inspirational books in the attic, the perfect place for us to brainstorm and create together”.

From a Cadovius wall unit from Nome to a dark set of Thonet chairs around the kitchen table, Sam has collected a fair share of designer pieces. “I always try to limit my budget to 500 euro maximum for a new piece. But if you’d offer me a design original by my favourite architect Lina Bo Bardi I would hand over all my money without blinking an eye!”.

Although he’s selling beauty products for a living, Sam has a particular idea about beauty. “I don’t want my interior to be ‘beautiful. I prefer it to be ‘interesting’”. His place is filled with little “utensils, not souvenirs” from his travels around the world and readymades, that he finds on building sites and street corners. “I love materials that you can’t instantly put your finger on”, says Sam. “Take this big white ‘totem pole’ I’ve been dragging along with me each time I moved houses: it looks like a concrete or stone sculpture, but it is actually a big piece of styrofoam I found on a building wharf. I cut it in half and spraypainted it white. I love this kind of trompe l’oeuil elements. They make this place unmistakably mine”.