At Home With: Bea Mombaers

An unerring sense of style With an unparalleled eye for art and design, Belgium-based Bea Mombaers refines her poetic and supremely liveable interiors in her own home and is constantly inspired by travel. Photo: Piet-Albert Goethals

“The pieces in my homes change regularly, but my style DNA never changes.”

Bea and Fritz Hansen

Interior designer and stylist Bea Mombaers is well-known in the design and art worlds thanks to an impeccable sense of aesthetics and an ability to create an atmosphere with thoughtful, poetic interiors. Her renowned store, Items, in Knokke, Belgium, has the kind of reputation that only comes with innate talent combined with decades of pristine work. Bea’s creativity extends beyond the shop – she opened a bed & breakfast, Knokke Zoute, and launched Furniture by Bea Mombaers in 2018 – and her inimitable interiors are oft-imitated. Her home in Brussels, which Bea uses as a kind of evolving gallery of favourite pieces, includes a number of items from Fritz Hansen, chief among them is the PK54 table by Poul Kjærholm with the marble centre and wood extension rings. She also has the PK33 stool and the Egg Chair by Arne Jacobsen. “I love the PK54 table because it is such a centrepiece of the room,” Bea says. “And the Egg Chair, well, it is like a piece of sculpture. I love the colour of the chair and how it ages. It’s such a special piece.” She explains that while she becomes acquainted with various pieces through her experiences in the art and design world, “there are always a few pieces that I’m dreaming about”. As for Bea’s next Fritz Hansen piece? “I can’t decide!” She laughs. “I’m actually moving soon, and I like to choose furniture based on the shape and needs of the space itself. So I’ll have to see what my next space holds. I know there will be Fritz Hansen there, for sure.”

“I become acquainted with various pieces through my experiences in the art and design world. There are always a few pieces that I’m dreaming about.”

Creative core

Bea’s current apartment in Brussels is a temporary space where she has lived for about a year but she will soon move to a more permanent place. Famous editor-in-chief of Vogue Diana Vreeland opined that “the eye has to travel” and Bea Mombaers embraces this philosophy, making sure that she is always travelling, taking her impeccable eye along for the ride. Currently, she spends her time between her homes in Brussels and Provence where she has renovated a B&B. Despite the ever-changing nature of her surroundings, she notes that, “the pieces in my homes change regularly, but my style DNA never changes”. With a focus on materiality, organic shapes, and quiet luxury, Bea has created a soft minimalism that is both artistic and functional. Fritz Hansen fits perfectly into this world. Her spaces consistently bring out the elements of Fritz Hansen that are most pertinent: timeless design and exemplary quality that create a dialogue with the architecture and other pieces in an interior.