Greenteriors: inside the homes of plant-loving creatives
A new book offers rich pickings
Plants: we can’t get enough of them. Not only do they inject colour into a space, they breathe life into it too.
In Greenterior: plant-loving creatives and their homes, writer Magali Elali and photographer Bart Kiggen have documented the botanical stylings and inspirations of 18 creatives. It’s a simple premise that has produced colourful results.
‘Nature creates harmony and softens the soft edges of the city,’ says Croes in the book. The landscape architects are known for creating natural, wild gardens, like their own courtyard haven in Antwerp.Bart Haverkamp and Pieter Croes, landscape architects, Antwerp
‘Nature creates harmony and softens the soft edges of the city,’ says Croes. The landscape architects are known for creating natural, wild gardens, like their own courtyard haven in Antwerp.Muller van Severen, furniture designers, Ghent
Husband and wife design duo Fien Muller and Hannes van Severen are known for their Bauhaus-inspired sculptural furniture. They share their home with their young daughters, a small menagerie of animals and Hanne’s growing collection of cactuses, most of which he found online. ‘You always see tons of small ones everywhere but it is the large dimensions that actually makes a cactus so impressive,’ he says. ‘They are exotic and immediately change the atmosphere’. Fien prefers flowers, which also find their way into fabrics around their home.Muller van Severen, furniture designers, Ghent
Husband and wife design duo Fien Muller and Hannes van Severen are known for their Bauhaus-inspired sculptural furniture. They share their home with their young daughters, a small menagerie of animals and Hanne’s growing collection of cactuses, most of which he found online. ‘You always see tons of small ones everywhere but it is the large dimensions that actually makes a cactus so impressive,’ he says. ‘They are exotic and immediately change the atmosphere’. Fien prefers flowers, which also find their way into fabrics around their home.Shabd Simon-Alexander, textile designer, New York
Elali describes the Brooklyn apartment of Shabd Simon-Alexander as ‘an indoor jungle’. The textile designer filled her vast warehouse space with houseplants she inherited from artist Hanna Eschel when she moved into a nursing home at the age of 90. ‘Unfortunately I never met her,’ the designer says, ‘but I think she knows her little plants found a good home.’Shabd Simon-Alexander, textile designer, New York
Elali describes the Brooklyn apartment of Shabd Simon-Alexander as ‘an indoor jungle’. The textile designer filled her vast warehouse space with houseplants she inherited from artist Hanna Eschel when she moved into a nursing home at the age of 90. ‘Unfortunately I never met her,’ the designer says, ‘but I think she knows her little plants found a good home.’Ana Kras, artist, New York
‘Houseplants reflect how you feel as a person because they are completely dependent on you,’ says Serbian-born artist and furniture designer Ana Kras. ‘You can tell by the state of your plants whether you feel good about yourself or not.’ Life must be going well for the designer, judging by the oversized plants – may rescued from sidewalks or picked up from DIY stores – blooming in her 430 sq ft apartment in New York.Greenterior: plant-loving creatives is published by Luster1 of 8
The tome – featured in our Christmas book guide and published by Luster – is an offshoot of their Belgian magazine, Coffeeklatch, in which the duo talk to creatives about their life and work over (you guessed it) coffee.
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