One day I have received a message on my blog from a person that prosested her love for interior design and taht she found inspiration at my page, I was overjoyed...Immediatley I visit her blog and ...I fell in love.
and when I discovered that she ran a family business as a Interior designer based on traditional craftsmanship with a sense of harmony I was impressed and Overhappy that she find me. I can assure you I was overjoyed and start dancing at my kitchen floor. anyway..her style was just like mine..everything I had inside In my head..She creates Everyday.
The Classic Elegant Traditional Interior design Style.
We began to share each other´s home and ideas
(the links you find at the end of this post)
Iam Honored to introduce you to
Talanted Interior designer Greet Lefèvre
So tell me Greet:
What made you want to join the cabinet making family business?
Greet:Since I was a little girl I have always been surrounded by design,
interiors and antiques.
My father involved us by any project he was working on and took us along to
musea, castlesand a lot of exhibitions related to his business.
As a child I loved to go in our working places to see our cabinetmakers,
real craftsmen,working on a piece of furniture or wood paneling
and loved touching the wood and loved the
smell of the wood! So I grew up between the wood and the sawdust of the wood.
My intrest in design has been growing unconsciously during all these years.
So my husband and I run our family business for the 4th generation at these days.
I really think that love for interior design is something you are born with!
After being graduated, I joined my father in the company,
by assisting in the administration department of the company
for the first few years.
At the same time I finished my studies as an antiques dealer
and in weekends I started working in the antiques shop
from a well-known antiques dealer in our region.
Together with these studies and the experience I gained in the antiques business ,
my passionfor antiques was growing! I met so many interesting people
in the art and interior business.
In 1998 we started a new showroom of interior design and made-to-measure
furniture andthis was definitely the start of my career as interior designer.
What responsibilities do you have at Lefèvre Interiors
I am not only one of the owners of our family business Lefèvre Interiors,
counting a lot ofspecific responsabilities,
but I am also the designer of the clients’ projects.
Primary attributes to Belgian Design
Belgian designers are very loyal to their ancestors.
They have a lot of respect for their work
and try to live and work further in the mind of those.
They take over from father to son their
skills and craftsmanship. That explains why there are a lot of companies in Belgium who are
still ran by people of the 3rd, the 4th or even the 5th generation.
So there is a treasure of experience among the
Belgian craftsmen, designers and architects.
Belgian Designers have an enormous respect for their history.
Do you participate in projects exclusive to Belgium or all over the world?
We participate in mostly Belgian projects but over the last years
we noticed that the demandto work in other countries, was growing.
The passed years we worked in a few other
European countries as France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzeland.
Because we are a very small company, that works with real craftsman,
we can not grow thatfast (and this will never be one of our intentions –
because otherwise the real craftsmanshipwould disseapear)
and so we only have the capacity to execute a certain number of projects a
year.
What is your favorite project you have done?
About 5 years ago, an existing client, asked me if we were
interested in renovating anddecorating a double apartment he bought in Cannes,
the South of France! He was so pleased
with the interior design of his home we did already in Belgium,
that he would definitely giveus a chance to design his project in France.
And he wanted only Belgian craftsmen to finish the job.
Of course I was excited! It became a wonderful project that we
finished within about 8months!
The apartment walls were stripped down and I had free choice to redesign it.
It was a wonderful time!
Every year I try to follow on TV parts of the Cannes film festival
and I always hope to see a glimpse of the building because the apartment
is located somewhere in front of
the ‘Palais des Festivals’.
What is your typical day?
In the morning I start checking my emails and see if there are any questions
regardingcurrent projects we are working on and try to answer them.
Even sometimes I have to find asolution for any problems there might be,
regarding the design project.
Afterwards I try to prepare a new project by thinking about the lay-out,
the required furnitureand fabrics in order to start making
some design sketches, Or I have to do the follow up of a current projects
in our onw work shop, where I discuss the process together with my husband
and the employees.Sometimes I have to go to a meeting at the client’s
home where I have to discuss things with
other craftspeople as the plumber, the painter, …
in order to lead the further progress of the
project in an appropirate way.
And last but not least I have to make the price offer for the projects executed by our company.
What inspires you?
That is a tough question! I am inspired by a lot of people and things!
First of all, I love to study the work of a few well know past and todays
architects and designers.
As I told earlier I am very inspired by the 18th and 19th century
architectural anddesign styles!
Whether it are the architectural details at ancient
buildings or whether it are the interiors of the ancient houses,
everything about this period inspires me.
Belgium is a land of castles and I love to walk around in these beautiful,
wonderful creations! Somethimes I am really overwhelmed by their beauty
and unconsciously I am influenced bythe castle designs in my work.
One of my favorite (not to say my most favorite) designers is our Belgian decorator and
antiques dealer Axel Vervoordt ( he lives in a castle!). I admit I am,
we all Belgian designers are, influenced by his work.
Interior magazines and publications are a source of an inspiration to me. I love to browse
through the wonderful Beta-Plus publications. They really are a wonderful resource to
discover the Belgian architectural and interior design.
Design blogs are defintely a source of inspiration!
And last but not least : nature!
The most wonderful inspiration for interior design colors.
Do you have any advice for me as a designer student?
Be yourself and try to create your onw style!
Do not copy other designers but be inspired by them!
Feed yourself with visits to interior design exhibitions,
read about other designers,
choose a few good publications to read or search for blogs to follow.
Stay tuned for design influences from around the world
but be loyal to your background. What I am trying to say is that you need to have respect for 1)
the wishes of your client, 2)the cultural heritage of the country or
region where the project is running and 3)
the specific elements (country, city, climat,…)
and materials (kinds of wood, brick, stone…)
available in the area you are working in.
And what is very important to me is that you are aware of all the
earlier ancient styles. Try to recognize the different century design styles
because every designer and architect on his turn,
is inspired by earlier design styles. My favorite styles are the 18th and 19th century
French and English design styles.
Here you can see some of the work the Company has done
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The Designer helself in action. I notice her
working Shoes...I LOOOVE ;)
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Greet and I have shared oour home and ideas earlier you can read about her post about Swedish design here were she show lovely pictures of Swedish and Scandinavian Style Before and After pictures are always fun to see, read about some of Greet project Here
Wish you a Great day //Marie
