La Suite Sans Cravate is located in Bruges, Belgium, and is the creative vision of Veronique Bogaert. Each and every room Veronique has designed within this fabulous La Suite Sans Cravate is an ode to playful contrasts. Here, the oversized and delicate bird illustration on the headboard wall softens up the heavy, oversized rough-hewn beams that criss cross the room. A low king sized bed projects outward from the wall with the bird appearing to perch on the headboard. The amber toned wing of the song bird is repeated on the area rug beneath the bed. Two clean lined casual chairs face into a circle of rustic red with an elliptical mid-century table splaying its legs outward on it while a large bank of windows tips inward for a flood of natural light.
The ensuite to this bedroom is a clear glass cube with a stunning white floor mounted faucet and soaker tub creating a sculptural statement just inside the glass wall. The soft sand tones of the bedroom walls continue through this space as do the exposed post and beams. In the distance an open vanity creates a graphic perch for a black vessel sink with wall-mounted faucet. A full length mirror leans casually against the wall next to the vanity.
Another bedroom in the attic offers the same rustic timbers on the exposed beams, and here, the timbers meld into the forest landscape on the headboard wall. The deep grey/green tones used on the ceiling and walls suggest the forest canopy and to continue this melding of forest and timbers, the headboard itself is a horizontal grid work of 2x2s that create the feeling of a “fence”. The fence suggests a private and protected niche for which to fall asleep against. The imagery is part real and part imagination. Here, the golden glow that passes through the forest is continued on both the rug beneath the bed and on the circular rug in the sitting area. While the clean lines of the casual chairs have been replaced with two tufted wingbacks, the table has the same mid century profile as the previous bedroom.
The closet continues the exposed timber theme with the installation of wood shelving that seems to disappear into the wall column and reappear on the other side. Wooden hangers also continue the story. Part of the closet is kept open and part is hidden behind a mirrored door.
The ensuite to this forest retreat makes use of a priacy wall of thin wood veneers that resemble young saplings against the older trunks of the timbered posts. Here, too, a white floor mounted faucet and soaker tub create an almost whimsical touch against this otherwise rustic surround.
One floor down a third bedroom continues the theme of trees and exposed timbers. Here, the tree is painted on the wall in a loose and graphic format. Light appears to glisten off of the edges of the trunk with the sketchy white outline that doesn’t quite wrap the complete image. Black birds perch on the branches making the black light fixture all but disappear amongst them. The dark blue and mauve tones ragged onto the wall create a sense of mysterious dusk while at the same time camouflaging the entry door.
This bedroom is completely carpeted and the two modern occasional chairs repeat the grey tones of the flooring. A chunkier table with an oval top is a more modern version of the tables used in the previous bedrooms. The singular light fixture of 7 ascending globes asymmetrically balances out the tree graphic on the wall.
A fourth bedroom brings in the light. White walls wrap the space while soft beige tree branches stretch over to the bed. Here A single bird and silhouetted leaves keep the graphic light and open. Two lights organically stretch out from the wall as though they where branches from the tree. This room is shorter then the previous bedrooms and the sitting area is tucked under a wall mounted flat screen TV across from the bed. The same glass cube separates the ensuite from the bedroom and the black, almost egg shaped vessel sink plays off of the tree graphic as though it where a boulder.
The dark blocks of colour on the bed, sink, and chairs are repeated in a solid suspended rectangle behind the tub. The rectangular shape is repeated in a horizontal line by the mirror over the vanity.
The seamless lines on the glass ensuite make it difficult to know when the door is open or closed. The glass wall is positioned in front of the rustic beam and just below the ceiling timbers. This allows for air flow between the joists. Above the mirror in the ensuite is a long fluorescent tube for an unassuming flood of light.
The change of flooring from the bedroom to the ensuite is the only real visual delineation between the two zones.
The vanity is a solid wood plank composition that wraps under itself to create the perfect place to store towels or robes.
The choice of white faucets creates a nice contrast to the hand hewn timbers. Used both for the tub and the vessel sink, the faucets offer a modern touch that is both sculptural and sophisticated.
A tear drop heater suspended from the ceiling continues the contemporary white profiles used on the faucets and tub while the orange glow adds a pop of “pop art” to the space.
This bedroom is more modern in its approach then the previous 3, but the continuation of the rustic timbers and nature themed headboard walls, along with the glass enclosed ensuites, creates a flow from each bedroom that is the same – and yet not.
The dining room also features exposed timbers on the ceilings. Here, the floors and tables are also wood but switch it up with the use of alight, smooth finish. The moon shaped tables beneath the multiple ceiling fixtures hung at random heights offer a dynamic sense of movement that was carefully omitted from the sleeping zones.
The glow of yellow lights and the reddish brown tones on the chairs create a warm and inviting environment to feast by. The deep shades on the walls keep the focus on the tables.
the chunky legs to the tables are a modern touch as is the moon outline of the tabletop. These tables are designed for two people to sit side by side rather then the usual across from each other.
Even the hallways are a study of rough and rustic juxtaposed against smooth and contemporary. Adding to the rough and rustic is the uneven texture of the stone tiled floor.
All the rooms within the La Suite Sans Cravate are a careful study of contrasts and art forms. The modern touches flow harmoniously throughout the spaces without fighting with the traditional envelope of the building itself. Even on the façade a contemporary louvered fence blends seamlessly with its surroundings.
Via Home Design
Photos courtesy of La Suite Sans Cravate
