Jazz up your home with Maarten De Ceulaer

Maarten De Ceulaer is no stranger to education. He has a degree in Interior Design from Hogeschool Sint-Lukas Brussel, as well as a degree from Design Academy Eindhoven. During this period he won the Dynamo Young Belgian Designer Award in 2007.

His designs have been featured in many predominant exhibitions and galleries; Nilufar and Rossana Orlandi in Milan, Galerie BSL in Paris, Art & Rapy in Monaco, Mint in London, and Victor Hunt in Brussels to name a few.

His ideas are simple and can easily be related to by those who experience them, such as these “Iron Book Ends”. The shape and weight of them make them perfect book ends. The handle makes it convenient to move around or to add another book to your collection.

“Pile of Suitcases” is part of a leather collection conceived exclusively for gallery Nilufar. The series was made in close collaboration with renowned leather artisan Ralph Baggaley.

“Nomad Light Fire” looks familiar doesn’t it? Maarten was inspired by matchsticks. With his entire series of nomad lights, you have the possibility to take them with you wherever you want. This lighting object is ideal for and great conversation at garden parties, restaurants and lounges.

“Liquid Lights” evokes a feeling that you are partaking in a mysterious laboratory experiment. “The concept is simple; by adding a few drops of edible food colorants to the water inside the bottle, you can change the color of the lamp, and the atmosphere in the room.” Eureka!

When asked to describe his series entitled “Mutation Chairs”, Maarten said, “The pieces in this series look like they weren’t made by hands, but have grown to their present form organically. They might be the result of a mutation in cells, or the result of a chemical or nuclear reaction.”

To Maarten, his creations are all used “to tell stories, to stir people’s emotions, to tickle their imagination or to make them wonder. A project can result from an observation of the society around me, or a reaction on something that simply crosses my path, but can as well be the expression of a very personal thought or feeling that I want to communicate to the world.”

I met Maarten in person a few years back when he was exhibiting his “Nomad Lights”. He is humble, witty, and yes, definitely a mad scientist when at work. The originality of his work still continues to amaze me. And I feel, just as Einstein is to physics and Shakespeare is to theatre, Maarten De Ceulaer is the king of interior design.

Pooja Sahny