Filip Versmissen and his family live in a listed 1966 house, designed by Lou Jansen. The interior designer restored the building to its original condition as much as possible, while inside the 21st century was welcomed.
As a big fan of the Turnhout School, the modernist architectural movement of which the Master Meubel showroom is a fine example, Filip Versmissen fell immediately in love with this building along a busy road between Turnhout and Antwerp. “The architecture of this house is the strongest point, it gives you a tremendous feeling of spaciousness”, Filip says. “Much of the property has been restored in its original state but adapted to the demands of modern living.” Filip works as an interior designer for Master Meubel and was inspired by his working environment and his own passion for designing to dress his home.
Sweet sunken sitting area
Undoubtedly the most important room in the house is the very spacious living room. There is a sunken sitting area on the street side where a Ligne Roset Togo sofa fits perfectly on a woven and hand tufted rug from Nanimarquina. The wooden living room floor continues seamlessly on the top of the row of closets beneath the fireplace and television. A B&B Italia uP pouf from 1969, designed by Gaetano Pesce as both a child seat and a sculpture, is overshadowed by a huge work of Chilean artist Victor Ramírez.
Music maestro
In the middle of the living room you can comfortably enjoy a bit of music in a Cassina LC2 sofa, designed by Le Corbusier. The record player is installed on the stylish Zanotta Quaderna console. Speakers of different music systems were subtly incorporated into both the black closet beside the sunken sitting area and in the sideboard next to the dining table.
That hanging dresser looks like a piece of furniture from the fifties but appearances can be deceiving. Inspired by an advertising poster for vacuum cleaners, Filip designed it from scratch. It was then manufactured by the Master Meubel craftsmen. You can only make customized designs with passion and joy, not only for customers but also for yourself.
Corian in the kitchen
The rear part of the living room, overlooking the beautiful garden, is seamlessly integrated with the kitchen. You can’t help but notice the two gorgeous Louis Poulsen PH5 Classic lamps. For the top of the countertop, Filip opted for firm corian, with beneath it a strip of solid oak.
Masterfully customized
Filip could also count on the expertise of the Master Meubel team for some other rooms. For example, in the laundy room cabinets by the Italian Porro brand were placed around the built-in washer and dryer. “Their insides in mongoy fineer most closely resembled those of the original cabinets”, Filip says. The bathroom is adorned with a custom made wardrobe with mirrored wall. The shower features a fumé glass and a wall in corian. The corian floor was made in the Master Meubel atelier as well.
Furniture classics
As for furniture, Filip chose tasteful classics, preferably from the period when the house was built. The eyecatcher in the hall is the Willow Chair, designed in 1904 by Charles Rennie Macintosh and back in production since 1973 thanks to the Italian Cassina brand. The desk chair in the children’s bedroom is a Vitra Panton Chair, the first one to be cast from a single piece of plastic.
It's all in the details
Filip says he is most proud of the little details in the interior, those you don’t notice immediately. “The inset ceiling above the sunken sitting area for example, with all those little black strips, the thin slits of the sliding doors in the hanging sideboard that are veneered or the slats in front of the speakers with the drawing running throughout. And of course the overall result. It is the architecture of the house that makes everything click together.”