it was such a pleasure to discover the beautiful designs of belgian furniture manufacturer heerenhuis on the recent bloggers design tour of antwerp with function+form.

their manifesto is strikingly simple – “we make tables. that’s what we do.” with a refreshing no-nonsense approach, the company pride themselves on doing this one thing and doing it exceedingly well.. although they’ve also recently ventured into the world of seating and seem to be excelling at that too!

run by geert legein and louis van haesebrouck, the company began life as an antiques business in antwerp in 1978 and now manufactures its own line of contemporary furniture characterised by uncomplicated, straightforward design and good carpentry, favouring the authentic, uncomplicated materials of solid french oak, unlacquered steel and vegetable tanned leather. “small imperfections are an explicit part of the designs. we like it atypical, not perfect,” they say.

touring the factory in hoboken gave a fascinating insight into the care and attention that goes in to every heerenhuis piece, and how the carpenters  strive to preserve and showcase every natural mark in the wood they are working with, to really celebrate the character of the raw material in the final design.

my favourite pieces in their showroom include the contemporary cuboid shape of the mesa coffee table, with it’s simple steel frame and reclaimed teak top, and the impossibly sleek and slim dining chair they unveiled at the last maison & objet in september, which has a delicate steel frame and a tactile rubber seat.

while not my personal style i was also incredibly taken with the lars zech tables; giant slabs of italian walnut mounted upon agonisingly slim tapered metal legs..

and the slice french walnut chopping boards were a winner with us all. one may even have made it’s way home with me.. although it was near to impossible to choose a single board, as each one is unique with its own distinctive character!

keep your eyes peeled for mine on instagram shortly..

have you come across heerenhuis before? i’d love to hear what you think of their designs..

heerenhuis products can be purchased in the uk from different like a zoo. 

[icon name=”handshake-o” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] the function+form bloggers design tour to antwerp was organised in collaboration with pentacom pr, city of antwerp and the design centre winkelhaak. check out the hashtags on social for more: #bloggerstourantwerp #wearefunctionandform.