Ben Reynaert
design by jessica stambaugh photo by sian richards
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? It’s been my dream to own a place within a couple hours from NYC and my partner and I just closed on an old Victorian home in Delaware last year. It’s us and the Biden’s! Aside from that, I’d love to have a place in Mexico City one day.
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? I was obsessed with the home brand called the Bombay Company when I was a kid. I wanted everything to be dark mahogany, my desk, canopy bed, bookcases were all this dark tone and I coveted old globes, maps and telescopes. I was into this nautical yacht library vibe, complete with tartan plaid wall to wall carpeting back when Ralph Lauren had a carpet line.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? My first real purchase for our place in NYC was this sweet but tailored and modern little sofa from The Flat in Westport. The owner Becky Goss covered it in this Robert Kime bias stripe and I knew I just had to have it.
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer, who would it be? Well.. I think that depends on for which home and where.. I’d hire Thomas O’Brien in a heartbeat for a weekend house. I’ll never forget the first time I walked into AERO when it was on Broome Street. Mind blown. I’d definitely hire you for a city apartment. Classic proportions, an enfilade of rooms. I’d have to side with Ben Pentreath for a country cottage. And, Daniel Romualdez for my French chateau. And.. alive or dead? I might have to Luis Barragan for my flat in Mexico City.
No room is complete without a lit candle.. not a scented candle.. just an ordinary taper candle will do.
People think of me as a high end hoarder, but I am really a full blown hoarder
Things you omit from:
A flower arrangement: A clear vase, leaves in water, symmetry
An hors d’oeuvre platter: Not much, I think anything goes really..
A bar cabinet : There’s nothing I love more than a layered bar cabinet, I will say that I don’t love a little bowl full of wine glass charms, which I’ve seen done before…
A song for:
Dinner at home: Charles Mingus, on a jazz kick
Working at your desk: This is terrible, but if that song Working for the Weekend comes on I do get excited about work!
Going for a run: 212 by Azalea Banks makes me feel like I’m running in an insane apocalyptic video game.. really amps me up!
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? I’d definitely go on a Matches tabletop bender. Cabana, Ginori, Serax, Themis Z plates, Campbell Rey, Yali Glass, Lobmeyer glassware, Lisa Corti linens, Loewe garden candles, SAVED and Erdem cashmere blankets, Richard Brendon tea service for 12.
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? I almost exclusively wear navy and white, so it’s much more restrained from my design tastes.
Who is your star crush? Liev Schreiber is one.. he can do no wrong. Spotlight, Isle of Dogs… anything where he’s in a shirt and tie trying to figure something out…
What is the one thing you would never decorate your home with, but don’t detest when you see others do it? Pussy willow! But Michael Bastian used them behind his sofa set against a wall of black and white photos and by golly they look chic and they worked perfectly.
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be? The Authentics by Dara Caponigro and Melanie Acevedo… I turn to that book whenever I’m feeling like second guessing myself. It’s a good reminder to be different.
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? Throughout my career in publishing and at brands, It’s always been my goal to bring beauty into the world. I do that through objects, through photography and hope to bring spaces to life.
Design by Megan O’Neill Photo by Annie Schlechter
Your Favorite:
Movie: Sleepless in Seattle
Book: East of Eden
Scent: None, but I do like BYREDO’s Vetyver.. earthy, woodsy but dry and clean feeling
The fabric you always come back to: Always variations on ticking. Tynemouth by Robert Kime, larger Waltham stripe from Colefax and Fowler, the classic Bell ticking from Malabar, the Chelsea Textiles Marcel ticking…
Dream project: Organizing a fabric shoot of some kind at Casa Malaparte on Capri. It’s the sighting atop a cliff, the red brick masonry and the reverse staircase to the roof that does it for me.
Meal: Polo Bar burger and fries
Drink: Dirty martini
Hotel: The Ham Yard
Travel Destination: Yet to go to India.. but I’m vision boarding that trip!
Artist: Joan Miro
A cause near and dear to me: Arf Hamptons, The Center NYC
Thing to collect obsessively: I’ve sort of started to casually collect soup tureens since visiting Winterthur museum nearby
Era in the history of design: Bauhaus architecture
Museum: The Tate Modern
Paint Color that always looks great: Setting Plaster
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: @8HollandStreet
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? Dogs! But I don’t have one!
