About us

The Blue House : Dirk Beeckman

Dirk studies sciences first, but the love for art is greater. In order to nurture his hunger for beauty and realize a childhood dream, he travels through Europe and then traverses through half of Asia. Both trips provide him with a lot of inspiration. Somewhere halfway between Bruges and Bombay they meet. The boy dreams keep coming, even if a 'girl' has been added. Together they explore Yemen on foot, sail the Ganges, sail on the South China sea and travel by train through China for weeks.

Needless to say that every form of decoration and local craft is studied with the utmost care wherever they go. The acquired knowledge is stored on the human hard drive and eventually leads to the birth of the first ‘Blue House’ in Ghent, where they have operated for years the smallest furniture and lighting factory in Flanders. From tree to bathroom, bookcase or candlestick ... the client asks and Het Blauwe Huis creates.

Time does not stand still, the city bores us eventually and alienates us, there is need for a challenge, something new has to come. Maybe something with chickens and sheep. Moreover, after all the traveling, it is time to bring the world to the traveler.

The Old Blauwe Huis in Ghent is sold, in the verdant Sint-Goriks-Oudenhove the new Blue House starts, now incliuding a B&B. Creativity also plays the main role here.

The Blue House : Katelijne Vandenborre

Katelijne studies ‘design and interior arts’ and, just like her husband and travel partner, shows a healthy appetite for art and beauty. She too decides to make her dreams come true by exploring the world.

She lives together with Dirk and a Siamese cat in first Blauwe Huis that can be described without blushing as a traditional design museum.

But she also carries the desire for something else. What does a person do with chickens, fruit and sheep? Cooking and try out cake and omelettes and jams and dishes from all over the world as well as her own Flanders.

So much to do, so much to enjoy in the titillating world of the rural Blauwe Huis.

“Satisfied customers do not complain, they share their happiness with others.”

(Professor Theodor Jan Beeckman – Ghent horecafilosophist 1895 – 1970)

You have people who eat equally well in a functional fast food restaurant as in a cozy, stylish restaurant. You have people who even tolerate neon light in the living room while reading a newspaper or a book. And you have people who swear by a functional interior void from any distraction of their daily concerns.

But you also have people who surround themselves with beauty of the most diverse styles. People who appreciate the poetry and craftsmanship of a beatiful cupboard, armchair or chair and want to illuminate the economic reality of life with aesthetic values. And just those people understand the underlying motives of “Het Blauwe Huis”.

Dirk Beeckman and Katelijne Vandenborre, the residents of Het Blauwe Huis live as it were themselves inside a painting, a tableau vivant that adapts tot the needs of the couple and evolves wit hit. This private pleasure of two people in search of beauty has extended over the years to various shops and catering business in Ghent.

Those who stroll through the centre of Ghent and like to eat well will probably have stayed several times in an interior that was conceived, realized or given a second life by Het Blauwe Huis.