bedMATE of the month #12: Lex Pott

Every month we visit a creative and inspiring person. She or he is the 'bedMATE of the month'.

The bedMATE is the most iconic item in our collection. The extra long cushion serves as a headboard, but also as a cuddle buddy, a friend who provides support.

We crawl into bed with the 'bedMATE of the month'. We take a look at their home and their colorful (bed)rooms. In conversation we discover how they experience the SUITE life. What's going on in their heads? Where do they get their inspiration from? And what color do they dream in?

This month, all-round creative Nicole Huisman visited the colorful designer Lex Pott, a creative jack-of-all-trades who you may know from his Pillar - and Twist Candles, and who does and makes so much more - from clogs to sofa and from cupboard to table.

'I come from a family of artists and wanted to do something applied. The combination of art and industrial design came together perfectly at the Design Academy Eindhoven', says Lex. 'Inspiration for me means hard work. By studying and looking critically at my daily routine, I come up with new ideas. Often it is the most everyday objects and routines that I discover something special in.' I look around at his colorful 1930s house in Rotterdam, a house with lots of charm and authentic details. 'It's an old house. Fortunately, the house has also been modernized, which perfectly brings together the past and present.' Lex points out everything he has invented and made. His collection of Pillar Candles is proudly displayed on a butter yellow, milky cabinet. And on the soft blue cupboard opposite, numerous colorful candles in different shapes shine, all from Lex's hand. 'The Twist candle is currently my most memorable product. This material experiment into the malleability of wax has led to a new product and has brought me a lot, both headaches and joy, haha! I prefer to research a material that I can work and experiment with myself. By thinking from the material properties, I try to capture the essence of a material in a product.'

We drink tea at the kitchen table, Lex's children Otto and Midas play on the couch and his girlfriend Willemijn makes coffee in the kitchen. 'This place, the living room, is my favorite room in the house. This is where all functions come together. The garden that borders the living room, the dining table where I like to sit on my new Void chairs for BANNE, the PILLOW sofa that I designed for Gelderland to look at the fireplace from there while the children play. I'm a real couch potato. The fireplace completely relaxes me. In addition, it is wonderful to watch bad programs on TV, so I completely clear my head.'

Color is important in the lives of our bedMATES, and so is the life of Lex. 'Color is a fundamental subject in my work. It makes or breaks products. I always try to approach color from intuition, so that it becomes an essential part of the end result. Color combinations are mainly about tension. Light in combination with saturated, or dark with a saturated, bright color. It must refer to the past and be contemporary at the same time.'

Color also plays a major role in Lex's house. 'The basis is a neutral canvas in which the objects have a lot of color. This way I am not tied to 1 style and an interior evolves over the years, it is constantly in motion. Our style is eclectic. A combination of different styles and objects. I collect a lot of work from other designers and of course use my own work in house. A favorite is a work of art created by my mother and father, a yellow screen print about reflection. This is the most treasured object in the house.'

Lex doesn't sit still. 'I am currently working on many new products that will be released this year. Furniture, outdoor objects and accessories. Color is central here. These are all objects that were missing from my house and that I wanted to design myself.' We can't wait.