Sustainable Living with Thonet

This article was created in friendly cooperation with Thonet and Smow Hamburg. 

Do you know that feeling when you have a desire for a very specific piece of furniture for years? No matter where you live and no matter what phase of life you are going through, the enthusiasm for that one very special piece is always there. And no matter what style of interior design you are currently following, whether you like strong contrasts or you feel most comfortable with tone-on-tone, whether you have a small jungle oasis of your own or prefer to look at clear surfaces made of concrete and glass, that one piece would always fit.

That's exactly how it was for me with the bentwood chair 209 by Thonet. Somehow it was always on my wish list, sometimes higher up and sometimes lower down, but in the entire time that I've been dealing with the topic of interior design, it was always in the top 5.

That's why it was a must when planning our house. It was clear to me from the start: everything should fit together, if possible. Every piece of furniture, every color, every decision, no matter how small, should be well thought out and not made spontaneously. After all, you only buy a house once and have the opportunity to design everything according to your own wishes.

But why is it that some things come into our lives like short love affairs, captivate our enthusiasm for a certain period of time and then, a few years later, we ask ourselves how we could ever have liked such a thing, while others, like a marriage, seem to accompany us until the end of our lives. Is there something inherent in these things that makes them so special, that connects them all, or are they pure coincidences, strokes of luck in history, so to speak, that produce these evergreens of living? Or to put it another way: Can sustainability be designed?

If you're looking for an answer to this, the best place to go is somewhere that has long been concerned with the question of how good design can last. And I can't think of a better place than Thonet and a better example than the company's bentwood chairs.

But why Thonet? The answer is more than simple: it is simply the history of the company, which was founded in 1819, and its iconic designs. You have to remember when the chairs that have inspired so many people for decades were created. The design of the company's famous classic, the 214, for example, dates back to 1859. My favorite Thonet piece, the 209, was designed in 1900. Anyone who designs products that have inspired people for over 100 years obviously knows how to create sustainability.

But perhaps it is not just Thonet's timeless design or passion for innovation, but also the sustainability commitment that is deeply rooted in the company's DNA. This not only includes materials, production and working conditions, but also considers the product until its end of life. In order to shift this as far into the future as possible, the products are manufactured with the aim of lasting for several generations. Should something ever break, every chair, no matter how many decades old it may be, can be repaired at Thonet.

So maybe that's what really makes good design: thinking not just for now, but for decades and a changing sense of style and keeping an eye on the ups and downs of fashion. If the whole thing is also of high quality, it has a chance of standing the test of time and being celebrated as a design icon decades from now. Just like my beloved bentwood chairs 209 by Thonet.

We have definitely decided to internalize this idea of ​​sustainability for our house and not to make decisions about furniture too quickly. It is better to think about it a little longer and save up for something than to find an interim solution that doesn't actually make you happy.