Portrait of Belgian design duo Muller Van Severen.

Muller Van Severen on Colours

For Muller Van Severen, colour is never something added at the end of a project. It develops alongside form, material and proportion until each element becomes inseparable from the next. Rather than treating colour as decoration, the Belgian design duo sees it as part of an object's identity—something that shapes the way it is experienced and remembered.

Founded by Fien Muller and Hannes Van Severen, Muller Van Severen has established one of contemporary design's most recognisable visual languages. Working across furniture, lighting, objects and exhibitions, the duo has collaborated with brands including HAY, BD Barcelona, Valerie Objects and Kvadrat. Throughout their work, one thing has remained remarkably consistent: a carefully refined palette of colours that continues to evolve across materials, scales and disciplines.

In this conversation, Muller Van Severen reflects on why colour has remained central to their practice, how a limited palette has become part of their identity, and why returning to the same colours often creates more possibilities than constantly searching for new ones.

A recognisable language

Most designers develop new colour palettes for every collection. Muller Van Severen rarely does.

Instead, they continue to work with a family of colours that has accompanied their practice for more than a decade. Rather than limiting creativity, the repetition has created a visual language that has become instantly recognisable. Whether appearing on a chair, a lamp, a ceramic tile or a painted wall, the colours remain unmistakably theirs.

Over time, the palette has become as recognisable as the objects themselves.

Colour before style

The duo rarely thinks about colour in terms of trends. Instead, colours are selected because they continue to feel relevant, regardless of the object or material they are applied to.

"We always return to the colours we know."

Rather than asking what colours are fashionable, they ask whether a colour belongs within their growing family of objects. This consistency allows new pieces to enter an existing conversation instead of beginning from scratch.

Objects in conversation

Muller Van Severen rarely designs isolated objects. Every chair, shelf or lamp exists in relation to another object, another material or another colour. The same applies to interiors. A muted green becomes different beside burgundy. A warm yellow changes beside aluminium. A pale pink responds differently against oak than against ceramic. Colour is never experienced alone. It is always part of a composition.

Working with fewer colours

For many designers, a limited palette might feel restrictive. For Muller Van Severen, it creates freedom. Returning to familiar colours allows attention to shift towards proportion, material and composition. Small differences become more significant because the colours themselves are already understood. Rather than searching for novelty, the duo continues refining relationships that have developed over many years.

Everyday colour

Inspiration rarely comes from colour trends or forecasts. Instead, it comes from everyday life. A painted door. Fresh vegetables at a market. Industrial materials. Textiles. Architecture. Colour is collected gradually through observation before finding its way into an object months—or sometimes years—later.

A palette that moves between materials

The twelve colours developed for Blēo reflect a palette that has evolved throughout Muller Van Severen's practice. Rather than belonging to one specific collection, these colours move naturally between furniture, ceramics, paint and everyday objects.

Applied across different materials, each colour takes on a slightly different character while remaining unmistakably part of the same visual language. For Muller Van Severen, colour does not belong to one discipline.

It belongs to the way we live with objects.

One palette, many possibilities

Although the palette consists of only twelve colours, it is designed to be used repeatedly across different materials, scales and spaces. Rather than constantly introducing new colours, Muller Van Severen continues to deepen its understanding of the same ones.

Each project becomes another opportunity to discover how familiar colours behave in unfamiliar contexts. For the studio, colour is not simply part of an object. It is part of a lasting design language.