TL: What is the thought behind NLXL Lab?

RV: Our daily job is to come up with ideas. We throw 95% of these ideas out the window and turn the remaining 5% into a product. Our first product, Piet Hein Eek’s Scrapwood Wallpaper, became and still is a worldwide success. We just tried to keep up with this success and make sure nothing went wrong, and when we looked back after about a year we realized we had a wallpaper company. Not a bad thing per se, but what if we design a beautiful notebook, does this imply we should become the next Moleskine? I really love what they do, but that’s just not our ambition. We asked ourselves “how can we launch a notebook in a wallpaper company?” Because the recipe is the same: high quality designer consumer products. Just – in this case – not on wallpaper. NLXL LAB was the answer.

TL: What is the goal and purpose of this concept?

RV: NLXL LAB is about freedom — the freedom to make nice things. For instance: how many ideas do you think come up when we are having lunch with Studio Job or Piet Boon? They have 100 new ideas when you and I have one.

Or Jean Luc Colonna from Merci in Paris, he has so many ideas and such incredible energy that I have a headache after every meeting. NLXL LAB is a channel to do something with these headaches. Piet Boon had a great idea for a wallpaper, but it did not fit within his Concrete Wallpaper Collection. So I had to turn him down.

Now with NLXL LAB we can publish this wallpaper idea outside of the collection.Our goal is to launch great products, whatever this product might be. Job and I have talked about a handpainted classic Porsche 911 as a limited edition for NLXL LAB. Why not!

TL: You state that all products carry the signature premium NLXL quality. What is the epitome of this quality?

RV: We will always think about the consumer experience before we think about profit. Quality is a promise. Not just to our customers but also to our designers. Out of respect for them, we give our designers the best product, best packaging, best presentation. Myself would eventually not be happy if I became a millionaire by making ugly things. So everybody benefits from a high quality product.

We want our customers to know our heart is in every detail. The wallpaper itself, the substrate, is really the best possible quality out there. During the four years we have been in business, we have had about 5 returns. Everybody in our company panics when we get a return.

I just love it when my team asks Esther (NLXL president) for a return policy – we really don’t need one.

TL: The plywood print stool product is an innovative mix of old and modern design. Is this something we can expect in the upcoming products as well? If not, what can we expect of these?

RV: My first reaction would be to deny this, but now that you mention it I realize you are right. I stream my iPhone music in my car and play vinyl records at home. I personally love innovation, as long as there is enough knowledge of and respect for the craft that laid the foundation for these innovations. Our design team really loves old school stuff, like traditional typesetting, book binding, embossing. Sometimes innovation shows its head when we try to make these crafts a little more special than the average product. We don’t intentionally mix old and new, but it is definitely in our DNA.