Objects of Intention
They say every great design begins with an even better story.
Jonathan Hankar first arrived in California from Belgium on business in 2005. Upon discovering an immediate fondness for the west coast’s entrepreneurial spirit and understated modernity, a new vision began to emerge. In a market brimming with plastics and polymers, he saw an opportunity to bring an easier, more organic elegance to the table — literally and figuratively.
But it wasn’t until meeting his wife and co-founder, Patricia Hankar, that the Be Home story began to unfold.
Bonded by a shared affinity for eclectic tablescapes and travel, the pair frequently ran into each other at industry trade shows around the world. She would give him product pointers; he would give her travel tips. The relationship grew, and it wasn’t long before they began partnering more closely to bring the Be Home mission to light. Together, they set out to invest in responsibly made products that not only last, but add a sense of purpose and adventure to people’s day-to-day routines. “Our cupboards are a reflection of our travels and the relationships we’ve built with our talented friends around the world,” says Patricia.
Since the very beginning, the couple has focused on building Be Home relationships with family and women-owned artisan groups, multi-generational craftsmen, and independent makers around the world. When asked where Be Home’s product inspiration comes from, Jonathan defers to the process, “Creatively, it’s a lot of collaborative work. Oftentimes, the makers are the ones coming up with the new techniques and ways of creating beautiful, sustainable products. Sometimes the ideas are ours, and other times we are simply a catalyst to production."
Beneath it all, Be Home is a culmination of two major influences: Patricia’s grandmother who shared with them her love of flea markets as well as a knowledge of antiques and Jonathan’s grandfather, a great entrepreneur, who always encouraged them to ‘dare to start something new’. This ancestral, entrepreneurial heritage follows them everywhere. When they go out to eat, Patricia and Jonathan still flip over plates and mugs in hopes of learning more about the products they use everyday. Most importantly though, the two are focused on modeling Be Home’s values of making less waste, embracing imperfections, and preserving nature whenever possible to their three children.
“At the end of the day,” Jonathan says, “we’re all about making sure that every area of the home is covered. That it’s beautiful, well-made, and that the people behind each product truly care.”
The Artist
Be Home pursues partnerships with makers who care about their products — and they couldn’t have found a better creative collaborator than Australian illustrator Antra Švarcs. For Švarcs, every brushstroke is filled with deep thought, reflection, and intention.
When she got the brief for a set of four dip bowls, she wondered, “What will a person see if they are looking at the bowls from above, or from the side? How will the design be obscured if there’s food inside? Do the bowls look good stacked together, and side-by-side as a set?”
For Švarcs, intention is key to designing a piece worthy of home. “I like to live in a home where the objects are made with intention, either in terms of beautiful aesthetics, craftsmanship, or function — ideally, a mix of all three.”
She holds her own work to the same standard as the objects around her, and she finds herself drawn more and more to the natural world and the lessons that can be learned from minimalism. She reflects, “My work may at times look simple, but it’s about communicating the essence of the subject in the most compelling and essential way.”
When working on the illustrated patterns of the Be Home Dip Bowls in the Winter Box, she merged minimalism, human imperfection, and inspiration from her own home spaces — both in the natural world and from her Latvian heritage.
She began with organic shapes and rhythms that replicate nature — seeds, nuts, pods, leaves — but added her own flair, marrying the handmade and digital worlds by painting circular designs onto watercolor paper with blank ink before scanning them into the final work. If you look closely, you’ll see a human touch. “It’s subtle, but it's important to me to keep a handmade feel in my work.”
And the intention behind the color and patterning? The blue and white patterns are a nod to traditional porcelain tableware. “My heritage is in the northeast of Europe, so I grew up with graphic folk patterning on our textiles and ceramics around the home,” she explains. “There is a distinct folk influence in the design.”
The end result tells the story of the connection between nature and community — while nature has inspired the forms of the design, community is addressed through the function of the object itself: sharing food and bringing people together.