From spare room to gallery guesthouse...

It’s a nondescript building, oddly reminiscent of a defunct estate agent’s with its grey door and opaque windows set into the blank brick. It’s also in a place you’ve probably never heard of, unless you know a lot about Belgium. So why is We Heart, champion of all things extraordinary, poking about in B&B Tielrode?

Well trust us, we haven’t lost the plot, but rather uncovered a hidden gem, as stepping inside Sofie Lachaert’s gallery-cum-guesthouse is like stepping through the back of the cupboard in The Chronicles of Narnia. Sofie is a silversmith and jeweller, and her husband is a painter, so as a couple they should know a fair bit about making things look good, and they certainly have. Starting as a place to put up fellow artists and clients, the B&B snowballed into a commercial venture.

As you can see they have gone for white, and plenty of it, with feature pieces to prevent snow-blindness setting in. The building is an old shipyard, which accounts for the unprepossessing frontage but affords the place a huge amount of space. The bathrooms, we’re told, are big enough to dance in – not something I’ve ever had occasion to do, but then I am a dull man in general. I could certainly while away some time in the lovely barrel bathtub though.

Located in a small riverside town in rural Flanders, but within easy reach of Brussels and Antwerp, B&B Tielrode is off the beaten track but definitely on the right one.

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