Visiting Alex Rambousková

Alex Rambousková, founder of the holistic beauty concept Beloved, favours a neutral colour palette and a conscious approach to both her professional and personal life. She naturally filled her apartment - and our conversation - with harmony, genuine calm and pure optimism.

Read about how she thinks about the concept of "wellbeing", what she went through during the renovation of her apartment, and why she fell for Lejaan bedding.

Alex, you are the founder of Beloved - a beauty concept dedicated to holistic care and a curated selection of quality products. What inspired you to start it?

The story as old as entrepreneurship itself. I couldn't find what I was looking for on the market. A place where quality, aesthetics and a pleasant environment come together. A brand that selects products from a broader perspective and looks for solutions from different angles. One that sees things holistically - that beautiful skin, for example, is not just about cream, but also about vitamins and supplements.

What does wellbeing mean to you, and how do you try to incorporate it into your everyday life?

To this day I haven't found a Czech equivalent for this word. If you look in the literature, you most often come across the phrase: "Overall wellbeing in all areas of life."

Wellbeing is in us and around us. You cannot achieve an overall sense of wellbeing without balance, harmony and caring for yourself and your health. Try to answer this - What rituals would your day have to consist of for you to have a constant feeling of wellbeing? The answer will show you what your personal wellbeing is. The richness we live inside us is what we experience on the outside. It doesn't really work the other way around.

Alex's bathroom essentials consist of Playful Cotton towels and the Honest White bathrobe.

When you hear the word "timeless", what is the first thing that comes to mind?

Something I have no doubt I will like even after a long time. Because the choice comes from me and from what I genuinely like. I actively try not to adopt other people's opinions.

What do the Beloved and Lejaan concepts have in common?

A strong need to give people quality and develop their wellbeing.

You have been through a renovation of your apartment in collaboration with the DŮMYSL studio. What was the most important thing for you throughout the process?

Probably for the space to reflect our need for calm. To resonate with what we believe and how we see the world. Martin from the DŮMYSL studio didn't have an easy time with us, but he was understanding. We always ended up agreeing and finding a shared solution. Looking back, we are very grateful to him for that and recommend him to all our friends.

"Wellbeing is in us and around us. You cannot achieve an overall sense of wellbeing without balance, harmony and caring for yourself and your health."

Do you remember a moment during the renovation that you consider the hardest?

We bought a brand-new, completely finished apartment. But we knew it didn't match what we wanted to live in. We sat over the plans and eventually decided to completely change the layout, rip up the floors, replace the new kitchen... At one point there was nothing but concrete and bricks everywhere. It was costly in both money and time. But we don't regret it!

And what was, on the other hand, the very best moment?

When we realised what came out of it!

What does home mean to you, and what do you think makes it?

Home is made by people and emotions. Small beautiful moments of everyday life. Playing with the children, a kiss on the cheek from my husband, the smell of coffee, laughter, the sound of cutting food, reading a bedtime story in bed.

Colour Melange knitted decorative cushions and throws as a playful refresh of an otherwise neutral terrace.

Which part of it is your favourite?

We have a large terrace - it is actually bigger than our apartment. I love evenings with friends by the barbecue with a view of the city, when the children jump on the trampoline or sneak off to pick strawberries and come back with red-stained faces. I love mornings on my yoga mat when there is still mist outside. I love taking care of plants and herbs, even though I'm a beginner gardener. (laughs)

And which parts of your "home" do your children love most?

Our bed, in which all four of us end up almost every night. And when I ask them in the morning why they didn't stay in their own beds, they always say we have a better bed and that they love waking up in our embrace.

Soft bedding and fillings as fluffy as a cloud for the most comfortable moments together.

Is there something you still long for in the interior?

Both my husband and I love design, and each of us has a few dream pieces that we gradually buy and give each other for birthdays and Christmas.

How often do you change, shift or move things around in the apartment?

We haven't done it even once yet. We love our apartment as it is.

What should everyone have at home, in your view?

The feeling that they are comfortable there.

You are a lover of minimalism and monochromatic solutions, which is also felt in your brand. Do you project these factors into decorating your home?

I really do live what I feel. Beloved and our apartment's interior both come a lot from me. In many elements they look quite similar, in some even identical. I believe that authenticity is behind the brand's great success.

You have incorporated our products into your apartment. Tell us, when did you first come across Lejaan?

When furnishing the apartment. I was looking for the last pieces before the final move-in. My dream was to have the feeling in my own bed that you have in luxury hotels - fluffy pillows, pleasant bedding... Simply a bed you want to spend all day in. (laughs) We started with one bedding set. Now we own several, as well as the fillings and duvets. And they truly are unbeatable.

Which product from our range do you like most?

Tough question. Right now, probably the bathrobe, which I sometimes spend whole mornings in. And the pillows, which I look forward to every evening.

Even a varied Mix & Match can still feel soft and neutral.

And which product, on the other hand, do you miss in our range?

Woollen winter blankets.

What does the feeling of freshly changed bedding evoke in you?

The feeling that I want to spend the whole Sunday in it with a book in hand.

Your morning ritual includes getting up early and having coffee on the terrace. Does a daily routine accompany your evenings too?

I have two daughters who are relatively small - Elen is four and Thea recently turned one. Evenings revolve around bathing, getting them to sleep, clearing up after dinner and dealing with work emails that there wasn't time for during the day.

A neutral children's room with a colour accent of brick-red Grandma's House bedding.

You told us you like reading in bed. Can you give us some book recommendations to close with?

Don't expect anything groundbreaking, because I have a demanding job and children, so I reach for books that someone recommends to me. And I am usually the last person in my wide circle to have read them. Most recently it was Vrány by Dvořáková or Where the Crawdads Sing by Owens.

I haven't seen the film adaptation of the last one yet; I don't like watching films before I've finished the book. But then I like to loudly criticise them for not sticking to the book and say it's not at all how I imagined it. (laughs)