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A conversation with Sabine Broekmann, art consultant and creative coach
There is a particular kind of person who applies the same discerning eye to every object in their life — to the art on their wall, the furniture beneath it, and the bag they carry out the door. Sabine Broekmann is that person.
Based in Düsseldorf, the german capital of fashion and design, Sabine has built her name in the art world since 1992 — as a gallerist, curator, art consultant and, more recently, as a creative coach and artist in her own right under the name SABIN. Her studio, Raum für Kunst, has guided collectors, first-time buyers and businesses toward art that belongs to their space, not merely hangs in it. Her long-standing collaboration with Drifte Wohnform, one of Germany's most respected interior design houses, has placed her work precisely at that productive boundary between art and designed living.
When Sabine first visited Lake Como, Nosetta caught her eye immediately — she left with the Velvet Net Tote, a limited edition piece where black velvet net layered over champagne canvas creates a shifting, three-dimensional surface that reads differently in every light. For someone who thinks in visual structure every day, it was an easy choice.We asked her about atmosphere, perception, and why beautiful objects — from paintings to Italian leather accessories — change the way we feel.
You've spent thirty years helping people experience art differently. How does a carefully chosen piece — or even a single well-designed object — actually change the atmosphere of a room?
A work of art that someone chooses for themselves is something very personal. And it works in exactly that way within the space where it is placed. The people living there and the artwork enter into a connection, and through this the painting brings the room to life again and again — depending on the angle from which you look at it, or the light conditions. Often a painting and the furniture also enter into a relationship, and through this symbiosis they elevate the atmosphere of a room.
Do you experience a beautiful room or a beautiful object differently today than thirty years ago?
No. Atmosphere is just as important to me as it always was. Even as a child I staged my room, and later my gallery and living spaces. The desire to surround myself with beautiful things, or to spend time in well-designed spaces, was always there — and has only deepened over time.
What has changed, however, is the speed of my perception. When I enter a new space, I grasp its atmospheric quality within seconds — its strengths, but also its weaknesses in the way it has been arranged.
Your studio is called Raum für Kunst — Space for Art. What does a space need to have, or feel like, before art can truly belong in it?
A room simply needs to be a room for art to live in it. Artists always dream of a white cube where nothing distracts from the work — but I also love visiting the homes of collectors where sometimes hundreds of works are arranged every which way. Alive! Everything is allowed. Art can be integrated anywhere. Every space, every place gains from the presence of art.
There is no special room required. We find art everywhere — even in the streets of our city.
What is the one thing people always get wrong when they bring art into their home for the first time?
First of all, it is always wonderful when people bring art into their home. Full stop. The only thing you can really get wrong happens at the moment of hanging. The height, the distance to neighbouring furniture, the angle of view — all of this matters. Often it's just a few centimetres that determine whether the effect is perfect or not. And unfortunately, this is where a lot goes wrong.
What have you learned from your long collaboration with Drifte Wohnform — your exhibition platform for art?
As a gallerist who has run her own art galleries over thirty years, I know the difference between a gallery and a design store very well. The clientele who buy art at Drifte Wohnform is very different from those who walk through galleries looking for art. Here at Drifte, people are specifically looking for art for their living spaces. Many are first-time art buyers who encounter art for the very first time in this kind of setting. So the art I show there is adapted to these art seekers. Connecting art with interiors brings artworks closer to people who would otherwise not be interested in them.
There is also a different perspective from the artists themselves, many of whom prefer to present their work in galleries rather than in design stores — which is entirely understandable. But my sensitive and considered presentation of art within an interior often changes their minds. Fine furniture pieces can be elevating companions for works of art.
Sabine's hobo at Drifte Wohnform
Does your own creative practice as SABIN make you more or less demanding as an advisor?
Since I began working creatively myself under the name SABIN, my approach to advising those seeking art has not changed — but my perspective on the work of artists has shifted profoundly. I now understand their process and their needs far better, because I experience for myself what it means to show yourself as an artist.
Can you walk us through a search that stayed with you — a client brief that was particularly hard to solve?
The clients had an entryway that already held a great deal: a colour-changing sideboard, a patterned rug of three by five metres, a substantial leather sofa, and existing art nearby that already commanded attention. The wall itself was enormous. Finding something that could hold its own in that context — without competing, without disappearing — was not a simple task.
I sometimes describe myself as a truffle pig in these moments. The search is the most exciting part of the work, and this time the truffle was worth finding.
It came from Belgium. Thomas Gromas is an artist known for wall sculptures in synthetic material, wood and stainless steel. His piece met every requirement: a strong presence, no fixed colour palette of its own — instead it reflects everything around it, shifting with the light and the room. Modern, timeless, and entirely resolved.
The work is called To the Moon and Back. It didn't travel quite that far. But it was the right distance.
Thomas Gromas - To the moon and back
Where does the journey begin for someone who has never bought an original work of art — and how does someone go from that very first purchase to thinking of themselves as a real collector?
Well, ideally — with me. I am a specialist for first-time art buyers. I know their reservations, their uncertainties, and their wishes — and I love advising people who are new to art. Beyond that, I always recommend visiting art fairs to gather first experiences. They offer newcomers the chance to get a completely open and relaxed overview of the endless facets art has to offer. And the more you engage with all the possibilities art holds, the more fascinating it becomes — drawing you ever deeper into the history of art and the lives of those who create it.
Design at Drifte Wohnform
You often speak about the idea that surrounding yourself with beauty changes how you feel. Do you believe that extends beyond the home — to the things we carry with us every day? Can a beautifully designed accessory carry some of that same energy?
Absolutely. There is an old hermetic saying: "As within, so without — as without, so within." I believe it describes exactly what I have observed over thirty years. The space we create is a reflection of how we feel about life — or conversely, that consciously shaping the outside world also works upon our inner soul.
Last question: you discovered Nosetta during a stay on Lake Como. Which piece spoke to you — and does carrying it make you feel that little bit better?
I discovered the Rombi Hobo through Nosetta's social media and was immediately drawn to it — a minimal geometric pattern on white jacquard, precise and quiet at the same time. For someone who works with structure, surface and visual composition every day, it felt immediately right. Italy has always moved me in a particular way: the understanding that design here is never purely decorative, but always connected to a tradition, a place, a way of seeing. The Rombi is made that way. I carry it the way I hang a work I love — because it changes how I feel.
Sabine loves Italian design
The bag Sabine carries is the Rombi Hobo — part of Nosetta's jacquard collection, handcrafted in Italy using fabric from the historic textile mills of Lake Como and finished with vegetable-tanned Tuscan leather. The Rombi pattern — diamonds in white-on-white jacquard — is one of Nosetta's most architectural designs: structured enough to hold its shape, subtle enough to belong anywhere.
Like all Nosetta pieces, it is made without compromise and without a visible logo. Designed in Cernobbio, on the shores of Lake Como. Carried far beyond it.
Sabine Broekmann is an art consultant, gallerist and creative coach based in Düsseldorf. She has built her reputation in the art world since 1992. Learn more at sabinebroekmann.com.
There are places on Lake Como that you would not expect to exist. Casa Bianca Como is one of them. A historic villa open to the public since 2024, it houses a deeply personal contemporary art collection — works by Francesco Vezzoli, Pier Paolo Calzolari and others — alongside Cova, the historic Milanese patisserie. We went on a winter afternoon. We will return.
The things we value most about how we work were not invented. They were inherited — from the mills, the artisans, and the rhythms of life on Lake Como. And they are responsible. Zero waste. Transparent supply chain. Timeless design. No compromise.
Every Nosetta piece begins with the fabrics of Como—the same exceptional textiles that supply the world's luxury houses. But understanding why these fabrics are exceptional requires going deeper. Recently, director Maddalena Terragni guided us through the Fondazione Antonio Ratti's extraordinary collection: over 3,300 textile fragments spanning from the third to the twentieth century. What Antonio Ratti began in the 1950s as personal design inspiration has become an invaluable public resource. For those of us working with Como textiles, it's a return to the source—a reminder that we're not simply buying fabric, but participating in a heritage that spans centuries.
