Deborah Gtz / STUDIO ADC

photo famille ambassadrice Deborah - Studio ADC

Could you tell us a bit more about yourself, your family, and what drives you every day?

My name is Deborah, and I’ve been a Nantes resident for a few years now. I live here with my husband Axel and our three daughters, aged 7, 5, and 9 months.

We are a very close-knit family, and we spend a lot of time all five of us together. We love doing things together: crafts, cooking, going to recharge our batteries on the Atlantic coast, eating a butter-sugar crêpe on the street, reading books, watching movies as a family, seeing friends, simply enjoying life, but always close together (except when the parents need a break 🤭)

Could you tell us about your background and how Studio ADC came to be?

We met at art school prep, and decided to apply to the same competitive schools so that our brand new relationship could last, and we were both accepted to the Beaux-Arts in Toulouse. We spent a few years there, meeting our best friends, partying, and earning our diplomas.

Then we felt the need for a change of scenery. Axel trained as a cabinetmaker while I embarked on a master's degree in textiles. I was finally in the working world, as an apprentice, discovering the ins and outs of the textile industry from A to Z, from design to store delivery. It was incredibly intense and fascinating.

In parallel, I always maintained a lifestyle/fashion blog, which evolved over the years to become a trend/decor blog. I started receiving requests for quotes to take photos. That's when I saw an opportunity I had always been waiting for. I stopped my studies a few months before getting my Master's degree and launched my own business as a self-employed entrepreneur. One contract, then two, then three—I was so happy to have trusted myself and dared. Finally, I was where I belonged. I asked Axel and a friend a lot to help me with projects; I couldn't do it alone. There was an alignment of the planets: the three of us were available, and we said, "Let's do it." That's how Studio ADC was born. Projects kept coming in, and we needed a legal framework to protect ourselves, protect our friendship, and Axel and me, our relationship. So we did it properly; we each invested and set up our own SAS.

We worked from home, saying yes to everything offered to us. It was a very fruitful period in terms of work and learning. We did a lot: created a range of 100% handmade objects, a book, scenographies, furniture, stop-motion, photography, DIY... Since then, there are only two of us at the studio, and we have refocused our activity on furniture and object design and a little artistic direction!

enfants jeu d'ombres

What are your main sources of inspiration as designers and creators?

It's a somewhat "boilerplate" but true answer: everything can be a source of inspiration!

Daily life, a combination of colors, nature, but also media like Instagram, Pinterest, magazines, exhibitions, etc. It's vast and varied; when you have a creative sensibility, images and details impose themselves on you, you notice them, and they become inspirations.

Sometimes I feel like I have a camera instead of eyes!

What do you enjoy most about your day-to-day work (art direction, scenography, DIY, etc.)?

Never doing the same thing twice! As a multidisciplinary creative studio, we have many strings to our bow, and that allows us to do new things regularly. It's very stimulating.

I really enjoy the initial stages where we're all fired up and excited about the project, with ideas constantly flowing. This is followed by the framing phase, which defines the vision and ultimate goal of the project.

I love working hand-in-hand with other people, our different constraints and perspectives – I find it very creative and exciting.

dessin et magnets - tableau mural

What attracted you to the world of Ma Cabane À Rêves?

At first glance, the aesthetics – I found Ma Cabane À Rêves' products different from what we were used to seeing. There was a real stance, it was well-crafted, and that intrigued me.

I ordered a first kit about the human body for my eldest daughter and it worked immediately. I was hooked.

Then I discovered the creative aspect of the magnets, the possibility of using them in the bathtub, of being able to draw on them – I thought that was brilliant!

How do you use our products with your family? Which ones are your favorites?

The girls have their magnet space at the top of the stairs where everything is freely accessible: the different magnets and the board. It's not too far from the bathroom, so it's easy to go back and forth from the bathtub!

I sometimes find them building their own little world, telling stories; I love listening to them and secretly observing them!

Here, our favorite kits are: the Cupcake game and the Tangram Puzzle shape laboratory.

They spend hours making cakes and crazy characters; it really inspires them.

I'm going to get the mouse pack soon; I think they'll like these little dress-up mice!

Anyway, it's simple: we'd love to have them all!

tableau mural - magnets et dessin

Do you think our products are well-suited for creativity and open-ended play in children (or even adults)?

Yes, really. Free play is very important to me; we've been fans of it at home since my first was born.

I really like the idea that nothing is fixed to a given use, and I find that with Ma Cabane À Rêves products.

My daughters (and I also enjoy doing it) appropriate the different worlds, mix and match, to create whatever they want completely autonomously.

DIY activité enfant jeu memory

How do you integrate creativity into your family life?

For us, it's central because it's truly in our DNA. The girls always see us tinkering, fiddling, making things, so for them it's completely natural. I also make sure they have quality materials and a space available for them to experiment.

They have access to many things (because it's our job) and I often find them making all sorts of things, I love it. Axel also allows them to use "real tools" like a drill, screws, and provides them with pieces of wood, which they use under supervision, of course ;)

I believe it's also important to be able to respond to children's creative requests; when one tells us she wants to make such and such a thing, we support her in her desire, which shows her that it's possible.

It's an opportunity.

formes géométriques bonhomme

As designers, what aspects of Ma Cabane À Rêves products do you find unique or particularly well-designed?

I really appreciate that the magnets are stackable; this allows for an infinite possibility of creativity beyond the classic and basic use of a magnet.

The magnets become games, creative material, and I find that very interesting!

pot à crayon

Do you have any ideas or desires for a future collaboration with Ma Cabane À Rêves?

Oh yes, plenty of ideas and desires, we're already discussing them together!

I have a very specific idea for a stationery product that I think could be super useful to a lot of people because I can't be the only one who wants it, so I'm thinking about it, and on the kids' side, I admit that the idea of being able to imagine a kit together would please me very much.

stickers magnétiques pop

If you had to describe Ma Cabane À Rêves in three words, what would they be?

Fun, clever, and colorful!

boites de rangement pour magnets

Any memorable or funny moments you've had with our products that you'd like to share?

During my third pregnancy, I received the 9-month magnet kit and was able to spend a wonderful time with my two older girls, explaining to them what was happening in my belly, the development stages of their little sister. The girls were fascinated, and I was very moved to share that with them.

Throughout the pregnancy, they would change the size of the belly to follow the evolution until the day they placed the baby magnet because that's it, the little one was finally here.

stickers aimantés décoration

And finally, the question I love the most: a word of love for Ma Cabane À Rêves?

Thank you for all this poetry, for the beauty distilled into everyday life with these lovely magnets.

I'm sensitive to aesthetics and it's important for me to surround myself with beautiful things. I also like my daughters to benefit from them, especially when it's beautiful AND cool AND well-designed AND durable – when it ticks all the boxes!

So Ma Cabane À Rêves has its rightful place in our home 🤍

The products chosen by Deborah and her daughters