Better living with resettlement OK: Basel resident helps people get better furnished apartments

Nothing could describe Reha Okay better than the fact that he didn’t even think of sitting down at a table during the conversation. Instead, he guides us non-stop through the 380 square meter exhibition and storage rooms of his company Okay Art, which is located deep underground next to a parking garage at Landskronstrasse 69.

Ok is busy and versatile. It would not be correct to describe him as just a seller of antique furniture. He’s more: also a restorer, an interior design consultant, a contact for collectors “off the beaten path,” as the website says. And he rents furniture for special events, for photo shoots or trade fairs such as Art Basel: “A gallery that sells high-quality art also wants high-quality furniture for its showrooms and not some industrial mass-produced products.”

The fact that it is so versatile today has evolved over the years. “My father has already restored and built furniture,” he said, who has Serbian-Greek and Turkish-Persian roots. “As a child, I was often in his studio and I saw a lot. ” This became a real passion: he visited flea markets and collected furniture until his garage was so full of them that he even had to put the car on the street to make room the time when my boyfriend at the time said: ‘Rehab, finally open your own business!'”

A melting pot of ideas

That’s what he did. He gave up his office job, which gave him a secure income, and became self-employed. He opened Okay Art 25 years ago.

He works with carpenters, carpenters and designers. He has hired two renovators to help him implement his many projects. In a separate room, for example, there is a large, elegant table for Roche’s historical archive currently being renovated. “This is, as we say, the Renewal of the Champions League.”

Furniture advice has now become particularly important. It is becoming more important. Of course it costs something. “It’s not for everyone,” he freely admits. “But for those who want to pay it.” Like the top American manager who gave him the keys to his apartment with the words: “I don’t have time!” OK, let him furnish his apartment from scratch.

Housing advice has not yet been issued

After consultation, the consultant decided on an Italian design from the 1950s. Much to the satisfaction of the customer, who is used to this service in the US. “It’s normal there to get help setting up your home from someone who knows what they’re doing. ” The common Swiss, on the other hand, still believes that he can do it himself. “Misunderstanding,” said OK. “You don’t cut your own hair, you go to someone who knows about it. “

“A house is not a home,” he declares the principle of the furniture industry – meaning that only a complete concept turns the house or apartment into a comfortable, homely home. When he visits customers, far too often he sees furniture that has been bought at random and does not fit together at all. “It’s like someone going to the gym and struggling to get nice muscles. And then he stuffs himself with cheap fast food.”

For him, providing a nice home has something to do with self-love: “I treat myself to something that’s good for me.” Institutional companies and businesses also use their expertise, including restaurants and medical practices. He is currently setting up five different B&B rooms, each at a different time.

Timestamps are requested

For this he usually uses used materials. Under no circumstances should anyone talk about “event furniture”; he refuses to use the term. “Period furniture” is a better description. These have survived for decades and are now being restored by him and his restorers as true to the original as possible, although some time is certainly in- desirable “That’s what we call patina,” says OK, pointing to a chair whose metal legs show such signs of its past. “We can’t make this chair completely original anymore,” he says, “so we told ourselves we’d at least want to keep it original by covering the seat shell with goat skin.”

We have been walking around the Reha Okay building for an hour now. He always discovers something interesting that he wants to tell. The resident of Basel still does not show that he wants to retire – not for the interview and especially not in his job.

He turned 60 this spring, which he found to be a profound turning point: “60 is a mark that does something to you.” But things like retirement age and AHV are still a long, long way off for him – at least as a self-employed person. “Now things are starting to get really exciting at work. “