Be Our Guest Vol. 3 | Dionas Sotiriou founder of Maison Flâneur
Welcome back to Be Our Guest, our series celebrating the people who set the tone and always get invited back.
This edition, we sit down with Dionas Sotiriou, founder of Maison Flâneur. What began as a personal instinct - to find beauty in the overlooked - has grown into a global destination for design-led discovery, where every object carries a sense of place.
His world is shaped by movement: wandering through cities, getting lost in medinas, exploring Greek islands, and noticing the details most people pass by. Maison Flâneur is an extension of that way of seeing, curated, curious, and always a little unexpected. Because the best spaces aren’t just styled. They’re collected, slowly, with intention.
A gesture from one collector to another: enjoy 15% off at Maison Flâneur, exclusively for MÉTIER readers, with code METIER15.
Where are you most Flâneur?
Greece. Even though I have been visiting every year, I’m still discovering new places each time, the quintessence of “flâning” (yes,I verbed it!)
A small thing that brings you disproportionate joy.
Fresh flowers
What always comes back from Greece?
The amount of olive oil that I smuggle back from Greece every time I return home would get me in trouble…
Early morning streets or late-night wandering?
Late-nights
One Maison Flâneur object that feels especially close to your taste.
Our ceramic matchboxes. They're flying off the shelves and I’m about to order a few for myself. The simplest object, made with a lot of love. Very Maison Flâneur.
The first thing you always notice when you enter someone’s home?
Art and books
A place that only really makes sense once you stop trying to navigate it.
Life
A hotel that instantly restores you.
Any hotel in Morocco with a traditional hammam
A meaningful moment in Maison Flaneur’s journey.
When we crossed 100 brands on the platform (we now have almost 500!), that's when the scale of it started to land. 95% of them are women, each with their own story. The community we’re building is what makes me proudest.
Travel light or a suitcase full of stories?
Travel light
The appropriate length of a proper Greek dinner?
On a good summer day, lunches become dinners and dinners become breakfasts
A Maison Flâneur must-have when hosting a long Greek lunch?
Start with our serving dishes — non-negotiable for Greek sharing. Add a good tablecloth and enough glassware for everyone. The rest takes care of itself.
The best host you’ve known, and what they get right.
My parents. We always had so many people in our home. Their guests always had smiles on their faces. They always made hosting look effortless.
What do Greeks understand about hosting that others miss.
The meal, the table, the decor… are all secondary. Greeks have an innate ability to make you feel at home instantly, it’s in our DNA. The rest just flows.
Wine, ouzo, or something else?
Ice cold ouzo
A craft you’ll always stop for.
Anything made by hand. I'll watch someone throw a pot for an hour.
What makes something Flâneur?
Spontaneous and unplanned
The last object you couldn’t leave behind.
I traveled back from Sicily with a 10kg vintage Testa di Morro as a carry-on…
If we want to bring a little Maison Flâneur into our home, where should we start?
Tableware. It's where we started, it's our biggest category, and it's what people keep coming back for. Hundreds of brands, every style. Whether it's a Tuesday dinner or a wedding, the table is where it begins.
What makes something Maison Flâneur-ready?
The story
A gift you bought, but wanted to keep.
An original Hiroshi Sugimoto photograph from the Seascape series, bought for my girlfriend. He's also one of my favourite artists. Or was that a gift to myself? It now hangs in our bedroom …
Your hotel escape when you want to disappear.
Greece is full of remote guesthouses in the most beautiful spots. Recently, I have been going back to Milos a lot. There’s a place called Echoes I keep coming back to.
What gives a space a life of its own?
Any type of art
Room service order?
A burger - preferably eaten in a robe and a little too late.
Sea or city?
I need both
Your perfect day.
Endless lunches in good company
What do people get wrong about you?
That I’m not as much of a geek as I actually am
A Greek habit the rest of the world should adopt?
Chillllll
A room from your childhood you still dream about.
My childhood bedroom - it still exists almost intact from when I was 16. Like travelling back in time.
A city that never fails to inspire you.
Venice - I think I have been 6 times and every time, I never want to leave