apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Can I live there?

I have always loved Dutch design. Respect!

I love the little cauldron/table. Is it a flea market find or something available via retailer?

Actually, the "no curtains" thing is quintessentially Dutch, although I think it's becoming less common these days. My dad always told me that during WWII, people didn't want to raise any suspicions by keeping curtains closed, and then everyone just got used to the openness. I must admit, I don't have curtains here in NYC either (except for one strategic bedroom window).

Spectacular windows and amazing view. Love all the space as well. I agree about the openness, it is very common especially in eastern parts of the Netherlands where people take a lot of pride in showing off their living rooms through windows. I have adopted the same attitude but it is because I have amazing view from the top floor overlooking a large park in Toronto.

Love!

Yeah we noticed that when we lived in Holland, here also (Belgium) people who live right on the street don't have curtains. I want to wave when I walk by sometimes, the people are so close!

You need curtains. I am Dutch but I don't understand that; I love my privacy. Also a lot of dutch homes are really tacky, those people need curtains to hide all the ugly interiors ;)

Although I like the space, the interior decorating isn't all that special

Can I see this kitchen/bathroom combo?

I'm envious. My own furniture would look so GOOD in that space.

I love the crystals hanging above the dining table. Is that a light or just crystals? Where did you get it? I LOOOVE sparklies!

The light is a Cellula. You can find it at DWR. I'ts pretty pricey.. get it from another seller. I love that light and have dreamed of one day owning one myself!

Love the red kitchen with that gorgeous flooring, beautiful contrast.
The bones of the apartment are amazing, such that the furniture actually looks a little lost to me. There are some great pieces, but in the context of those grand high ceilings it looks almost temporary...
Love it anyway, just don't feel at home with it.

more than once, walking through the jordan in amsterdam, i looked for the door of the design shop i was passing, only to sheepishly realize that i had been peeking into someones living room/ kitchen.

Wow. What a great space. I love the playful symmetry of opposites-- beautiful antique details in the ceiling, and lovely hardwood floors, contrasted with the modern furniture, bold red paint, and anime-style black and white art. How cool! I wish I knew these people.

In my childhood in Manhattan people living in big apartment buildings didn't have curtains and you could look out across the courtyard and see people walking around naked. Nobody cared. It was too anonymous.

My S.O had been brought up differently (in Chicago) & was astounded at my indifference to curtains when we 1st lived together in Phila. Visiting a friends' apt on the upper west side I told him to look out the window and lo, no curtains in any of the windows. I felt vindicated that it was not just me.

Now, in the interest of marital harmony we do have some curtains, but we live in Bkln.

NYC is New Amsterdam after all! Did you know that the stray cats of NYC have the same pattern of coloration as those in Amsterdam? There was an article about it in Natural History magazine some years ago.

I noticed that in the slideshow there were a couple of curtains, actually, in this beautiful apt -- to keep the glare off the computer screen, for one thing.

Ahhh, the omnipresent hemnes.

wow, fantastic space!!!




http://www.modern-sofa.net/products.php?id=00000001

LoL at 212Gretchen, because I did the same thing!

I am not usually a fan of white walls but I think this works very well because of the beautiful natural light and the spare but judicious use of punctuating color (mostly red). And the dark floors.

Polina,

You can see the kitchen/bathroom combo in the slideshow.

The architecture of the space is dramatic, but the low, small furniture looks dwarfed. And what's up with all the wires under the sofa? But if I had that view, I would leave the windows drapeless as well.

When I spent time in Amsterdam after graduating from art school in the late '80s, I was way too high to focus on anything inside people's windows...

Love, love, love this place.

We are just back from a week in Holland, and this is so quintessentially Dutch... even our hotel was black, white with touches of the same bright red, and a number of places had simiilar great black and white tiles (would love to find the source...anyone?), as well as the "mix" of periods, textures, styles. Dutch design (and I was on a design high all week -- still am) is witty, fun yet practical, and very clean and unfussy.

As for the lack of curtains, that was the first thing that hit us when we drove into Holland... neither Germany, France or Belgium had similarly large or clean windows. It is not just that they tend to be bare (although it is true, not all of them are), but that they are very LARGE, much larger than in neighbouring countries or elsewhere in Europe (you should see our measly little windows here in Switzerland), and they always sparkle (they must get cleaned each week). Nor is there anything in front of the windows -- here in Switzerland, there tend to be high concrete walls or hedges (we have a 12' high hedge in front of our house, completely hiding the front). As well, houses tend to be layed out in such a way that you can see through from front to back when you look inside. In the little corner of Holland in which we stayed (nowhere close to a major city), we saw a lot of exciting design through the bare windows, and more than one cellula chandelier.

One of my fondest and most magical of memories though is of an earlier trip to Holland... on a snowy winter afternoon, after skating at an outdoor oval, we took streetcars back to the center of Amsterdam. In the twilight and gathering darkness, snow fell softly, and the tram trundled along as we sat gazing into some of the most beautiful apartments I have ever seen.

gorgeous-bones apartment. like the red but the posters are not for me. they evidently have their proprities right though - lots of books but a minimum of other stuff.

I adore those black & white tiles in the kitchen & bath. Anyone know a company that sells something similar?

Could you call a kitchen-bath combination a "bitchen"?

LOVE this home! It evokes such a longing to live in Europe. I'm also not a fan of 'window' treatments, as an apartment dweller in Brooklyn, I crave light and a sense of space outside of the apartment. We face onto the back, so we overlook gardens--and all the neighbors across the way have their own shuttered curtained windows, so we don't really worry about peepers, although we have a white paper shade in the bedroom.

I have a window that is 12'x14' in my loft.
It will cost $3000 to install a simple window shade.

I say, let the neighbour put up the curtains!!

Not especially wowed by what they have done with it, but the space itself...the space makes me die a little with jealousy.

This isn't the Keizersgracht by any chance, is it? One of my best friends has just moved there and his place has the similar spare, uncluttered feel. Beautiful, and quintessentially Dutch - congrats.

12' x 14' eh?

Most fabric is either 45" or 60" wide - most furnishing fabric is 60" wide - so you'd need three widths to cover the 12' and 5 yards to cover the 14' - 3 x 5 = 15 yards of fabric

Even if you bought fabric that was $100 per metre it would only cost £1500 - so go buy some $20 per metre fabric and make them yourself for $300!!

More and more I'm thinking that I need to move to NY permanently and start up a curtain making business - I'd make a fortune!!!!

oh my god. this is spectacular. oh how i love the dutch.

I gotta agree with you brand-eye, the Dutch are a great people.