Name: Nina Van de Goor
Location: Den Bosch, Netherlands
Rent or own: rent
Size: 1000 sq/ft + 320 sq/ft roof terrace
Lived in: 5 months
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AT reader and Dutch blogger Nina Van de Goor of Ninainvoorm wrote in recently to share photos of the colorful, highly personalized flat that she shares with her boyfriend Helmut. "People always are surprised to hear that we've only lived here for such a short time when they see how packed and finished the house already is," Nina says. "Many people spend years redecorating and finishing their places, but except for the roof terrace, I believe we're completely done. There'll surely be some small changes the next couple of years, but the redecoration is completely done and we have all the stuff and furniture we need, even a little more than we need, to be honest." Hear more from Nina about her apartment after the jump...
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What have you done to transform the apartment?
A hell of a lot of painting! The former inhabitants had painted everything purple, burgundy red, orange and yellow, that was really an awful combination. They also had a lot of awful wallpapers, so we completely stripped the apartment, painted everything white (and added some colors) and put some nice vintage wallpapers on a few walls. Also, we put in a wooden floor through the whole apartment (except for the hallway and kitchen).
What's your favorite DIY element?
Probably the wallpaper-patchwork in my studio, that I made of patches of different vintage wallpapers.
What is your favorite design element of the apartment?
I love the vintage table soccer game that we put on the wall in the upstairs hallway. But I also really like the art wall with a lot of different framed artwork in our living room.
How important is color to you and why did you choose the color palette?
I really like color, and I often find it hard to limit the amount of color in my home. In my former apartment, I often added so many different colors that it got to be too much. I wanted to avoid that in this apartment, though I still wanted it to be a colorful place (not living in a colorful place is simply impossible for me). Therefore I tried to keep the basis (walls and woodwork) mainly white, and added color in accessories, art and some furniture. Some rooms have their own color palette (in the bedroom sunflower-yellow dominates, the guestroom has a feminine and romantic color palette). Other rooms (like the living room and studio) just show a lot of different colors. Sometimes I'm a bit dissatisfied with that and long for more unity in the color palette, but then when it comes to saying goodbye to certain colorful elements, I just can't. I'm just too attached to all my colorful stuff...
Where are the furniture and accessories from?
I'm a fervent thrift shopper and love vintage stuff, so a lot of the accessories and furniture is mid-century stuff. I frequent thrift stores, vintage design stores and markets, but also buy on Ebay and via second hand websites. I also shop at Ikea for basics. And I love to buy handmade stuff and art, especially via etsy.
Is there anything you don't like about the flat or want to change?
As we rent this apartment, we couldn't make any structural changes, though we would have loved to change the very tiny bathroom into something better.
I always want to change things and I simply don't have enough room to practice all my design ideas. That's a bit of a frustration: I want to avoid making it 'too much', but there's just so much furniture and accessories that I like, so many different styles and ideas that I want to try, and I just can't have it all in this one apartment.
This apartment has small bedrooms and little room for storage, and therefore it gets cluttered easily. I'd love to have more spacious rooms, with more room and less furniture. But being a collector of many things is a bit part of my personality, so even if we had more space, I'd probably just collect more stuff and furniture. Sometimes I also make the wrong decisions. I don't like our living room curtains and I wish we'd bought our sofa in a different color (both too dark). But those are only a few months old and I chose them myself, so there's no one else to blame and replacing them now isn't really an option.
Where do you get your design inspiration?
I read many blogs on interior decoration and buy a lot of magazines. I love to see other people's homes and get inspired by their ideas and design solutions.
What was your biggest indulgence or splurge?
It's not really one big thing, but more a whole lot of small things... I keep buying nice vintage items, especially vintage ceramics/tableware. I could easily host a dinner party with at least fifty people with all my tableware... And I spent a lot of money on a vintage advertorial elephant, but that's just been one of my best buys ever and I've enjoyed it ever since.
What kind of look/style were you going for?
I like a creative, bohemian mix and match look: mid century design stuff combined with bric-a-brac and more feminine, romantic pieces. I like to combine items from different style periods. But I like a lot of different styles and even learn to appreciate minimalism. So I might end up in a minimalist white and gray apartment some day (though I have to admit that's not very probable).
Was there any look or style you wanted to avoid?
Oh, many! I especially hate interiors that lack personality, that look like people just planted a showroom-interior into their living room. It doesn't all have to look brand new and spic-and-span. I also don't like dark interiors, overly romantic interiors or homes that are clean and cold.
What's the most common comment you hear about your place?
Most people really like our home, but they wouldn't want to live in it themselves ;). I think all the colors and patterns are a bit too much for them.
You can read more from Nina at her blog. Or check out her Etsy store here.
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- Kristin Hohenadel blogging from rue Vieille du Temple, Paris, France. If you have an idea for a European house tour, please write to kristinh @ apartmenttherapy . com
Yay!! I'm a big fan of Nina's blog, so it's exciting to see this tour. She has such great style! Her home doesn't really look like anything I've seen before, and it all looks so complete and well thought-out, but without looking overly stylized or fussy. That's so hard to accomplish; it's something that either comes naturally or it doesn't.
This is my favorite AT home tour in a long time...
view Anna at D16's profile
p.s. Nina, you have the Marimekko dress of my dreams!
view Anna at D16's profile
wooowwwwwwwwwwww
view New York Muhtari's profile
love the shoes... and much else besides!
view k in ditmas's profile
I love your place.l
I came close to buying a sofa like yours. Please tell me more about it. Do you like it? Is it comfortable? Would you ever allow it to be the only sofa in your home?
Thanks!
view Sleek's profile
Teeeeerrrrrifiiiiicccccc!!!!!!!
view karina-elbeso's profile
Really cool space. However, I'm so torn on letters. On one hand, I really love them. On the other, I feel like they are beginning to show up a lot. I'm very attracted to the kitsch factor.
T8
www.strangeclosets.com
When design takes priority, the result is often strange closets.
view t8's profile
Her style is unique and she has a great blog,too!!!!
view karina-elbeso's profile
I like it, but I don't think it's particularly unique. This etsy cartoon, "mcm", stuffed animals etc. style just does not do it for me and I find it a little annoying. Sorry. That said, I still think this is a very nice home and I especially like the traditional hutch and wall paper combo. Unexpected. I also like the chair in the bedroom quite a lot.
view sherry2's profile
Lovely place. What is that beautiful bluish green color in the kitchen? Is it available in the U.S.?
view Cassis's profile
nice to see a fellow dutchie..! and there's some nice details indeed, like the plethora of wallpaper chunks, but then i'm a sucker for paper wall decoration :-)
it looks very un-dutch though with all the stuffed animals, throw pillows and candy store vibe, in this country where the white shoebox filled with one beautiful wabi-sabi piece of furniture is still *the* icon of taste and design.
i understand though why girls like this, but wonder how your boyfriend feels about living there ;-)
view aad's profile
I love it, and really envy you your roof terrace. That green painted dresser is so adorable!
view rhiana's profile
Sorry, but this is one of the worst places I have ever seen on AT.
view bettina playa's profile
I think this is lovely - it feels very open, light, and comfortable from the photos.
I don't really see the point of comments like bettina playa's: "Sorry, but this is one of the worst places I have ever seen on AT." Without even explaining what the perceived problem is, how is that helpful?
view theseboots's profile
"I don't really see the point of comments like bettina playa's: "Sorry, but this is one of the worst places I have ever seen on AT." Without even explaining what the perceived problem is, how is that helpful?"
I didn't know that comments should be helpful, I just wanted to express the first thing I felt when I saw the fotos. And obviously, Nina doesnt need help, because many people seem to like her place and of course she does. Although she said herself that maybe they have a littlebit too much stuff already and I totally agree on that.
There are some pieces I really like, for example the white lamp next to the sofa, or the white shelf, but the whole combination...? You should let things breath. Unique things need their space to look great.
view bettina playa's profile
Many lovely things in this home but I do have to ask about the SHOES....Interesting how you use shoes as decorating pieces.
view danze's profile
when those red heels scrolled past I knew I was gonna like it.
view Kate (NC)'s profile
Excellent. This space is really creative, not calculated, and really shows your personality. I love it.
view dmstudio's profile
Nina,
How exciting for me to see a Den Bosch entry on one of my favorite websites! I'm an American living here with a Dutch hubby. Nice work on your "small space." (Which you and I both know is a totally normal space here in the cramped Netherlands.)
Angela
view Angela in Holland's profile
Hi,
Thanks for all the comments! Some answers and remarks...
@Sleek: this sofa is from the Esprit Home collection, I'm not sure whether they sell outside Europe. This sofa is great and super comfortable, though I wouldn't buy a black one next time, cause the black fabric attracts dust easily so it's hard to keep it clean and dustfree. But this certainly is the best sofa for having a nap, because of it's 'waved' shape.
@T8: I'm with you on the letter-thing: I love them, but it's a bit of a shame that you see them everywhere at the time. But I certainly wasn't the first who came up with the idea (I saw it somewhere else too), so I can't really complain about everyone having them, as I am one of 'everyone'. Well, you can't be original on everything...
@ Cassis: I don't exactly know the name/number of the color anymore, but it's probably possible to have something similar blended for you in a paint store.
@ Aad: I can understand your concern about the boyfriend... But no worries. First of all, he has his own room/study, filled with masculine stuff such as dvd's, cd's, computers. No feminine design at all in there, which is why his room wasn't included in the house tour... We also did some compromising: he has his big television, beamer and a large empty wall for watching movies in our living room, I could use other parts of the living room for my little things.
Oh, and the house definitely isn't filled with stuffed animals... I only have a few of them (and made some myself), and just randomly put them somewhere when I was taking the photos. Normally they're not in our bedroom! ;)
@ Bettina Playa: I can certainly imagine the criticism you expressed in your second comment, you're not the first one to say that and sometimes I think that it's too stuffed myself. So I'm absolutely capable to deal with that kind of critique and can probably learn some of it. However, I think your first remark was rather unsympathetic. I guess it's the medium internet: some people feel that, because it's internet, they can just say everything that comes to their mind, regardless of other people's feelings. Anyway, you're free to express your criticism in whatever way suits you.
Thanks for commenting all,
best,
Nina
view ninainvorm's profile
I love the whole apartment and I read Nina's blog now and then.
The only thing that I didn't get as much was the bedroom, but that's only because of the orange shade (which I personally am not into) and I'm not that into giant letters as art.
Everything else is divine. I love your vintage chairs. I don't think it's too cluttered.
view lolax's profile
This place is absolutely beautiful. I love how everything works so well together. This is the kind of look that I am trying to accomplish in my own home. One of my favorite house tours. You have truly inspired me. Thanks!
view suzy8track's profile
I love it ! It's really close to my style, too, I could figure myself creating a similar space...
view Green Martha's profile