Name: Rene
Location: Hoogeveen, The Netherlands
Last year, after feeling well enough to once again face life and its many possibilities I decided to go and live on my own. During my illness I saved quite a bit of money, and from the onset I planned on spending it on a nice home. The designing wasnt that difficult. I already had a couple of nice rooms at my parents house, and those had developed over time.
Over time I got a nice selection of vintage lamps and a collection of good looking books. So I had some funiture, and, of course, I used the colors from those items. The apartment dictated where the stuff had to go, and then I just had to fill in the rest. I needed a bookcase, a couch, a dining and coffee table, dining chairs and a few accessories.
I basically got my inspiration from magazines and blogs, and especially love Apartment Therapy because of all the house tours which are very helpful. My style is probably a mix between vintage, white interiors and bright colored accessories. I had a hard time choosing between the two because people were telling me that bright colors lose their appeal quite soon and I got scared. A lot of money is invested, and I didnt want to make a mistake. I ended up with a compromise. The main orange is kind of a dark orange instead for example, and the floor is dark brown, so its not really as vibrant as I originally wanted, although as a whole im still very much satisfied.
Thanks, Rene!
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what a great apartment. the selection of pieces works well together. can i ask, what desk is that? is it attached to the cabinets beneath?
I love the books organized by color. It's a great way to make your books stand out and bring more color into the room.
I love the "ugly doll" on the bookcase. They are all so cute. I have given them as presents to my nieces and nephews. The red wall really helps warm the space. It could use a few accessories with an interesting textural quality to soften the hardness of a modern look.
All that warm orange-red must make your home feel especially cozy when it's cold outdoors. Thanks for sharing.
I too love the "ugly dolls" on the shelf, especially the giant-sized one!
LOVE that two-seater? love-set? attached at the hipster seating? Can you provide more info?
Great place!
Ugly dolls and toys are cute, but I assume adults live here?
I think it suits her colourful personality and looks fun. Let her enjoy her space!
Really digging your home. Nice furniture choices, fun and funky! The desk and the coffee table are my favorites. I like the color coordination on the books and the end table is cool too. Nice wood floors, keep up the fun vibes!
Nothing icky about this -- I like it a lot. The two-seater by the window is especially cool.
I love this place. I guess I like "icky".
This apartment has just enough kooky (like the shaped black leather couch, the stuffed toys and the orange lamp) to lift the rest of the rather ordinary furniture up.
Personally I'd put a more overscaled version of the same light over the dining table.
icky = good
*wink*
I like the apartment, nice colors. As for organizing the books by color: that looks great but it would not work in our house. We collect books for reading, not for their good looks.
@cynthiavanderlouw -- we're avid readers and have a fairly substantial collection of books, yet we organize them by color, too. We just break them up by genre, so that all nonfiction books are in one set of bookcases, etc., and then arrange by color accordingly. It allows us to keep a lot of books in our smallish living room without the bookshelves looking like a distracting jumble. This certainly wouldn't work for everyone -- but even with a large collection of books, it's possible!
Wall and rug read more red than orange on my monitor,but whichever, so gutsy of you to use such bold colors. I love, love red, but live in a apt that I cannot paint. (Sigh) The red/black/white is my favorite combo. Kudos!
Love the giant ugly doll too! Want one!
I love your place, I like how color flows from one area to the other. I have always been afraid of color...your home feature has inspire me to give just a pop of color here and there. Thanks and congratulations for beautiful pieces of furniture you have.
It's so hard to get one's life back together after a serious illness. You've done a great job! I find myself barely able to get beyond Ikea, but grateful nevertheless (<:
Cool furniture...I REALLY like the big bookshelf (want!) & your use of color, which is very therapeutic. As are the presence of things we love - ignore snarky comments & be healthy...
BTW, some colorful pillows & throws on the black furniture would probably pick things up for you a bit.
Also, I have similar shelves & lightly stained them a cherry red. The color is vibrant, but not too dark, so the pine wood grain shows through. Yours would look great with a pale hue of the wall color.
I'm happy for you that you are well and able to enjoy life. Good job.
I have to agree with Edin .. I visit AT for inspiration, and I have to say I haven't seen much inspiration on this site lately. This featured apartment is nice, but I don't see the need for it to be featured on AT.