Exposed Brick and 400-Year-Old Beams Wow in This 625-Square-Foot Amsterdam Rental
Exposed Brick and 400-Year-Old Beams Wow in This 625-Square-Foot Amsterdam Rental
“The week I found this place, I had already submitted requests for 11 other rental properties,” begins furniture enthusiast Cylia Hendriks, who goes by the moniker Sherlock Homes. “To be honest, it felt like winning the lottery because finding such a beautiful house for rent that’s also reasonably affordable is more the exception than the rule in Amsterdam.”

Can't-Miss House Tours Straight to Your Inbox
Keep up with our latest house tours each weekday with our House Tour of the Day newsletter
The apartment is a 625-square-foot rental, and was exactly what Cylia was looking for; it was simultaneously spacious and cozy. “I believe part of the home’s charm lies in its history. The house is a 17th-century monument — 400 years ago, it was a shipping warehouse, and the same beams are still here to this day,” Cylia explains
Cylia says that while this apartment was a reasonably affordable price, it came with some challenges. “First of all we have the windowless bedroom. There’s no natural light coming in in any way — which means the room is very dark (which sometimes is nice when you want to sleep by day).”
“But sometimes you want light in your bedroom, and waking up is horrible when it’s pitch dark on every hour imaginable. So I came to a solution of building my own glass brick light wall.”
“I think rearranging my house and taking pictures of objects and furniture is my number-one hobby at the moment,” Cylia explains. “It brings me peace to put everything to a certain spot and check out if it feels right or not. It’s meditative. Especially in winter I am home a lot and I always make sure there are candles on, music on, everything to make myself at ease.”
Resources
PAINT & COLORS
- Living room — Living Green “Wood Ash 229” (almost white, but prettier)
- Bedroom — Betonlook chalk paint “coffee”
LIVING ROOM/DINING ROOM
- Bubble sofa — WOOOD (secondhand buy)
- Steel coffee table — Self-designed and handmade by family
- Rug 1 — Zara home (secondhand buy, from older collection)
- Rug 2 — Zara home (secondhand buy, from older collection)
- Steel/black chair — Vintage Wassily
- White chairs — Secondhand, replica Panton
- Brown chairs — Vintage, Kartell
- Scissor lamp — Vintage Le Klint
- Modular shelf and cabinet unit — Vintage, brandless
- Organic table — Vintage, brandless
- De Stijl Here print — Drool
- Squiggle lamp — Yellowpop
- Rice paper lamp — HAY
- Zuru lamp — Residence Supply
- Akari 24N Washi Paper lamp — Akari
- Akari Noguchi 1 AG — Akari
KITCHEN
- Plissé water cooker — Alessi
BEDROOM
- Bedding — Yumeko
Thanks, Cylia!
This tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.
Share your style: House Tour & House Call Submission Form