This Cat Furniture Designer’s Amsterdam Apartment Is the Perfect Example of Maximalist Scandi Style
Name: Carole Picou-Katmann, partner, and cats (Hipster and Panda)
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Type of home: Apartment
Size: 1120 square feet
Years lived in: 3.5 years, owned
Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: We bought this pad six months before COVID kicked in and I’ve felt very fortunate to have spent multiple lockdowns in this awesome place, as it gave me ample time to renovate it. It’s a beautiful duplex overlooking a large canal (very Amsterdam cliché) with lots of light and two lovely balconies!
My home’s style is very colorful and eclectic. I’d say I would be falling into the maximalist Scandinavian style. Besides, I have inherited centuries-old beautiful antiques from my family and added my twist with some modernist furniture and great collectibles collected from my travels across the world!
My partner is Spanish and a true sleek minimalist, so he loves a great statement design piece but does not refrain from a splash of color. He is the head of digital/e-commerce in a tech company.
I am a French, German, and Canadian citizen who has lived in quite a few countries and I’ve been a Director of Marketing and Communication in multiple startups/scale-ups across the world. On the side I have been designing a line of furniture for cats that looks good — inspired by the Scandinavian school of design — is sustainable, produced in Portugal, and that “hooman” can use too called SØDE Design (I ran successfully a Kickstarter campaign a year ago)!
The family would not be complete without our two adorable furballs — Hipster, 13, and Panda, 7. Both are stray cats with lots of attitude! I am a bit of an art collector, so I do always follow my heart and don’t overthink my purchase and where I will put it next. We also like to rotate our art on the wall and switch the location of our furniture.
We don’t shy away from colors, but we tend to have accent walls (in the bedroom) or white walls with colorful art on them. My go-to are pastel colors such as sage (colors of my studio) or tender pink. Similarly, we do tend to have an iconic piece of furniture in every room.
Describe your home’s style in 5 words or fewer: Colorful, Scandinavian, cozy, energizing, hygge.
What is your favorite room and why? Hard to tell, but I would say our living space; we have a combined dining room, kitchen, living room, and studio, which makes it our house playground. It’s open and conducive to good energies.
What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? My vintage Seal Lamp on the fireplace!!! It was such a long search; I had been wanting one for soooo long. It reminds me of my childhood memories and I was so grateful to find this beautiful seal lamp on Etsy.
Any advice for creating a home you love? It should be a sacred place where you feel like your best self! A place where you can retreat and reenergize yourself, as well as an open place where you can also host the best house parties.
This submission’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.
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