Originally from a small town in the north of the Netherlands, Charlotte and her boyfriend Marvin moved onto this small but cozy houseboat in Amsterdam last spring. Charlotte works at a local bar and is considering a career as a sex therapist, while Marvin is a musician. The houseboat is the perfect relaxing space for them both to call home.

During my visit, Marvin was working with musicians on a recording for a new song. Soft music filled the space as we photographed between recordings. Their adorably inquisitive cat snooped around and monitored, too.

From the couple: “We met and fell in love in Groningen, in the north of the Netherlands. We both already wanted to move to Amsterdam before we met, Charlotte to study and Marvin for music. So we decided to go together. We found this boat online and immediately felt like we should take this opportunity even though it was far from a standard apartment.

We soon grew really fond of the boat since we are surrounded by all sorts of animals and get to feed the swans who eat out of our hand while we’re eating our breakfast. At night we get rocked to sleep by the waves gently crashing against the bow.

There’s a downside to living on a boat: It gets up to 40 degrees Celsius inside in the boat in the summer, but we could solve that by taking a dip in the canals followed by a picnic on the roof.

We’re renting the boat from our next door neighbors. They’re a family that has lived on the canals of Amsterdam for at least three generations. The father lives on one side and his daughter lives on the other side with her family.

A lot of our interior was custom made by the father who renovated the boat before we moved in.”

Our Style: Personal items that mean a lot to us. Collected through the years. Gifts by family and friends.

Favorite Element: Carpet, a gift from Charlotte’s grandparents. She used to play on the carpet as a kid.

Biggest Challenge: Low ceiling.

What Friends Say: Not much about our interior; they just think it’s cool we live on a boat.

Biggest Embarrassment: Red couch, leftover from Marvin’s messy bachelor pad; we haven’t found a good replacement yet.

Proudest DIY: The kitchen, built by our neighbor who is a very skilled carpenter.

Biggest Indulgence: Our cat Ben, our living piece of interior.

Best Advice: Buy lots of boxes and baskets to store things if you’re living in a small place like ours.

Dream Sources: Pinterest.

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