And when it came to Jan’s own home — this 430-square-foot apartment in Amsterdam’s Baarsjes area they’ve rented for five years — Jan was also inclusive with color and pattern … maybe even a little too inclusive, by their own admission. 

“I think it’s quite a colorful house, but a few months ago I suddenly became afraid that it became too much of a happy color numeric Instagram-house and then I suddenly hated my house,” Jan admits.

“Then I took away some of the most colorful things and wanted as my new style: Alien egg meets mosque meets ‘90s Hardcore. I’m not there yet but slowly going there.”

Updates to Jan’s space have mostly involved surface-level improvements (see the painted kitchen cabinets, stairs, and more, for example).

“I’m not a rich person and I’m always shocked by how much it costs to really renovate your whole bathroom or kitchen, which I would love to re-tile one day,” Jan admits.

“But I bought some new radiators, and a friend of mine installed them and for me that’s already quite a renovation.”

When it comes to furnishing the colorful, energetic space, it’s of course filled with tons of interesting art pieces, quirky furniture pieces, and Jan’s best purchase: a couch from Hay found online for a steal. “I didn’t know a big couch that was not ugly existed and that it could make me soooo happy,” Jan writes. 

• Sofa — Hay
• Stairs — Painted by muralist Gijs Frieling
• Pink or turquoise electricity plugs — Gert Wessels
• Horse leg — Bastienne Kramer
• Huge drawing — Lewis Parrington Stack, from the neurodiverse art atelier Wijde Doelen

• Tattooed Sausage artwork — Gijs Assman
• Hand chair — Found secondhand
• Both pink and wooden alien book closet — by Gert Wessels

• Green alien egg cat litter box — Kitty Glitz
• Horror carpet — Etsy

• Bed stands — Alex Zeta
• Azilal rug — Etsy

• Knight toilet paper holder — Amazon

Thanks, Jan!

This tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.

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