One of my favourite things to do while living in the Netherlands was visit the homes of our friends and acquaintances. I especially liked house-hunting in Amsterdam, as I loved seeing how the homes were decorated. It appears to me that the majority of Dutch homes are modern, stylish, and effortlessly chic. I absolutely love Dutch interior design, and the mix of the old canal homes with the modern Scandinavian decor. From my time there, I discovered a few major differences between North American and Dutch design.
1) Most of the Dutch homes I visited had large harvest dining room tables. Simple, solid light wood tables with unique modern chairs seemed to be a staple in most homes. Now I've seen this trend coming to Canada more and more, but 2 years ago it seemed very new to me when I saw it in the Netherlands.
2) Hardwood floors! I don't think I ever saw a carpeted floor in the Netherlands, and certainly not in Amsterdam (well, besides the seedy hostel I worked at for a while....). Most of the floors were light maple, left natural, and kind of rustic-looking.
3) White. White. White. There was one particular house that I visited that had mostly white furnishings, mixed with the light wooden floors, and pops of intense colour in her decorations. It was beautiful and simple.
4) Mismatched and modern. You know those catalog rooms from major furniture retailers? The ones that are all matchy and perfectly coordinated? Those don't really exist in the Netherlands, at least as far as I can tell. And that's a good thing!
5) What I most enjoyed about many of the rooms I saw in the Netherlands was the juxtaposition of old and new items. A gold framed piece of 16th century art would be hung near a modern dining table, and family sterling silver heirlooms would sit next to a funky Swedish lamp. I always loved how these items shared the attention in these homes, most of which were considerably old themselves. There's something so wonderful about seeing a home from the 1500s, with thick white moldings and original flooring, completely decorated with modern pieces.
(all photos from Lille Lykke)
8 comments:
Beautiful pictures! They all have a very crisp & clean feel to them. I love hardwood floors. I hope we have them someday. :)
Just found your blog...LOVE iT!
i love dutch design, too! this is actually one of the things that i like most about the netherlands!
i`ve been reading your blog every since i moved here, back in july this year, and i think it`s one of the most beautiful and optimistic blogs i`ve known. it really made me more aware of amsterdam`s history and soul and eventually i really felt lucky to be living here! :)
Hi Andra, thank you for your incredibly sweet comment. It's nice to know that my time in Amsterdam has made yours a bit easier. Although I definitely experienced highs and lows living abroad, I tried to keep positive and focus on the good. In a way, this blog really helped me to focus on being optimistic, which then transferred over to other areas of my life. Good luck with your Dutch journey!
thank you too, heather! :)
I'm planning on decorating my studio in the Dutch style. I've always thought it was so airy and simple. I'm so excited! Thank you for the beautiful pictures.
This is a nice post in an interesting line of content, great way of bring this topic to discussion.
Literally jut found your blog and love it! Great work. I was recently in Amsterdam and took a bunch of pictures. Such a beautiful and inspiring place.
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