I have a new home!

you might be wondering where I've been...
Well, I've been working on a new website, and finally I've put everything together what's keeping me busy. My work, my dreams, my goals.
I'm happy to announce that I have added a shop to my work, where I sell all that is close to my heart.
And here's where you will find me:
www.dreamboat.nu.

Hope to see you there!

the bell jar

I'm back! With new work, in VT Wonen: love, live and shop, a co-production with Maaike Koorman.

Normally Maaike does these productions on her own, but she asked me whether I wanted to do one series with her. Of course! I did the styling, together we did the conceptual design, and Maaike made the background.

Here's what I did
I used two different sized bell jars that I bought at &Klevering, I painted the base white with a wet brush so the effect is a still bit rough/relaxed.

For the first image I used a vase and a necklace that I borrowed from Annliz, a shell that I found on the beach in Brittany, a wooden heart (bought at Nunc), painted white, and a heart that I cut from cork, also painted white. Next to the jar is a letter that my mother wrote to me when I first moved to Amsterdam.
For the second image I created some sort of cliff, of a cardboard box and little books that I found in an antiques shop, on top of which is perched a little wooden house (which is actually a pencil sharpner) and a wooden sheep and goose, bought at a old fashioned toy shop. Next to it wooden dominoes that I found in a thrift shop.

For the last image I made a little bag from pearl colored fake leather. This I balanced on little packages, gifts and surprises wrapped in paper. Next to it a hatpin, that I borrowed from a beautiful shop in Gieterveen, Voegertijd, that we also were taking pictures of for another magazine. In the back an old piece of crystal and a thimble, which I also found in a thrift shop.

I'm very happy with the result, and also very happy to be back!
I will show some more new work that I did in 2012, mostly together with Maaike.


Photography: Agnes Barten/Studio 5982
  

(I had an injury on my right arm,  which makes blogging a bit difficult).

garden office

One of the things that I've recently finished is the conceptual design of an office for an Amsterdam based PR company, Het PR Bureau. They were moving from three smaller offices, scattered around the centre of Amsterdam, to one big space. They were looking for an interior that expressed their core values, an interior that was light, welcoming and warm. And office that people would love to work in. Because most of the staff isn't working at the office all day, they also wanted to motivate flexible working, so less fixed desks and more different types of working spaces. Suitable to work alone in, but also enable working in groups.

The fashion and life style brands that Het PR Bureau represents, needed a good, well lit, showroom, so stylist would easily find the way to the items. Het PR Bureau wanted to make a connection with this more visible part of their work and the work that is a bit less visible, like

writing, creating and all the work 'in the field'.

Another wish was to give space to their other company, PR Stunt, and brining those two offices together. PR Stunt works with a smaller group, and works on lively events and experience types of assignments. This lively, active feel should be expressed in the interior as well.

The big area is is surrounded by a few smaller offices, and a kitchen, and one smaller office is on the front of the street.

The core values and their wishes inspired me to the words garden office. The old meaning of these words are the opposite of a space you would want to work in. But if you translate it literally, you bring the outside in, the garden in your office, where you can breathe and be creative, let ideas grow, and be inspired.

The big space in the middle, the heart, was connected to one of the rooms in front, the room next to it was more separate. To connect all these spaces a wall was knocked out, a door was removed, and I designed a 22 metres long table to connect the front room to the middle room. This table would be suitable for working alone on, but also to work in groups on, to use as display and even as a catwalk.

In the next post I will show you the images of the result. The conceptual design is made by me, DreamBoat. Architect Jasper Westebring made the technical drawings and was there for technical (and moral) support, Maaike Koorman made the visualisations, and did the presentation together with me (next to supllying moral support). Orpheo Jungst did the production of the interior, so he did the styling and the actual buying of all the interior, the translation from concept to reality.

long lost friend

It's been such a long time since I've last written, I hardly dare posting. It feels like a friend that you haven't called in such a long time, that you hardly dare to call. But I have so much to tell, so much to share and so much to show, that I will start posting as of today!

how it's meant to be

A few weeks ago, I was working on a styling/photography assignment with Maaike Koorman for a roof garden in Amsterdam, built by the Dakdokters. It was agreed upon that I could borrow furniture and accessories at a shop in Laren, Kerkhof, and a shop in Baarn, Nijhof. The drive through Laren reminded me of a beautiful, insprired, and inspiring shop that I used to visit a lot when I was a stylist for an interior magazine, back in the olden days. I was curious to know if it still is as nice now as it was then, 10 years ago. It was, and it was even better that I remembered. This is a style that I love, and that I hope to be able to one day put in a house, for myself or for a customer. I love the balance between modern and authentic, rough and sleek. The image next to the green chair is made by Mirjam Bleeker.

The shop is called Meker Atelier and the addres is: Mauvezand 2, in Laren (NH).

before and after

before

after

To let in the light that comes in through the front door, I replaced a closed wooden door for a glass door with a steel, powder coated frame. The railings around the stairs were replaced with cabinets on each side, with a powder coated railing, to make it more slim and elegant.

To keep look of the floor, that was originally concrete, a layer of colored and lacquered cement coating was put on, after the floor heating system was put in. The extra heater is an old design, and gives a bold statement to the living room.

In the kitchen (which was not finished yet when I took the images) one wall is covered with a lot of cabinets, in different shapes, sizes and depths, but all painted in the same color. It hides the oven, it sort of embraces the window, it plays with the light and it creates a lot of storage space. The pink cabinet, around the corner, in the space between the living room and the kitchen, is where the freezer has found its space, and has room for storing cleaning stuff and supplies.

To create more light downstairs we knocked down an wall to create a studio where a separate bedroom was, and we created a room in the bathroom so the light from the master bedroom would also reach the bathroom.

The color scheme is mostly tender hues like soft pink, a lot of different greys and beige, with a few bold colors like the pink of the freezer cabinet, the mustard yellow in the studio and the petrol colored wall in the guest room.

Next step is the curtains and the garden.

I've been working on...

...a house in Ede, in the east part of Holland. The beautiful house, kind of a house boat on land, has a ground floor with open spaced living room and kitchen, and a floor below sea level with two bedrooms, a studio, a bathroom and storage rooms.

I had the honour to decorate the house, from scratch. That meant deciding on the floor, the kitchen, toilets, sinks, made-to-measure furniture, bathroom, colors, the works. A big job, and a very exciting one.

For a job this big, I take a lot of time with the customer to decide on the style, and the floor plans. I translate the choice we make in mood boards. With these as a hand book I start sketching, that means technical drawings (with help from architect friend Jasper Westebring, of course). With a few options I go back to the customer, and together we decide on a master plan.

I will show you my mood boards first, after that I will show you some images of the result, before all the furniture was moved in. It takes a lot of time to settle in, always, and I can't wait any longer to show you the results.

off the wall

Sometimes people send me comments on and questions about things that I write on my blog. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out yet how to answer those questions directly. So from now on, I will answer them through my blog. Maybe other people will be inspired as well!

One question I was asked was about the tiles in my kitchen. Our kitchen was featured in Nya Rum, images by Paul Barbera (haven't seen it myself yet), and someone wanted to know where to find them. They were bought at a Dutch tile manufacturer, Mosa. These specific tiles were designed by Koh Liang Ie, originally in the sixties. My parents also had them, in the toilets, and only the ones with the four circles. A few years ago they were brought back to life. They are only available in white, unless you order a lot, like a Concrete did when the designed the beautiful interior for restaurant Envy in Amsterdam.

The first 2 images are made by Paul Barbera.

back in Buenos Aires, in my mind

Today I took a little trip down memory lane, when I was showing some pictures of our trip to Argentina a few months ago. And I realized that I didn't show half of the better things that I discovered in Buenos Airs. Like this amazing shop in Palermo, Amores Trash Couture. A curious name, and the fact that you have to ring a bell, next to a big white, iron gate, only adds to the curiosity. Once inside, you enter a kind of dreamworld shop where, if it was in a dream, Abba, Andy Warhol, Jacky and Joan Collins, Debby Harris and Madonna would come and shop (or party). The clothes are eccentric and the accessories: I wanted to have them all. But especially the interior was something that will stay in my memory for ever. It's not about fashion, it's about style.

flowers

This weather, this month, is making me long for fields with flowers. Until my next holiday, France this time, I make do with the work of landscape architect Anouk Vogel.

busy busy

I'm a bit busy on the design of a house, so I don't have a lot of time to write a lot now. It's a good thing that these images speak for themselves. Interiors and stunning lamps designed by Workstead. Go see for yourself on their website.