When an apartment on her street came up for sale, interior designer Nicoline Beerkens jumped at the chance for a fresh start
STYLING Willemijn de Leeuw
SNUG
Arched glazed doors were chosen to allow light to filter through the apartment.
KITCHEN
The island cabinets are painted in a colour custom-mixed by Nicoline. She used Farrow & Ball’s Brinjal as the main base tone.
Nicoline Beerkens has come to know that if she sets herself a deadline, an eclectic and vibrant interior
The blueprint
Follows soon after. ‘A lot of people ask me how I get a sense that a home is completed,’ says the Amsterdam-based interior designer. ‘But the answer is simple: if I know there will be a photo shoot or an interview, then everything, down to the accessories and styling, must be done before that moment.’
When the listing for this house came on the market, Nicoline and her husband Pieter lived only two doors away. At first, they convinced friends to buy the apartment, located in a building dating from 1939, but when the sale fell through they snatched it themselves. ‘ That delighted me as I was ready for an new look,’ says Nicoline. ‘I actually prefer to start a new home entirely from scratch, so our last property was sold with all its furniture. We only moved the artwork and antiques, plus the two Groovy blue chairs by Pierre Paulin that my husband inherited from his grandparents – they always come with us.’
Deciding that the six-metre-long kitchen with its 4.5-metre island should be the heart of the house, Nicoline designed a new floor plan around the space that would work better for her family’s way of living. ‘Once I’ve sorted the layout, the interior design follows. With this house, I knew better than anyone the flow of rooms that would make sense to our family. So there are rooms in which we meet and rooms where you can take time for yourself,’ she explains. ‘We also chose not to have large children’s rooms as they always play near us.’
Over the years, Nicoline has noticed that her design choices evolve from the spaces she has previously lived in. ‘I always design with a view to an interior looking as beautiful and relevant in 20 years’ time,’ she says. ‘But whereas in the previous house I chose brighter, primary colours, this house is more subdued. Of course, we live here with two young children, aged six and eight, so I tried to keep it a bit playful and not too seriou
