Loft Amsterdam Canal House Case Study
One of my favorite projects to work on, was a beautiful loft apartment in the very center of Amsterdam. The apartment is located in a beautiful monumental canal house. The beautiful historic house is divided in several apartments and my client had bought the top apartment. A beautiful loft apartment facing the wonderful gardens on the back of the house, overlooking beautiful old trees. So central and yet so calm once inside!
The loft has beautiful windows and a lot of natural light coming in. It has a cosy atmosphere and even a real fireplace!
The owner travels a lot and works long days and nights as a doctor, so he wanted his house to be a warm place to relax and retreat and to have friends over for dinner or for drinks at the fireplace.
He wanted to implement some antique furniture, such as an old desk that had belonged to his grandfather.
He also very much likes art so I took that into account too for this project.
We started with selecting two comfortable and beautiful sofas, a cosy arm chair, a footstool and six dining room chairs at the ETC Design Center in Culemborg. My client went for a classic yet clean style. Perfect for a lovely loft in the historic center of Amsterdam.
After that we went on to select the soft furnishings at my favorite fabric agent ‘Loggere Wilpower’ at ‘s Graveland near Loosdrecht and Hilversum. I advised some beautiful fabrics for my client that were both manly and inviting. Since he likes blue a lot, we took that as a base and we went on selecting various fabrics for the sofas, for the comfortable armchair and for the footstool. My client chose beautiful jeans like blue fabric for his sofas from Pepe Penalver. He chose a warm and cosy fabric in tomato red and several colors of blue check for the footstool from the Schottisch designer Jane Churchill. I advised him to take a white and red zigzag print for the footstool, to add some freshness and fun to the living room. The fabrics were from Jane Churchill and Colefax and Fowler.
For the dining table (with six chairs in total) in the open kitchen we selected the same jeans blue fabric from the sofa for three chairs and we selected for the other three chairs a fresh lighter blue and white kelim kind of print to add some variation. Since all the fabrics are different yet complementary it brought the living room and the open kitchen with the dinner table beautifully together.
After that we went on selecting paint for the walls at the wonderful paint shop ‘De Ru’ in Amsterdam. Since the loft had such a monumental atmosphere, we went for Farrow & Ball colours. Those colours are my favorite to work with, because of the beautiful texture and colour palette.
I advised my client to paint the high wall with the fireplace in a deep blue. He chose ‘Hague Blue’. The wall opposite the fireplace became this Hague Blue too. In order to create a calm and light atmosphere in the living room, we chose ‘Joa’s White’ for the other smaller walls.
In the kitchen, we added a beautiful chique red paint above the sink named ‘Eating Room Red’. This color matches wonderfully with the red details in the fabric on the chair and the footstool in the living room.
I advised my client to select a beautiful and manly wallpaper for the walk-in closet in the bathroom and the toilet from the French brand Elitis. The wallpaper has a brown/greyish color and the look and feel of leather. It made the walk-in closet and the loo intimate yet manly.
The rest of the bathroom we kept in the light color ‘Joa’s White’, to keep it fresh and clean.
For the master bedroom, my client chose ‘French Gray’. A lovely subtle light green that creates warmth and serenity. I always advise my clients to keep their bedroom calm and serene with ideally a touch of green in the paint, to create a sense of nature in the middle of the city. You could also add a big real plant in a beautiful pot to your bedroom, or you could use wallpaper with leaves or flowers if you like nature and it’s calming effect on you as much as I do!
For the kitchen, my client and I selected an oval dinner table handmade out of a light and beautiful wood. The table from the brand ‘Slow Wood’ is modern yet calm because of the elegant design. My client is very happy with the table!
Since I like and promote the (re)-use of old furniture, I organised that the antique desk of my client was treated by a specialist. The desk got its colour and liveliness back and is now a centerpiece in the loft!
Last but not least we selected several modern ceiling lights at Maretti Lighting in Almere. I love to combine a classic style with modern details and it came out beautifully!
For the final touch, I took my client to ‘Madame Garage’ in Haarlem, where we selected some very nice and original table lamps in different prints and colours. Table lamps in a fun print or colour can be put on a desk or piano to create cosiness and a decorative element to your home!
My client moved into the apartment soon after the work was finished and he loved and still loves his home ever since!
Another Happy Home on my list!