Dutch Design Week 2022 – The Delicious Eye Candy Edition
You want eye candy? Well, I got it! I was at Dutch Design Week 2022 to check out the most visually appealing design out there at the moment – let’s dive right in! Dutch Design Week 2022 – Manifestations at the Veemgebouw I started my whirlwind tour of Dutch Design Week…
The Cortina Blau Reviewed: Cycle the City in Style
The other week I was in the French city of Lille to visit Europe’s biggest antiques market. As I made my way through an endless parade of bric-a-brac, my eye caught a bicycle shop called Le Hollandais. VENTE DE VÉLOS HOLLANDAIS D’OCCASION, it said in the shop window – a reminder…
Gods in Color, Steven Bukowski, My First Kimono…And More
My two Christmas trees are gone, I’m cleaning my apartment and I’ve even found some time to write a new ‘…And More’ blogpost. How about that? Gods in Color If there is one exhibition I’d love to see at some point, it’s the Gods in Color exhibition. I’m a bit of a…
Omicron, Schmomicron – I’m going to OBJECT Rotterdam 2022!
Why, oh why, oh why, can’t the world go back to normal? I am in AGONY, tossing and turning in bed, wondering whether this year’s edition of OBJECT Rotterdam will actually happen. The latest news is that yes, it actually is. But then again, who would have thunk last year that…
OBJECT Rotterdam comes roaring back – an interview with curator Anne van der Zwaag
I’m so excited… and I just can’t hide it! Just like everything in life, OBJECT Rotterdam comes roaring back this summer after an unfortunate delay due to you-know-what. I’m not exaggerating if I say that OBJECT is my favorite design event of the year. It’s cutting edge, compact and gives a perfect…
Dunhill Aquarium Table Lighters – the number 1 way to burn your money
On the off chance I’m winning the lottery this month, I thought I’d do a little research into these rare Dunhill Aquarium table lighters I saw in Hong Kong a few years ago. I have the day off and don’t have anything else to do anyway. I was going through some…
Philippe Malouin’s Kuru for Iittala – the PERFECT gift for the chronically forgetful
I lose everything. My gym membership card. My headset. My phone. My phone charger. The other month, I lost my driver’s license after it had apparently fallen from my wallet. I didn’t even miss it until a man who lived clear across the country contacted me on LinkedIn to say that…
Object Rotterdam, Art Rotterdam and a Motley Crew
I’m a bit of a rush today, but that is not going to keep me from sharing with you this one tip: if you’re into art, design and all things visual, come to Rotterdam this weekend! There’s so much going on here at the moment with Object Rotterdam, Art Rotterdam and A Motley…
Gallery of Decoration: G-O-D exists!
Roos Schneijderberg is one of the most courageous women you will ever meet. She abandoned her successful and lucrative career, took all her life’s savings and created a stunning collection of art and high-end furniture. Under the eyebrow-raising name Gallery of Decoration, or G-O-D, Roos is now ready to conquer the…
Leandra Eibl’s Wanderlust – a cabinet to fall for
The day I stop wanting to change something at home, is probably the day I die. That thought crossed my mind when I finally took some time to go through the photos I took during last year’s edition of Dutch Design Week. I was lucky enough (again) to be selected for…
TV in your living room? How to make it work with Philips and Georg Jensen
I’m going to be brutally honest with you. And I just know you are going to agree with me one hundred per cent. I hate having a TV in my living room. There, I’ve said it. It’s big, it’s black, a rectangular vortex that demands your attention no matter if it’s…
The Philips Georg Jensen TV – behind the screen with designer Rod White
What do you really know about all the different items you have in your living room? Why do they look the way they look? What went on during the design process? And how do you make sure they look every bit as good as the designer had in mind? I was…
Edwardian Times Bloom at JEE-O / an interview with Lammert Moerman
You may not be aware of the brand name JEE-O, but I bet you know one product they have designed: the iconic original shower 01. I first saw it at the opening of the C-More Concept Store, which is owned by my good friend Iris. A while ago, she invited me…
I’m telling you now so you’ll be ready when you need a bathroom: Alape!
The moment I bought my new bathroom, I just knew that I was going to get a serious case of buyer’s remorse at one point in time. Tiles, shower screens, faucets, cabinets and a wash basin – I needed them all and I needed them fast. It was early 2017, I…
I got two Vitra chairs for less than the cost of a cappuccino
In 2006, Nora Ephron published an essay called Moving On in The New Yorker about how she once fell madly in love with her apartment on New York’s Upper Westside. You may know Ephron as the screenwriter and director of rom-com blockbusters such as When Harry Met Sally and You’ve Got…
Object Rotterdam 2019 from top to bottom
Time flies when you’re having fun! One year ago today, I was racing against the clock to get my book finished. Together with designer Ingrid Robers, I was spending every waking minute tweaking the layout and making sure that everything was perfect. It was a hectic time, to be sure –…
Annebet Philips: “I Do What I Do Because It Is Who I Am.”
If you’re at home, like I am right now, you are surrounded by products that were each designed by a particular person. And you can bet that person has a story to tell. To find out more about the story behind the fabulous new knotted lamp in my hallway, I headed…
Snijder & Co: “Authenticity is always rewarded”
With their hand-painted wallpaper, Snijder & Co are taking the Netherlands by storm. And not without reason! Marcelo Gimenes and his partner Jaap Snijder use their craft with love and attention to every detail. Another thing these two gentlemen are good as, is talking. Lots and lots of talking. That is…
Kvik Prato’s X Module crosses the boundary between your kitchen and living room
True story: Last weekend, my best friend Michel texted me and asked for advice about his new kitchen. He lives in one of those typical late nineteenth-century homes in The Hague – very elegant and great to raise a family in. Like in many pre-war homes, the kitchen is located in…
Sebastian Herkner: “It’s high time we moved on to something more sophisticated.”
Slow down. And have a look at the chair that’s nearest to you. Take in its curves, its colors and the materials – they’re all there because the designer made a deliberate choice to use them. I don’t know about you, but it definitely sounds like a daunting task to design…
Via Antica – The Brussels vintage design store that made me go —> HOT DAMN!
For years and years and years, I used to go to Brussels and come back disillusioned. Where was the nice part of town? How come I didn’t find any cool vintage shops? I’m lucky to report that those years are OVAH because on a recent trip to the capital of Belgium…
I was at the Design Academy Eindhoven 2018 Masters’ Graduation Exhibition – and you were not
If you want to avoid the long lines for the Design Academy Graduation Show in October, then I have juuuust the thing for you. Because this prestigious Dutch school – alma mater of some of the best designers in the world – also happens to organize a Masters’ Graduation Exhibition in…
Thanks to Maarten Spruyt, there is NOTHING NEW in Milan this year
There are two things that all the very best creatives I’ve met have in common – and take it from me, I met a lot of them the past few years. First, they are always down to earth. Tom Dixon, one of the world’s most famous designers, once told me that…
Vitra Schaudepot – THE SCHAU MUST GO ON
You would not believe how tired I was after two days running up and down the Vitra Campus along with some of Europe’s most influential interior designer influencers that ever influenced. In spite of my humongous vintage Umbro benchcoat, I was cold, wet and desperate for my second wind to kick in….
Object Rotterdam 2018 – the morning after
Do you know what I like best about design exhibitions like Object Rotterdam? The morning after! I go through all the photos I’ve taken and as I drink at least five cups of coffee, I read all the websites of the designers whose work I’ve seen. For me, it’s the only…
Joana Schneider’s overwhelming rugs for overwhelming times
If you’ve ever been to Dutch Design Week, you know it’s a bombardment of ideas wherever you go. Walk ten feet and I’ll guarantee you’ll miss at least concepts that…tsk, tsk…you really should have seen. With their ultra-fluorescent colors, however, the textile hangings by Joana Schneider were pretty hard to walk…
C-More Concept Store…it’s all happening for my friend Iris!
Did I ever tell you about my good friend Iris Havekes? This woman is going places! To be honest, I don’t even remember when or where I first met Iris. A couple of years ago, she was just there. At least that’s what it felt like. Iris is not only a kick-ass interior…
Jan des Bouvrie: “Things have to keep moving!”
“What magazine is this for?” Jan des Bouvrie asks as I enter his office at Het Arsenaal in the Dutch town of Naarden. “It’s for the internet!” his assistent replies as she closes the door behind me. I sit down at a pristine white table, introduce myself and give a brief…
TEFAF 2015 – This stuff belongs in a museum!
It’s Sunday afternoon. March 15, 2015. And my head is still reeling. Yes, I went to TEFAF 2015 yesterday and I’m suffering from Stendhal Syndrome so badly even Mr. Stendhal himself would feel extremely sorry for me and say, there there Interiorator – just take a chill pil and calm the…
My interview with Bussoga – part 2
The more designers I interview, the more I realize what they have in common: Tremendous drive, a willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done and a the ability to think outside the box. The same goes for Josep Motas, the talented Catalan ceramist and founder of Bussoga. I…