Hi there buddies and blissful Friday. I’m writing now on decor8 Substack, so in the event you comply with this weblog you definitely nonetheless can however for every day musings, comply with me on Substack and be a part of my beautiful decor8 neighborhood the place you’ll be able to subscribe and be part of me there. So, blissful Friday! Let’s take a house tour, we could? This house is so enjoyable and surprising that I’ve to share it together with slightly interview that I made with the house owner, Inside Stylist Susanne Otter, primarily based in Leeuwarden, Holland which is the capital of the province of Friesland situated within the northern a part of Holland close to to the North Sea (so northeast of Amsterdam).
Susanne lives in one of many oldest elements within the coronary heart of the town in a seventeenth century home (circa 1669) with a number of character, sample, coloration and a enjoyable mixture of furnishings and intervals, of artwork, classic and new design, it’s certainly light-hearted and enjoyable. She shares the area together with her husband and two kids. “My model, that’s such a tough factor to outline, I don’t know. I’ve known as my enterprise Frivole Studio, frivolous. It’s not too critical, playful, light-hearted,” Susanne confessed… And Frivolous is true!
They renovated for over three years and declare to know each nook of their dwelling by now. Susanne confessed, “It’s been an ideal journey shifting from room to room till the top of the renovation. We’ve began from scratch and will do all of it in accordance with our view and style.” She additionally talked about that it’s not a typical home as a result of this one was constructed for dwelling and dealing again in 1669, “What’s now our entrance room downstairs was the earlier proprietor’s office, a goldsmith. Our lounge is upstairs with the kitchen. In between there’s a flooring with only one room. The weird association of the rooms is what I really like probably the most. And it’s so outdated, it outlived so many individuals, world wars, I can’t even think about what 100 years really feel like not to mention 300.”
“I fell in love with the rooms with excessive ceilings, all of the woodwork, the outdated home windows, nothing is straight, you’ll be able to hear the cracking of the ground underneath the load of your ft.”
Susanne informed me a couple of life lesson she realized in a really arduous method, that I needed so as to add to this publish as a result of it could resonate with you as a lot because it did for me. Particularly when she speaks about her tackle having fun with the moments of a renovation and never stressing your self out about it…
“After the beginning of my son, now 13 years outdated, I almost misplaced my life. Every thing that would go improper went improper, the docs even informed my husband to organize for the worst. Since then I dwell day-to-day, no worries for what’s coming, no stress about issues forward, I solely have now and this second, I’m 41. I feel that’s why renovating our dwelling was such a beautiful journey for us. No planning, no schedule, we couldn’t get burdened a couple of deadline. Please get pleasure from life the way in which you need, I’ve seen so many individuals round me working arduous for one thing they by no means reached, or adopted the principles for a cheerful and wholesome life however ended up having most cancers, shedding their job or relationship whereas they didn’t do what they liked however what they thought they wanted to do. Life is tough sufficient. Please be variety to your self and have objectives, however don’t stress your self an excessive amount of.”
What’s her favourite room within the dwelling? She informed me that it actually depends upon the season. In summertime, it’s the entrance room downstairs as a result of it by no means get’s scorching even throughout a heatwave. She additionally loves her lavatory with the pink bathtub. I personally suppose her canine and cat like the lounge couch finest… What do you suppose?
I used to be additionally curious to learn the way life has modified for Susanne for the reason that massive C and all the lockdowns, as we had loads of them right here in Europe. This was her reply…
“Not a lot has modified throughout lockdown and all the pieces modified throughout lockdown. I’ve moved out at a very younger age and have seen and accomplished all of it. I dwell a easy life and don’t exit that a lot so for me it wasn’t an enormous adjustment. My husband went from working a day or typically two at dwelling and all the time on the highway on different days of the week to working from dwelling full-time. It would sound unusual however at first It felt a bit like an invasion of my private area having him dwelling on a regular basis. Normally my kids, Pepijn and Annabel, and I had dinner with the three of us. We have been so used to do issues our method and ready for Anne-Roel to come back dwelling after dinner however now he was dwelling on a regular basis and even meddling in. The entire dynamic of our household modified. It took a while to get used to it however these days I can’t even bear in mind the way it was earlier than and I really like having him round, we exit for lunch (dwelling within the coronary heart of the town means eating places throughout us), I cook dinner rather a lot much less, unsure I even know the way anymore, ha ha. However I’ve to say, we dwell in a home with sufficient area so we are able to do business from home with out getting in the way in which of one another. That makes it simpler for us. And we simply completed renovating as lockdowns started, so the timing wasn’t unhealthy.”
“I’m very artistic, so I’m all the time doing one thing artistic. The factor is, I’m so unhealthy at ending stuff. I’m all the time beginning one thing, I like macrame, crochet, portray, and so forth. Our home is crammed with al the issues I as soon as began, however half accomplished. I’m the worst. And I don’t present it. It feels to private to me so I hold it to myself. I’d love to point out a few of my concepts and what I’ve made however since they’re solely half method there and I don’t end them, I simply conceal these! 🙂”
I requested Susanne about these beautiful items of artwork and he or she informed me that they’re by Dutch painter Grace Spiegel who solely makes use of 6 paint colours which she mixes, “The colours actually work nicely with the colours in our dwelling and the portraits have a serene really feel to them, it’s how I feel our dwelling seems like, an excellent match,” Susanne says.
I needed to ask Susanne about this beautiful Zebra wallpaper. She went on to inform me slightly story about it which you will discover as charming as I did.
Susanne: “Oh, the zebra wallpaper! The look on folks’s faces after I informed in regards to the plan for our kitchen, particularly after I informed them we have been going to wallpaper all of the partitions of the kitchen, hilarious! To me it’s not daring or daring. I actually needed a brass kitchen however my husband’s dream kitchen has all the time been a stainless-steel industrial kitchen and he’s the chef more often than not so we went for his alternative. I don’t like kitchens that really feel very chilly and medical, I prefer it extra as a room with a kitchen in it.”
She continues…
“Years in the past I discovered the zebra wallpaper within the Dutch problem of Residence (journal) and ripped out the web page to save lots of so I knew I needed to make use of it in our dwelling. Metals work nicely collectively, metal, brass, copper, chrome, and so forth, you’ll be able to simply combine them. So the stainless-steel kitchen works very nicely with the gold and black wallpaper, it’s not that massive of a distinction, it’s straightforward on the attention… And I bought to have that contact of gold regardless of not getting the brass kitchen.”
Extra on her alternative of the sample on the kitchen partitions…
“The factor is, most individuals select wallpaper for only one wall in a room with white partitions, a wallpapered characteristic wall. More often than not it isn’t accomplished proper and the wall is an excessive amount of in your face which makes a room stressed. It’s all about steadiness, a pleasant circulation, you’ll be able to combine and match no matter you need however hold it in what I name a household. The metals are one household, pastel colours are a household, varied colours in the identical shade are a household and totally different shades of the identical coloration are a household. Now we have loads of totally different wallpapers in our home however all of them have one thing comparable. A lot of the wallpapers have a contact of gold and a few have a marble sample. Now we have emerald inexperienced marble sample carpet in our bedrooms, marble tiles in our lavatory and in a few of the wallpapers we utilized in the remainder of the home. You get an ideal combine by repeated use of sample however not in the identical materials, however tender carpet, shiny tiles, so it doesn’t get boring and predictable.”
I requested Susanne about coloration mixing, as I really like her tackle mixing patterns…
“The identical with colours, distinction however not too massive of a distinction, a steadiness. I solely use colours of the identical shade, grey-ish colours. Should you’ve ever been to a building market to search for colours to your dwelling you’ve seen the paint samples. The samples normally go from gentle to darkish shades of the identical coloration. If you wish to combine colours and also you don’t know the best way to begin, put the samples subsequent to one another and select the shade you favor. You may go darkish, gentle, one thing in between, that’s your private alternative. However use the identical shade for each coloration you select, they may work nicely collectively as a result of there’s no massive distinction, it blends in completely. And take your time to regulate to your new inside. We folks don’t do nicely on modifications, it takes time to take all of it in and get used to. Not days however weeks. Our mind wants not less than a couple of weeks to regulate. So don’t rush to color over that wall that doesn’t really feel good immediately.”
Susanne makes use of principally paint colours from Dutch paint model Portray The Previous. She’s been working with their paints for over a decade and stated they even produce scented candles since their motto is, “Don’t fall in love with a coloration with out understanding it’s perfume.” Isn’t that fascinating? I requested her what her favourite scent is at dwelling, it’s Rosewood & Velvet Plum. She additionally used Rosewood within the entrance room downstairs for the ceiling and shutters and Velvet Plum for the window frames in the lounge upstairs. She stated that the perfume actually matches the colour. Her second favourite is Eucalyptus & Sage. Now I’m interested in this Dutch model and should look them up – fascinating idea of blending candles and paint in the identical world, don’t you suppose?
In order that’s a wrap! I hope you’ve loved seeing this beautiful Dutch dwelling as a lot as I’ve liked sharing it. Susanne is such an inspiration, a artistic who leads from her coronary heart, and this conjures up me a lot. I really like how she simply lets go and decorates, with out restraint, with out fear about public opinion or no matter. We are able to typically really feel so held again at dwelling, attempting to make all the pieces good or “proper”. Susanne is the proper instance of how liberating it may be to simply comply with your coronary heart and create rooms that you simply love, that talk to you and your loved ones.
In case you might be curious, Susanne’s rugs are all from The Souks. She loves pottery by a neighborhood potter in her metropolis, Lydia Pieksma and the kitchen/dwelling store Dille en Kamille. You may comply with Susanne on her Instagram right here: @frivolestudio
Have a beautiful weekend everybody!
Love,
Holly
(Photographs with permission from Susanne Otter)
Supply: Decor8
