Home Tour: Classical Modern Family Home
Hi guys, do you want to see another inspiring home this month shot for decor8, one that is positively dripping in deep blue and grey tones and classical modern style? It's Holly Marder and I'm here with my Homes With Heart column to show you another gorgeous space that I styled and photographed. Ready? Let's go!
Dutch designer, freelance editor and stylist Haikje Verberk and her partner Rik Lebouille immediately fell for the authentic 1920’s detailing of their South Holland row house and purchased it within a week of their first viewing, turning it into a cozy yet cool and ultra sophisticated home for their family of four.
“Though the house was in a very original state, in that all the old authentic details were still intact, there was no central heating, we had to renew the electrics and rebuild the kitchen and bathroom. Everything needed to be updated. But that was a beautiful chance to create our own perfect home.” The renovation took four months, revealing a fresh new kitchen, new floors throughout, smooth plastered walls and a blank but beautiful canvas upon which the designer could decorate. Expecting the couple’s second child, she was very motivated to get their family home up to scratch before the arrival of their daughter. The couple managed to unpack and decorate their home in the two short months after having moved in, just in time to welcome baby Fiene into the world.
“I still don’t know how we managed to do so much in that short period, but we did,” Verberk marvels. To speed the process along and ensure as much was done as possible in the time frame they were working with, Verberk created moodboards of every room mapping out her ideas and made organisation a priority, preparing as much as possible before the move so all that was left was the decorating. With just the finishing touches yet to be realised, the couple had created a warm, personal and contemporary yet cozy place to call home.
“To this day we are very happy with the way we remodeled our house. We preserved the beautiful old details while adding the comforts of central heating, a luxurious kitchen and bathroom in exactly the way we wanted,” Verberk says. But like many renovations, this one also came with its fair share of obstacles. “The entire renovation was a challenge,” confesses Verberk, “We had to design and decide how we wanted the house in a very short period of time.” To speed the creative process up, the designer prepared drawings from the layout including all of the furniture placement, alongside the mood boards she had created for each room. “In this way we knew exactly what needed to be done in every room from sockets to lighting points to which colours or wallpaper were to go on each wall.”
The couple infused their home with a contemporary take on an essentially classical aesthetic. “I consider myself a contemporary romantic. I like to design new contemporary products which find their inspiration in old products or craftsmanship,” Verberk says.
The first styling project Verberk undertook in her new home was the feature wall in the dining room laden with custom consoles displaying favourite items. “I am a collector and I like to display precious little items in a special way,” Verberk explains. “My uncle Thijs is a carpenter and can make the most beautiful things with his hands, such as these consoles. I liked the museum kind of feel it gives the items you display on them so I decided to do a whole wall with them. Everybody loves them and they are so popular now that my uncle even makes them on demand.”
Original paneled sliding doors lead from the dining room through to the living room at the front of the house. The couple’s affinity for classical modern style continues into this space, with cool blue and grey tones setting the stage for a striking collection of antique plates above the sofa. Mostly flea and antique market finds, Verberk collected the plates during market trips with her mother. One piece is a particular favourite, a plate which dates back 39 years to Lebouille's birth. A mix of design items and marketplace finds, the room is a blend of the old and the new with Verberk’s signature classical modern aesthetic.
The children enjoy separate bedrooms on the first floor infused with natural light. The couple’s bedroom on the same floor is a serene space of crisp whites and grey tones throughout.
The designer, a graduate of The Design Academy Eindhoven, has infused her home with the product that began as her graduation project and led to her career in interior styling and design, window and wall stickers. “At the Academy I was fascinated by lace, which is how my collection window stickers started. I wanted to give old lace curtains a new and fresh look and designed a stylized lace sticker for on a window. It was instantly a big success and picked up by the magazines. A dream start for a young designer and now 10 years later the Lace window sticker is still one of the bestsellers from the collection!” The stickers can be seen on the living room windows and in all the bedrooms.
Upstairs in her studio is where Verberk is her happiest, surrounded by creativity and the tools needed for making and designing her stickers and various other projects. “The room has a cozy feel and a nice view of the street below,” she says. “I have a great passion for design and decorating and am happiest when I create something beautiful.” The pixeled floral wallpaper behind the custom made craft supplies cabinet are a favourite feature.
Despite the rush to create a cozy and inviting home for their growing family, Verberk and Lebouille are ecstatic with the results of their home remodel, “We are absolutely in love with our whole house. It has everything we ever wanted from a house and feels very much our own.”
So guys, what do you think? If you spotted anything you love or have any questions, feel free to ask Haikje in the comments section below. See you back here next month for a beautiful tour of a Scandinavian pretty country home in Belgium. - Holly
(images/text: holly marder)