My Houzz: Contemporary Country Netherlands Home
Charming country style and abundantly comfortable furniture make an open-layout home cozy and warm for a Dutch family of five
As a design manager, Marielle van Buuren-Broos appreciates how important it is to work with good designers. When she and her husband, Douwe, began building their dream home, they hired the expertise of Delft, Netherlands, interior designers Tessa Weerdenburg and Nathalie Fransen of Nu interieur | ontwerp. “I have my own ideas, but for every discipline there are specialists, and working together provides extra inspiration,” says Marielle. With the help of their designers, the Dutch couple succeeded in creating a cozy and practical home to share with their three young children.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Douwe and Marielle van Buuren and their 3 children,Tijn (5), Do (4), and Maxime (7 months)
Location: Maasland, the Netherlands
Size: About 250 square meters (about 2,690 square feet); 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Douwe and Marielle van Buuren and their 3 children,Tijn (5), Do (4), and Maxime (7 months)
Location: Maasland, the Netherlands
Size: About 250 square meters (about 2,690 square feet); 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Modern furniture with clean lines and simple silhouettes, combined with a few key antique pieces, such as the service cabinet in the kitchen, lend a contemporary country aesthetic to the interior.
Table: Keijzer & Co
Table: Keijzer & Co
The kitchen features solid wood open shelving to display collected accessories. Polished cement floors and metal bar stools give the room a subtle industrial twist. The couple opted for leather handles on their cabinets, designed by Weerdenburg and Fransen.
Because the area is so vast, the kitchen was a surprisingly difficult space to design. "The client wanted a big country kitchen were she could cook and enjoy time with her children," Weerdenburg says. "It looks like there is a lot of space, but there are actually just two walls to place the kitchen benches."
Cabinet handles: Nu interieur | ontwerp; kitchen stool: Ikea
Floors: Dirk Versteeg from ‘De Drie Keersen’
Because the area is so vast, the kitchen was a surprisingly difficult space to design. "The client wanted a big country kitchen were she could cook and enjoy time with her children," Weerdenburg says. "It looks like there is a lot of space, but there are actually just two walls to place the kitchen benches."
Cabinet handles: Nu interieur | ontwerp; kitchen stool: Ikea
Floors: Dirk Versteeg from ‘De Drie Keersen’
The entry hall leads into the family's clean-lined and soothing dining room. With the kitchen sprawling off to the right and the living room to the left, the room has an airy and open feel.
Lamp: Tierelantijn
Lamp: Tierelantijn
The couple's previous home was pretty small, so Marielle really wanted to create an open space for the kids to play in and for comfortably entertaining guests.
A white minimalist leaning wooden shelf displays family photographs, and a wooden motorcycle rocker exudes the family's effortlessly chic aesthetic.
Children's dining chairs: Ikea; photo rack: VT Wonen
A white minimalist leaning wooden shelf displays family photographs, and a wooden motorcycle rocker exudes the family's effortlessly chic aesthetic.
Children's dining chairs: Ikea; photo rack: VT Wonen
Linen upholstered dining chairs soften the clean, contemporary lines of the oversize dining table.
Chairs: Loods5
Chairs: Loods5
Marielle did a lot of furniture sourcing herself. "She combined our advice with her own ideas and did most of the shopping herself, sometimes prompted by us," Weerdenburg says. They worked together to mix new designer furniture with affordable vintage finds.
The large Diesel Collection linen sofa by Italian design company Moroso is the family's favorite piece of furniture, as it's large enough to seat the entire family. The cognac leather sofa is by Natuzzi. "I bought it over 10 years back, but still love it. The design and leather material is timeless," Marielle says.
The large Diesel Collection linen sofa by Italian design company Moroso is the family's favorite piece of furniture, as it's large enough to seat the entire family. The cognac leather sofa is by Natuzzi. "I bought it over 10 years back, but still love it. The design and leather material is timeless," Marielle says.
The couple's design aesthetic is also inspired by the interiors of Mama Shelter in Paris, Ace Hotel in New York, Bliss Hotel in Breda and restaurants such as Mazzo in Amsterdam and Merci-Merci in Paris.
Wool rug: Custom made by Carpetta
Wool rug: Custom made by Carpetta
A built-in fireplace in the living room, with a nook for fresh firewood, provides a sense of coziness during the cooler months. The family loves to gather here during frigid winters.
The first floor of the house is a designated children's floor that includes three bedrooms, a guest room and a bathroom. The couple's younger daughter's bedroom is a soothing oasis of pastel pinks and whites.
This vintage charcoal gray bench adds contrast to the neutral setting.
Rug: Millinge, Ikea
This vintage charcoal gray bench adds contrast to the neutral setting.
Rug: Millinge, Ikea
The older daughter enjoys a cozy little sleeping nook, created using a portion of the guest room next door. Cupboards along the base of the bed provide storage.
The older daughter's room has a white, red and charcoal-gray color scheme. The main furnishings and neutral backdrop mean the color palette can mature with her. A repurposed wooden crate stores reading books on a built-in desk.
There's no stealing toothbrushes in this household, since each of the van Buuren children have a designated bathroom cabinet and vanity. The bright red rolling locker cabinets make daily hygiene tasks more fun.
The son's space has an Americana look with a color scheme of navy, red and white. A bamboo ladder is the perfect perch for a stuffed bunny buddy.
The master bedroom, on the third floor, is bathed in lots of natural light. It's a soothing space for the couple to unwind in away from the children's rooms on the second floor.
Douwe is an avid reader of magazines and enjoys taking one into the bath with him, so a magazine rack at the entrance of the couple's private bathroom was a clever addition.
"The top floor was the most challenging part of the design process, because the walls are slanted," Weerdenburg says. "We wanted to create a space that was livable and spacious, but not so small that Marielle and Douwe would have to duck their heads." Smart solutions were devised for all areas of the bathroom, including shelving units for toiletries.
Magazine rack: Puhlmann
"The top floor was the most challenging part of the design process, because the walls are slanted," Weerdenburg says. "We wanted to create a space that was livable and spacious, but not so small that Marielle and Douwe would have to duck their heads." Smart solutions were devised for all areas of the bathroom, including shelving units for toiletries.
Magazine rack: Puhlmann
High ceilings allow plenty of natural light to flow into the bathroom, making a quick dip in the bath a truly relaxing experience. His-and-her basins face each other, and a large rain shower is off to the right.
"Working with the family was a breeze," says Weerdenburg. "They were open to our ideas, even though they already knew what they wanted. We provided solutions to their ideas, and Marielle really ran with it."
With a backdrop of forest and water behind the house, ample space for the kids to run around and a home that blends the old with the new, the van Buurens couldn't be happier with their home.
With a backdrop of forest and water behind the house, ample space for the kids to run around and a home that blends the old with the new, the van Buurens couldn't be happier with their home.
The couple previously lived in a very old, historical home. They needed to upgrade to give their growing family more room, but Marielle didn't want to compromise too much on character when it came to the design.