This former dreary and cold music school in Haarlem, just outside Amsterdam, now looks as though someone has waved a magic wand over it, such is the spellbinding use of color employed by its owners, Leonie Hendrikse and Jeroen Stock of Stock Dutch Design.
They breathed new life into the monumental 1886 building, transforming it into a modern home and their enchanting live/work environment. Small rooms, suspended ceilings, cold, gray, and even a little grim — the words Leonie used to describe what it was like when she bought it.
"I even got the shivers when I first walked in. But I could immediately picture what it needed to become."
A set of simple curved dining chairs allows an irregular-shaped table to take center stage — and they're ergonomic, too.
Part of Stock Dutch Design’s ethos has always been to welcome clients into the couple’s own home, so it made sense to buy a place that could double as a workspace.
"A home where you can pull open drawers and see what bespoke craftsmanship really means," Leonie says. "Where you notice how nice it is to have a little bench in the dressing room and why you’d want a tap high enough to rinse your mouth after brushing your teeth.
"Here, clients can see the effect of, say, a painted ceiling or curtains finished with passementerie. That’s what we wanted this property to do. You can see, touch, and feel what’s possible."
Convinced you should go dark in your own kitchen? Make like Leonie and choose Brinjal for a deep, moody hue.
Aside from all the bureaucratic hurdles that come with renovating a listed building, the staircase posed the biggest challenge. "It was gray and gloomy," Leonie recalls.
"We wanted a warm entrance that immediately makes you feel welcome, but which also reflects the building’s stately grandeur. That had been completely lost over the years. I think the end result is spectacular."
"The only thing that still hints at the old look is the neon artwork on the first floor. We actually planned to remove it until someone said, 'You can’t do that! It’s by Jan van Munster; his work is in the Kröller-Müller Museum.'
"We’re great lovers of art, but we didn’t know this piece. Of course, we kept it. Art is always an important part of our designs — though it doesn’t have to be expensive. Here we have exceptional works alongside pieces by my mother and great-grandmother, and drawings by our own children. It’s about the emotional connection art can create."
A mural in the bathroom feels delightfully indulgent — we love this design from Graham & Brown.
Now the project is finished — the offices with the team of six who work for Stock Dutch Design have moved in — and the house is alive; Leonie is truly proud of the result.
"It was a huge task, but it turned out exactly as we envisioned. Heritage, colors and patterns, and future-proof design have been our core values for 20 years — and they all come together in this creation."
