Interior design apartment Amsterdam: a pied-à-terre with the feel of a five-star hotel
Choc Studio handled the full interior design project for this apartment in Amsterdam, from concept to complete realisation.
The brief: how do you give an Amsterdam flat the quiet of a private suite?
Hans needed a base in Amsterdam for weekdays — his family home was too far to commute from daily. In Oud-Zuid he found a flat with the right bones: high ceilings, original period details, an intact en-suite. For the interior, he handed everything to Choc Studio. His starting point: the atmosphere of a five-star hotel, with an Asian edge.
The approach: two changes to the floor plan that transformed the apartment
Hans had come across Choc Studio through a feature in Stijlvol Wonen about a home in Haarlem. He arrived with hotel photographs and a collection of Asian art objects as his references. Robbert and Julia translated these into a clear direction: deep colours and an Eastern quality in the materials. Because Hans uses the apartment almost exclusively in the evenings, the dark palette was a deliberate choice, one they’d have made differently for a family home.
In the bedroom, Robbert proposed a layout that reversed what Hans had planned. Instead of the bed under the window with built-in storage along the wall, he suggested swapping them: bed against the wall, wardrobes near the window. The result was a walk-in wardrobe and better natural light. In the back room, Julia advised against the planned long dining table and suggested a private study instead. The custom dining table moved to the front of the apartment, by the window and the kitchen.
The Asian character runs through the materials: sisal on the walls, tadelakt in the bathroom. Hans’s collection of Tang dynasty pieces, gathered over years of travel through the Far East, completed the picture. Choc Studio coordinated the full renovation, managed every contractor, and handled the move-in and styling.
The result: a pied-à-terre handed over entirely
The apartment was furnished as a pied-à-terre with the quiet of a private suite. Furniture by Frigerio, Pure Choc and Gelderland, rugs by Miyabi Casa, sisal wallpaper by Arte. Fabrics by Zinc, lighting by Piet Boon, Tom Dixon, Frigerio and Fabbian. Kitchen by Arclinea.
Hans on Julia’s proposal for the study: “You’d never think of something like that yourself, or at least I wouldn’t. It’s my favourite spot now.” And on handing the whole project over to Choc Studio: “In the end I didn’t do a single thing myself. Now that’s coming home.”
The project was published in Stijlvol Wonen (December 2011). Photography: Marjon Hoogervorst – © Sanoma Regional Belgium N.V.
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