A 60sqm/645sqft Attic Apartment in the East End of Amsterdam
When Michiel Hilbrink first visited his current home with his partner, what they found was nothing more than a shell. The 60sqm/645sqft apartment in the east side of Amsterdam had been converted from an attic during a renovation of the 1920s social housing complex and was left as an open, unfinished space with a central wall and wooden construction beams. Hilbrink – an artist, interior designer, and founder of ardor—studio – thus had a blank canvas to work with while designing the space that would be home to the couple and eventually their young son: “I designed this apartment around my family. I wanted to retain the spacious feeling we experienced when we first entered the space”.
The top-floor apartment with tall, pitched ceilings offers a comfortable lifestyle for its small size. A generous bathroom followed by a nursery greets you upon entry, giving shape to a corridor that opens into a sizable, blended living-dining-kitchen area; a staircase at the far end winds up to a modest mezzanine bedroom for Hilbrink and his partner. A thread of minimalism runs throughout the home’s design, but is offset by pops of colour and rustic, natural touches – a style that perfectly embodies the couple’s idea of what a home should be. “My partner and I like the house to be calm and quiet”, noted Hilbrink, “a place to recharge as well as celebrate family and small social activities”.
A Minimalist, Modernist, and Timeless Family Home
The couple’s desired balance of peaceableness and comfort transcends from the very structure of the space, whose existing qualities of wooden beams, natural light, and sloped ceilings offered a warmth and stability to their otherwise neutral and minimal decor. Hilbrink explained how, when outfitting the space, they intentionally selected minimalist and modernist designs that feel as if they hover off the floor, making everything feel lighter and “somewhat timeless”. The aesthetic vision is supported in no small part by the kitchen, which is about as minimalist as they come (in terms of its appearance, that is). Containing a fridge, freezer, oven, and dishwasher all within the base of a single matte black island unit, the functional area floats out from the wall, untethered from any wall-mounted cabinets or fixtures.
Setting Priorities in Small Space Design
Hilbrink is clear eyed about the prioritisation and choices that small-space design involves. You can’t necessarily have everything, but you can have what is most important to you if you plan it out just right: “In a small space, when you are limited to size, you have to make choices based on what you think is most important to you. I simply wanted to maximise space, light, and comfort in all kinds of ways. As a result the apartment as a whole has been kept open as much as possible, while the bedroom and nursery are small and cosy in contrast”.
