A house filled with a hodgepodge of objects that go surprisingly well together: blogger Daan Rot shares this home with her husband, Jan, and their children, Elvis, Rover, Wolf and Maantje Piet.
What do you think your house says about you?
“The house reflects who we are. It’s an organized mess, surrounded by everything we love, such as an old chair that was Jan’s mother’s, knitted blankets to curl up under, kids’ drawings, photos, books, records and CDs, building blocks, guitars and other instruments. This is a house that’s lived in, and it shows. No sleek, minimalist design scene here—just a random mix of things that go surprisingly well together.”
How did you collect this patchwork of things?
“Most of the furniture in our house is old. Elvis was looking for an antique wooden bed and desk recently, so we went online to scour a second-hand auction website. Wolf and Maantje Piet sleep in basic Ikea beds, but with old-fashioned trellis frames. This is how we end up collecting a bit of everything. A modern design piece like Rijkswachter, Studio Hamerhaai’s wooden retro robot, fits in just perfectly.”
You’re only here on a temporary basis. Does it feel like home?
“Definitely, and I would actually love to stay here in Antwerp. We have to sell our house in the Netherlands first, and then we’ll see. I was sold on this house immediately; the beautiful foyer, and the large wooden staircase with the round windows at the top. It’s a real Pippi Longstocking-style house where everything squeaks and creaks, and there are little secret hiding places everywhere. The kids can draw and do crafts to their heart’s content at the big table. There’s enough room for them to put together all sorts of creations with their building blocks and then just leave them where they are. They can build forts in the backyard and they often play haunted house down in the basement, crawling through all the narrow corridors in the dark with their flashlights.”
- More about Daan Rot’s house can be found in Issue 22.
Interview Annalot Boersma Photography Daan Rot
