A Rotterdam Apartment Is Filled With One Artistic Couple’s Many Vintage Finds
Photo by Anke Leunissen
Stéphane Monnet and Jeroen Dijkstra either have good luck, good timing, or simply the good sense to know when something just feels right. When they were apartment hunting in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Stéphane was seeking out distinctly European surroundings—since he was moving from Toronto—and they found them in a one-bedroom property, downtown. “With all of its flourishes, huge windows, and open spaces, it was a perfect fit,” Stéphane says. “It was already snatched up, but that deal fell through at the last minute.”
Set inside a building from the 1880s, facing a busy street on one end and a verdant courtyard on the other, their home had been recently restored to reflect what existed way back when. Intricate crown molding sprawled across ceilings while wainscoting lined the lower half of the walls, and that artistry was painted in shades of green to contrast the white in between. Windows stretched over their contrasting outdoor views, and plenty of light streamed in. The couple also had a private balcony to share, in case they ever wanted a closer look at the birds whose pleasant song woke them in the morning.
