Kitchen of the Week: A Dutch Interior Designer’s New Setup for Cooking, Crafting, and Gathering

The bright, new first floor of Suzanne Pardijs’s family home near Utrecht in the Netherlands came about largely due to an accident. In January 2021, during the height of the pandemic, Suzanne was carrying a heavy chair to her upstairs studio when some hanging laundry caused her to lose her footing. The resulting fall “brought everything to a standstill for a year,” she tells us—and left her with pins in her foot and leg and lingering mobility issues.


Suzanne and her husband, Michael Kaashoek, live with their two teenaged sons and two cats in a circa 1900 house on one of the best preserved streets in the village of Maarssen. Trained as a graphic designer, Suzanne had become a designer specializing in daycare centers and schools. Her injuries led her to refocus her design practice to domestic settings, to discover quilting and embroidery, and to found the Daily Apple Community, a group of Dutch creatives who share ideas and resources.


Their home of 20 years, meanwhile, had started to feel cramped and, in Suzanne’s words, “overshadowed by lingering sadness.” She and Michael, who happens to be a professional carpenter, had long talked about “inviting more light in by merging the kitchen and living room.” The time had come. Michael was willing to apply his skills at home, but Suzanne had to first come up with a plan. Here’s the story of the family’s reinvented quarters.


Photography by Marieke Verdenius, courtesy of Suzanne Pardijs.
Above: When Suzanne and Michael bought their place, they spent months making improvements: replacing window frames, restoring the stained glass in front, and introducing the wood stove. Two decades and many days at home later, the existing kitchen felt worse for wear and needlessly divided from the small living room.


Tinta Luhrman, an interior designer friend (formerly of Woodchuck) who shares Suzanne’s intuition-driven approach and clean aesthetic, gave the process a spiritual jumpstart: “Tinta generously performed an energy cleansing in our home, helping me reconnect with our space,” says Suzanne. Able to envision what was needed to right the wrongs, Suzanne excised thick partitions and designed a new kitchen and “steel-framed façade of glass” to light up the space. The door with reeded glass was handmade by Michael: it leads to Suzanne’s new studio. Scroll to the end for a glimpse of Before and After.  
Above: “This project was a true labor of love, completed without a contractor,” reports Suzanne. “Michael, along with occasional help from friends, colleagues, and family, brought my vision to life.” The oak cabinets are from Danish kitchen company Kvik: the lower cabinets are Kvik’s Veda model fitted with wooden handles by Woodchuck (alas, Tinta and her husband have since sold the company).


The counter is Italian ceramic by Spacco Bianco and the patinated brass faucet is a Quooker Fusion: its single tap delivers not only hot and cold but boiling and sparkling water. The Brass Bar, $55, and S hooks are from Fog Linen.
Above: Suzanne stands next to the fridge and oven tucked into Kvik’s tall Corisa cabinets. The glazed wall, built by a local steel fabricator to Suzanne’s design, opens the space to their courtyard. The new floor, with radiant heat, is Forbo Marmoleum in a color called Barbados.
Above: A countertop still life of Suzanne’s finds. The couple first toured their place on King’s Day, when the whole country holds yard sales. “We fell in love with the charm of this house—its high ceilings and panel doors. King’s Day played an unexpected role: the lively flea market right outside our door ignited my passion for vintage treasures.”
Above: The paneled hall leading to the utility room is lined with a peg rail—that’s one of Suzanne’s quilted pot holders hanging from it. The kitchen walls are painted Silk Dreamer from Dutch company Lab.
Above: The space-saving oval table—the Brasero from La Radoute—is surrounded by chairs sourced from Marktplaats, a Craig’s List-like Dutch vintage marketplace. The arc light is Muller Van Severin’s Hanging Lamp No. 2.


The fireplace; another Marktplaats find, had previously been plastered all white, but kept turning black from smoke. To fix that Suzanne had Michael add terracotta tiles.
Above: A living room cabinet and bench stand alongside the table. Suzanne found the vintage bent wood crane at a thrift store.
Above: The sectional sofa is Ikea’s discontinued Nockeby on an Ikea Lohals jute rug. The plaid pillow is from Zara Home. The travertine coffee table is a favorite Marktplaats purchase and the rice paper lantern is from Westwing.
Above: Michael built the tall, catch-all cabinet when they first moved into the house: it’s painted Damast from Carte Colori, and holds, among other things, the television, “ensuring that our TV doesn’t dominate the space,” says Suzanne. The wooden door handles are the same Woodchuck design used in the kitchen.
Above: Suzanne’s new studio occupies a former shed that had been attached to the house—Michael rebuilt it as an extension of the kitchen. Stay tuned for a studio tour in the weeks ahead.


Before and After


Above: The divided kitchen and living room were only partly open to the courtyard.
Above: A floor-to-ceiling glazed steel framework now lights up the newly open plan kitchen and living area.


Here are three more multi-purpose kitchens:



* A Cross-Pollinated Wooden Kitchen, Laundry, and Workspace in the Netherlands

* A Cost-Conscious Plywood Kitchen, Homemade Backsplash and Moveable Island Included

* A Modern Barn Conversion in the English Countryside


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