APARTMENT GROENMARKT AMSTERDAM

JAN: 'As a single father, I have fulfilled one of my dreams. Buying an apartment in Amsterdam. It is a new-build apartment in the city center on the Groenmarktkade, close to the Jordaan. This also fulfills a wish of my two daughters who are students; a father in a beautiful spot in Amsterdam where they can drop by regularly.'

My talents simply do not lie in the realm of interior design, wallpaper color, flooring, or how to fine-tune the lighting to the natural light. Choosing a kitchen also makes me anxious. I love writing, reporting on international sporting events for the NOS, giving lectures, and traveling the world. So my daughters are on edge. How is Dad going to furnish the apartment? Because he has no feel for it and no understanding of it. They are right.

They are delighted when Hélène van der Voorn from Bureau HIP crosses my path as an advisor. Her passion, talent, quality, and insight are palpable when selecting my parquet floor on a concrete floor with underfloor heating. She knows a good place for affordable linen curtains. She creates a beautiful design for my kitchen. She engages in a relaxed and fun discussion with the kitchen supplier regarding the color of the kitchen cabinets, the quality of the appliances, and the kitchen design. Hélène meticulously reviews the quote and identifies a few provisional items that can be done better and more cheaply. She accompanies me to the apartment viewing, and an intuitive color scheme for the walls emerges.

The entire process takes place in a pleasant atmosphere, and that provides a tremendous amount of confidence and peace of mind.

Hélène loves her work, and I am going to feel that love for the decoration of my apartment every day in a place where I might well live for the rest of my life.

That means so much to me, and I am enormously grateful to her for it. And my daughters are happy too!