House tour in Amsterdam

This is the house of Karin Gaasterland and Alain Parry, the owners of Balthazar's Keuken - a little crowed restaurant in Amsterdam, where I really want to go, next time we are there.
To these days, Amsterdam remains one of my favourite European cities. It's a beautiful place, unpretentious, family-oriented, charming, hugely inspiring and beautiful to shoot.
Having so many people riding their bicycles definitively add something to the city's atmosphere but it is also a place where you will find a lot of shop and restaurant owners showing a great deal of creativity and individuality in their retail space, unlike all the high-street shops on Oxford Street, London.
When the weather is a bit warmer (it's quite windy there), I would love to go back and also check out this shop. The website doesn't do any justice to the beautiful and unusual lights they have but my friend Gabrielle got her gorgeous lamp from there and she said it was a bit like the Cavern of Ali Baba. She also recommended Anouk Beerents' shop which specialized in beautiful antique mirrors....thinking of it, we will probably need to drive there rather than fly :-)
Karin and Alain's house fascinates me. I'm more often than not, attracted to white interiors, but I can not help being drawn into this family house whose walls have been bravely painted in dark grey, and which somehow, looks welcoming, light and airy....
Don't you think that this house looks incredibly calm and relaxing?
I'm in awe with their kitchen which has almost a Yin and Yang feel to it. On one side, a brick wall is painted in dark grey with dark concrete floors. A large wall clock and a few Tolix chairs also add to a strong masculine, industrial feel but on the other side of the kitchen, everything is toned down by handmade ceramics with organic shapes, honey coloured vintage pine table and natural textured cushions. The same concept has been applied to the bedroom and works wonderfully. Instead of making the room dark and small, the black painted floorboards actually enhance the whole room which has been kept clutter free and softened with a pretty crochet bedspread. I have been told by my lovely Twitter friends that similar rug cows like the one below can be found at Wovenground or from here

I also heart how they've painted the name of their son onto his bedroom's wall...talking about building a child's confidence :-).....this room looks great, simple and very personal.

Now their restaurant, located in the heart of the Jordaan district, is in a converted former Blacksmiths workshop and doesn't lack of style either. Unfortunately I couldn't find decent photos to show you but it's worth checking their website for more information.

If you've been to Amsterdam, fell in love and discovered a beautiful little shop or an amazing cafe, a restaurant or even a nice, contemporary B&B like this one, I would really love to hear from you.
(C) these gorgeous photos are from Hotze Eisma