Kauf Dich Glücklich Conceptstore | Jordaan Rozengracht area

Raadhuisstraat, just behind Dam square walking in the direction of the Jordaan area and Rozengracht just welcomed another great concept, with stores as Bolia, Pelican Store, We are labels and X Bank at Spuistraat and Magna Plaza where you can find Sissy Boy in the basement the small area behind the palace offers a nice shopping area away from the over crowded Kalverstraat and Nieuwendijk.

These are the kind of stores that are not only good for the tourist who likes to shop downtown but also for us, the locals who are kind of tired of seeing the inner city and beautiful canal belt changing into an entertaining area with little eye for the original inhabitants. Let's hope Raadhuisstraat will not be the next area where cheese shops (just go to the Supermarket to get your cheese) or Nutella stores (it's not a Dutch thing!) will follow.

This first store of the German concept Kauf mich Glücklich in the Netherlands offers a curated selection of products. Women's fashion, men's fashion, home accessories, natural cosmetics, jewelry, books, stationery and much more. With great attention to detail, all stores are build by the team of Kauf Dich Glücklich who started their concept and first store in Berlin and now proudly run 20 stores around Germany and Austria.

Kauf dich Glücklich
Raadhuisstraat 40
1016 DG Amsterdam
Opening hours
Monday 11AM - 7PM
Tuesday - Wednesday 10AM - 7PM
Thursday 10AM - 9PM
Friday - Saturday 10AM - 7PM
Sunday noon - 6PM
website: Kauf dich Glücklich
area: Dam area

How to Hox | Hoxton hotel event

Last month we were part of the Design event at the Hoxton hotel, a really nice informal day with different workshops and interesting panel talks. The Hoxton is such a nice place even if you are just popping in for a coffee, lots of people came especially for the event and many walked in for a bite, a drink and design inspiration. 

A day filled with lots of interaction, next to run the interior design blog  
vosgesparis for over ten years, I am co-founder of w/ Style and together with co founder Wen from BeeldSTEIL I took care of the styling and were part of the panel talk. It is always interesting to hear how other people live and what choices they make for their own home and being able to inspire others. 

The event location is really colourful and I loved to see how we changed the look by bringing in soft colours, natural materials and a good dose of black with selected items from Frama, Moebe, Paper Collective, Just Right, Pillah, Elle Decoration, and Nomess

Travel Products Selected w/ Style
I think we all have things we love to take with us when travelling and for the occasion of the event we selected some of our favourite items and handy products we personally love.

I often take my laptop with me and love the leather goods by SPRDLX, I do not only use a laptop cover but really love to use different smaller bags which are handy to keep your business cards and cables ordered on the go. No need to say I am a huge fan of the travellers note book, this one we borrowed from Miscellaneous also the address for the Frama and Moebe products we showed if you live in Amsterdam, I use them in different sizes, not only the bigger notebook but also the small passport size comes in really handy.

Different products also from the travel selection of Nomess with the Konjac sponges being my all time favourite. Watches from Leff Amsterdam, including their small speakers in the Nomess perspex boxes and skin care products from Amsterdam based Marie Stella Maris. 

Written in collaboration with the brands mentioned in this blogpost
© w/ Style Previously posted on Vosgesparis.com

photography Wen van Woudenberg | styling Desiree Groenendal

ETQ Amsterdam | Spui Area (CLOSED)

ETQ Amsterdam was born under the mindset of eliminating over accessorized branding and focusing primary on letting the quality of the product speak for itself. With three standard rules: elegant, timeless, and quality the brand, that was born as an idea in 2010 as a men's footwear label, now offers an array of clean, sophisticated and affordable products for both men and woman crafted by hand in a small factory in Portugal. 

I visited their store in Amsterdam housed in a huge raw, yet elegant,  space with lots of concrete where especially the huge blocks with different accessories and leather cushions caught my eye. More info about the brand can be found at the website ETQ Amsterdam 

This store is closed shop online at ETQ Amsterdam 

ETQ Amsterdam
Singel 459
1012 WP Amsterdam
Opening hours: 
Monday - Saturday 11AM - 7PM
Sunday noon - 6PM

Website: ETQ Amsterdam
Area: Dam | Spui area

X BANK | Dam area

X BANK is a brand new cultural platform where art, design and fashion are sold in an exhibition like setting. Located at the bottom two floors of the former Kasbank, hence the name X BANK, and part of Hotel W Amsterdam it is the place to discover the work of 180 different Dutch labels.

At the ground floor and entrance an exhibition of various photography and art objects, while an installation made out of safe lockers filled with fake banknotes reveals the history of the building. A white spiral staircase leads to the first floor where the shop and restaurant are located.X BANK is more than just a shop, it is showcasing and selling the work of established Dutch designers like Marcel Wanders, Denham and Scotch & Soda to name a few next to smaller brands. The work of couturier Mattijs van Bergen’s is beautifully displayed, he also designed the uniforms of the hotel staff, and product designer Dirk van der Kooij is represented with his lamps, that you will also find at the lounge of the hotel.

Books, graphic design, photography, parfum, bags, ceramic and many more in all price ranges are sold, and the work of graduates of the Design Academy can be admired while you buy some flowers and wander around and get inspired. As an extra unexpected given everything is organized by colour, the common factor however is that everything sold and showcased at X Bank is by Dutch designers only.

From the shop you walk straight into restaurant ‘The Duches’ offering everything from breakfast to dinner and high tea to cocktails in a classic surrounding with marble and velvet. XBANK is the latest addition to Hotel W and the building includes additional rooms and a spa and gym. The main hotel is located right across the street from X BANK at Spui Straat, until now this part of Spui straat town has always been a bit of nowhere land, I guess it will fastly become a more lively area.
  
Hotel W Amsterdam must have one of Amsterdams best views, from the rooftop lounge you overlook the city centre, and the outside area has a swimming pool with a look on the royal palace.


X BANK
Spuistraat 172
1012 VT Amsterdam
+31 (0)208113320

Opening hours:
Daily from 10AM - 10 PM
website: X BANK
area: Dam

pictures via X BANK | Last picture ©Amsterdam Next 

pictures ©Generator

Thing I like Things I love @ Magna Plaza | Dam area

With two stores in town Thing I like Things I love opened their third store this weekend at Shopping mall Magna Plaza, located just behind the royal Palace. At the store you will find selected Interior and clothing items next to their own clothing label that can be found in their stores, online and in several shop-in-shops throughout the Netherlands. Other stores at Jan Evertsenstraat 106 | De baarsjes and Ceintuurbaan 69 | Pijp area

Things I Like Things I love
Magna Plaza shopping mall
Nieuwezijds voorburgwal 182
1012 SJ Amsterdam
Opening hours
Monday 11AM - 7PM
Tuesday - Saturday 10AM - 7PM
Sunday noon - 7PM
website: Things I like Things I love
area: Dam area

Puik Art | Dutch Design at Bijenkorf Amsterdam

Puik Art is a creative collective helping young designers launch their creations, and developing products for both their own label as for other companies. From today they will have their own corner at Amsterdam's most important department store 'De Bijenkorf' from where you will be able to purchase the products of the designers they represent and work with.

De Bijenkorf has been changing a lot over the last year with their shop in shop concept presenting several designers and brands next to each other. For those who love Scandinavian design there is a compleet section presenting the well known Scandinavian brands and I think it great to see the Bijenkorf giving this group of young designers and Dutch design a platform at the store by working with Puik Art.

A Dutch design Souvenir
To celebrate the launch, Puik art kindly sent me one of their Tulight lamps and I think it looks fantastic in my home office! With a cord length of four meters ‘Tulight’ can be hung from almost any ceiling. I made a little loop in the cord and used a tie wrap to hang it agains the wall. The ‘Tulight’ is made out of flexible silicone and available in a variety of colours.

Inspired by the iconic Dutch tulip flower it's is a statement on its own but can also be hung with three or four in a row for a whole line of shiny tulips, a great contemporary Dutch souvenir if you are visiting Holland, be sure to check out the whole Puik Art collection, it will be available at all Bijenkorf stores.

Bijenkorf
Dam 1
1012 JS Amsterdam
0800-0818
Opening hours:
Monday 11AM - 10PM
Tuesday to Wednesday 10AM - 8PM
Thursday to Friday 10AM - 9PM
Saturday 9:30AM - 8PM
Sunday 11AM - 8PM

website: De Bijenkorf
area: Dam | Spui | Munt
Website: Puik art
More on De Bijenkorf: Room on the Roof

pictures ©vosgesparis.com | Amsterdam Next| June 2015

The Garden Which is the Nearest to God | Taturo Atzu installation

The celebrated Japanese artist Taturo Atzu (formerly known as Tatzu Nishi) , whose work on this scale has never been shown before in the Netherlands is renowned for his spectacular and often alienating projects. After New York and Singapore, it's Amsterdam's turn this summer!

From 26 June to 6 September, commissioned by the Oude Kerk, the oldest building in Amsterdam! Accessible via a scaffolding construction outside of the church, Atzu will realise a sensational transformation by constructing a temporary platform on the roof of the Oude Kerk. He offers visitors a unique vista of the red light district while simultaneously giving access to an architectural domain normally hidden from public view.

For ten weeks 'The Garden Which is the Nearest to God' – a summery panorama terrace – transforms the roof of the Oude Kerk into an exhilarating attraction; its unorthodox function offering us new sights and insights.
   
The Garden Which is the Nearest to God
Oude Kerk Amsterdam
Oudekerksplein 23
1012 GX Amsterdam
website: Oude Kerk 
Running time: June 27 to September 6 2015
area: Dam area

pictures via Oude kerk | June 2015

INK hotel and Pressroom restaurant | Dam area

INK Hotel Amsterdam at Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 67 is the latest contemporary lifestyle hotel that opened it's doors downtown. Located in the former headquarters of the Dutch newspaper De Tijd, the hotel took it's name from this inspiring place where stories were created, written and finally pressed in INK. Themes such as ‘Stories, Ink & Time’ play a big role in the new story of INK Hotel Amsterdam and have been of great influence in the unconventional choices for interior. 

The interior
For the concept and interior the hotel worked closely with the renowned architects at Concrete Amsterdam. Concrete found inspiration in the history of the building and former printing house De Tijd. From the entrance to the rooms and facilities, everything resonates the rich history of the building and tells its own story.

The entrance  has a street -like reception with high bar tables and ‘check-in-tablets’ and on the beautiful patio gives an instant garden feeling. Exclusively for the INK Hotel Amsterdam, artist Jan Rothuizen designed an atlas drawing of Amsterdam. These chalkboard-like paintings on the walls of the 149 rooms present the city of Amsterdam and tell the amusing story of the hotel and its surrounding area.

Pressroom bar and restaurant
The contemporary interior of bar and restaurant PRESSROOM is an ode to the former printing house; traditional typewriters, glass ink bottles and large rolls of printing paper. With surprising breakfast recipes, lunch platters and free bar bites during the aperitivo, to surprising and colourful dishes at dinner and high-end cocktails until late at night PRESSROOM is the ultimate place to wake up and stay awake.

INK Hotel
Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 67
1012 RE Amsterdam
+31 (0)20 627 5900
Website: INK Hotel Amsterdam
Area: Dam

Photography ©Amsterdam Next | May 2015

Laundry Industry Flagshipstore | Spui area

I have always loved Dutch fashion label Laundry Industrie because of their strong black and white appearance and often popped in at their former store at Rokin. They recently opened a 550 sqm flagship store in the former society and landmark building 'Concordia' on Sint Luciënsteeg 18. A great spot almost, next to the Zara on high-street 'Kalverstraat' and 'Nieuwezijds voorburgwal' from where it's a 5 minute walk to the nine streets.

With this new store Laundry Industry offers a new shopping experience from fashion to selected items for your home and other iconic pieces, I fell in love with the tables made out of steal and oak. The building has been renovated beautifully and as an Amsterdammer I love the fact that from wherever you are in the shop the large windows allow you to look outside during shopping, giving you a sneak peek of the entrance of the 'Amsterdam museum' and the stained glass windows of the building across the street.

On the ground floor you find the mens department and a small coffee bar is situated in the corner of the iconic building that carries a large history and was used as headquarters just after the 2nd world war to one of Holland's famous newspapers de Volkskrant. Upstairs you will find the Laundry Industry collection for women and a channel-ish corner with a beautiful stylish lady at the back. As an interior lover I was surprised by their not so average home and deco collection consisting of pieces in concrete, steal and glass.

Laundry Industry
Sint Luciënsteeg 18
1012 PM Amsterdam
+31 20 3621832
Opening hours
Monday noon - 6PM
Tuesday - Friday 11AM - 6PM
Saturday 10AM - 6PM
Sunday 1PM - 5PM
Website: Laundry Industry
Area: Dam spui

Laundry Industry
Van Baerlestraat 16
1071 AW Amsterdam

+31 20 4708440

 Area: South 

Pictures ©Amsterdam Next | May 3 2015