CARTE BLANCHE
Who came up with this?” both the wallpaper hanger and painter shouted in unison when they first laid eyes on the terracotta-coloured wallpaper and pink wall paint. “Much too intense,” opined the older Dutch craftsmen. “I admit – this look is quite daring,” says the interior designer responsible: Nicole Dohmen of Amsterdam’s Atelier ND Interior. “But I love working with warm colours and feminine round shapes. They make rooms feel so much more exciting.” When the owner, businessman Gertjan Langeland, bought the apartment (near the city’s famous Vondelpark), the entire place was white. The building dates back to 1906 and is seven metres wide, and because of its width, natural light beautifully filters into the apartment. “It just screamed for colour,” says Nicole. “Yet explaining that to a client is always a…