At Home with Instagram Star Sanne Hop and Her Family of Six in the Netherlands

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Last June when Sanne Hop and her family of six moved from their apartment in a historic building in Amsterdam to a just-built house in the suburbs, I was one of the 94,700 people avidly following along. Since then, we’ve been there to experience—via Instagram (@sanne hop)—life with a toddler (when will three-year-old Kaatje agree to decamp from her parents’ bed?), the red bike Pippa got for her sixth birthday, and the alder cones they all recently gathered to make dye for wooden beads. Just the other day, we all coveted the new hand-felted light hanging over the dining table.

At a time when so much in the world feels fraught, Sanne’s chronicles of her family life are a reassuring celebration of the everyday—a style-conscious version of The Waltons for the social media era. Of course it helps that Sanne has an eye for simple beauty (she also has a PhD in history and is currently a full-time mother). Like her sister Tessa, a fellow Insta star and mother of four—see Ideas to Steal from Tessa Hop’s Organized and Serene Home—Sanne takes great joy in tweaking her nest. Sanne’s husband, Wim de Boer, is an art director who runs his own agency, and together they came up with the design for the interior of their house, which was built as part of an enclave of six houses with a shared garden (all left unfinished to suit each buyer). “So many decisions had to be made, big ones, like the walls and stair, and countless little ones,” says Sanne. “It was a lot of work, but in the end, it feels so satisfying because it resembles completely who we are.” Join us for an inside look.

Photography by Sanne Hop unless noted.

&#8\2\20;we loved the idea of living somewhere less busy and more green. th 17 — Above: “We loved the idea of living somewhere less busy and more green. Then we found this project by accident and fell in love,” says Sanne.

The two-story wood and concrete house is in the planned enclave of Almere, 25 minutes east of Amsterdam. It was designed by architect Michael van Leeuwen of Sluijmer en Van Leeuwen, who helped the couple implement their ideas for the interior: “We made the plans ourselves but checked with Michael to see if they all could be arranged in a technical way,” says Sanne. “He came up with the final drawings for us.” The second story (not visible from this angle), where the kids’ rooms are situated, has an in-progress roof terrace. Photograph by Wim de Boer.

designed as the central hub, the ground floor has an open plan kitchen and livi 18 — Above: Designed as the central hub, the ground floor has an open-plan kitchen and living area with a concrete floor and stair. “Figuring out the placement and look of the stair was a big challenge,” says Sanne. Downstairs is approximately 1,600 square feet and upstairs is half that.

the centerpiece of the house is the kitchen designed by kine and kristoffer of 19 — Above: The centerpiece of the house is the kitchen designed by Kine and Kristoffer of Ask og Eng, who are part of Sanne’s Instagram coterie of kindred-spirit friends. Hearing of her interest via direct message, they traveled from Oslo, Norway, to Almere to see the house in its raw state and work with Sanne and Wim on the details. Ask og Eng specializes in bespoke kitchens, such as this, and also makes fronts for Ikea cabinets, all of bamboo: see Kitchen Cabinet Fronts Made of a Surprise Sustainable Material.

The family’s four kids‚ Ole, 1o, Hannes, 8, Pippa, 6, and Kaatje, 3, are shown here making hand-dipped candles.

a painting by sanne&#8\2\17;s father hangs over the counter.&#8\2\2\1;h 20 — Above: A painting by Sanne’s father hangs over the counter.”He was a very talented photographer. It’s from him that I learned to pay attention to the small things.” Photograph by Wim de Boer.

the stained bamboo cabinets are topped with a bamboo counter in ask og eng& 21 — Above: The stained bamboo cabinets are topped with a bamboo counter in Ask og Eng’s Wheat finish. The overhead box shelf is also an Ask og Eng design. The E27 hanging lights are by Muuto, and currently on sale for $80.27 at DWR.

thrilled to be living for the first time with so much space, sanne and wim want 22 — Above: Thrilled to be living for the first time with so much space, Sanne and Wim wanted to keep the main room open and flexible. In contrast to Sanne’s sister Tessa’s carefully finished, clean-lined quarters, a tranquil, bohemian vibe rules here. Play areas are set up all over and nothing is precious: most of the furnishings are vintage finds that traveled with the family from Amsterdam.

Thanks to her many maker fans on Instagram, Sanne is often offered clothing and goods in exchange for an appearance on her feed. She says she’s very selective about these sponsorships: “I try to keep true to ourselves and only accept things we can use that really suit us.”

the main entry doubles as the kids&#8\2\17; crafting area. &#8\2\20;ins 23 — Above: The main entry doubles as the kids’ crafting area. “Instead of having an entry hall, we decided to just keep it all open,” says Sanne, noting that there’s a sliding door that can be pulled shut as need be. The secret to keeping everything looking good? The furnishings and toys are all made of wood and other natural materials—there’s no plastic here—and everyone tidies up just before dinner.

the family&#8\2\17;s dining table is by dutch furniture workshop slow 24 — Above: The family’s dining table is by Dutch furniture workshop Slow Wood. We love that it’s circular,” says Sanne, “it gives a very cozy feeling to sit around it all together.” The light is the family’s just-introduced wool felt pendant by Lumalano.

The walls throughout are finished with “a woven wallpaper to prevent cracking” and painted a pure white.

a wall of glass doors connect the living area to the terrace and yard. the tabl 25 — Above: A wall of glass doors connect the living area to the terrace and yard. The table shown here is an extra set up when friends come for dinner. The birch basket on the stair wall is by Remodelista favorite Verso Design of Finland.

a weekend morning. sanne says she photographs &#8\2\20;the little moments o 26 — Above: A weekend morning. Sanne says she photographs “the little moments of childhood I hope not to forget.”

Her best Instagram captions verge on poetry: “Trying to drink my coffee hot. One is coming in to ask for help with his knitting; another asks to fix a broken bracelet, beads on the floor everywhere. Little K is not feeling well and wants me to come over to read her a book on the sofa. Little voices constantly talking. Suddenly they spot a beautiful bird on the grass outside. They all grab their coats and binoculars, and run outside telling me they’re going on a bird expedition. All their questions are forgotten for the moment.”