Dutch artist-designer Maaike Koster wears a lot of hats, and all of them are leaf green: A botanical painter, she has her own online print emporium, My Deer Art Shop, and recently illustrated the indoor plant guide Urban Botanics.
Photography courtesy of Maaike Koster.
It’s located within walking distance of her family home, and both showcase Koster’s work as an interior designer—one who, not surprisingly, has a way with houseplants.
Located on a brick-paved street at the edge of Haarlem’s city center, the mansard-roofed house was built in 1920 and retains its original stained-glass windows and paneled doors.
The third floor is an addition that Koster designed to gain a master bedroom and studio after her two sons, now 5 and 7, were born.
“We combined the house’s classical details with modern/Scandinavian influences, and, of course, lots of plants,” Koster tells us.
Flying High and other prints from Koster’s bird series hang above an Eames lounge.
The marble mantel is original; Koster uses it to display simple greenery, such as epiphytes and cuttings in clear glass vases. The succulent in the gray pot by the French doors is a type of lepismium.
A discreet corner of the living room is the used as the TV room. Sold in limited editions, they start at €49.50 ($57.37) for the 30-by-40-centimeter (11.8-by-15.7-inch) size.
The TV area is painted celery to set it off from the rest of the space.
Koster adheres to an all-over palette of white, gray, green, and black.
Original leaded-glass sliding doors open to the kitchen.
Koster replaced the existing 20-square-meter (215-square-foot) kitchen with Miele appliances and stainless steel cabinetry customized for the space.
A wall of Miele stainless steel cabinets incorporates, from left: an electric steamer with oven function and a fridge underneath; a built-in coffee machine (in the center) over a warming drawer and a freezer; and a pressure steam oven atop a microwave and a fridge and freezer.
The pedal trash can is the Kickmaster from German brand Wesco.
Koster masses small cactuses on the marble mantel of the kitchen fireplace, which, like its mate in the living room, is fitted with a gas burner.
The doors have numbers in the otherwise entirely white second floor hall.
The house’s tall ceilings allowed Koster to introduce loft beds and industrial hanging lights in each of her sons’ rooms.
The desk wall is set off by a band of dark green; all else is painted white.
The second floor’s Calacatta marble bath was the master bath before the couple had kids and added a third floor to the house.
The custom sinks were fabricated locally from 10-centimeter-thick (3.9-inch-thick) solid marble.
The attic master bedroom has an en suite bath with a pebble floor.
The Flos half lamps over the bed are made of a plaster-like composite; they’re from a Soft Architecture line that seems to have been discontinued.
Bedroom and bath are fully incorporated.
Koster used old wooden table as the base for twin countertop basins from Villeroy & Bosch.
The freestanding tub is positioned in front of a dormer window.
Koster’s My Deer Art Shop was born in her attic workspace.
She stores, signs, and packs prints at a standing counter made of plywood.
Koster tailor-made her open storage and wraparound workspace.
The house is now 200 square meters (approximately 2,152 square feet), thanks to the addition of the third floor.