Reader Rehab: An Art Nouveau Apartment in Antwerp - Remodelista
Photography by Niko Caignie. When graphic designer (and Remodelista reader) Davy Dooms purchased an 850-square-foot apartment located in an Art Nouveau house in Antwerp, his goal was to create a blank canvas. The rooms have a spacious feel, due to the high ceilings; Dooms’ main intervention was to update the bedroom suite: He replaced the bathtub with a walk-in shower... ...installed a new sink, and painted the walls white to match the rest of the apartment. Dooms’ styling inspiration is a mix of Scandinavian and American midcentury. A poster from Danish midcentury designer Poul Kjaerholm’s retrospective in 2006 was the starting point for Dooms’ color palette for the apartment. The kitchen cabinets and island, designed by architect Sofie De Clercq, were a minimalist insertion into the Art Nouveau shell and were installed by the previous owner. The wood in the midcentury tableware brings color into the otherwise black and white dining room. Dooms’ color palette–white, black, brown, gray, and orange–comes together in the living room. In the dining room, Dooms’ interventions were minimal. In the bedroom suite, Dooms installed a wood floor to match the existing ones in the dining room and living room. An Eames chair anchors a corner in the bedroom. A view from the bedroom to the living room. Dooms replaced the original sink and installed a new sink mirror and black countertop. The new walk-in shower replaced a bathtub; Dooms built a cabinet around the boiler. Above L: The bedroom unit was originally painted green. Above R. The location of the bathtub, which Dooms replaced with a walk-in shower. The sole reminder of the apartment’s green past: a cactus. The legacy of midcentury design remains stronger than ever.