An all-white Scandi-style home that’s family-friendly too

Step inside photographer Jeltje Janmaat’s light-filled Dutch home, which she shares with husband Erik and their two young daughters, to find clever, real-life solutions that are simply beautiful.

“When we views this house – a detached dike house on the bank of the River Angstel – 20 people had already seen it,” remembers Jeltje. “It was in really bad condition and there seemed no hope of getting planning permission to extend, so gradually the list of those interested became smaller and we ended up buying it.”

Eight months later, the news came the Jeltje and Erick could extend it. They ripped out all of the inside walls and floors, moving the bedroom to the former garage and put the kitchen where the living room once stood.

The couple worked with “a very good builder” who fitted the kitchen and bathroom with plenty of storage and made their ideas come to life.

Jeltje loves working with natural light in her photography – she’s an interiors photographer – so all-white walls seemed the obvious choice for her home. Yet she’s added different shades of white through furniture, ceramics and soft furnishings. Outside, Jeltje loves moving pieces around just as much as inside; “Although this is my spot to sit and enjoy the sun,” she smiles.

“By using natural fabrics and materials, such as linen and wood, our house has a warm, pure feeling. In the summer, I get up out of bed and walk through our living room and wake up with the warm sun shining through the large windows and reflecting against the white walls,” she shares. Erik’s mother gave them the sofa, which is the perfect fit for the couple’s soft-white home.

There’s plenty of clever storage throughout, including a cabinet made with folding doors to conceal the TV and a wall of niches for Jeltje’s ceramic collection. She’s picked up lots of ideas while shooting for magazines. “I’ve seen so many amazing designs,” she shares. The chair was a secondhand find and was used at the couple’s wedding.

The living room rug is from Volerkledenwinkel. “I saw it in a magazine and knew it would make our living room really cosy,” says Jeltje, who’s a teamed painted resin floor with plenty of texture, like the chunky knit pouffe.

“I came up with our kitchen design after a photo shoot,” says Jeltje. “While I don’t really do bright colours, I’m always on the lookout for fun things for the children. I saw our Ovo highchair while shooting someone’s house – I’d never have known about the brand if it wasn’t for my work.”

The family eat outside as much as possible with sliding doors leading from the kitchen-diner to the terrace. The dining table is from IKEA, with chairs from Hay and Zuiver. “It’s such a peaceful space,” says Jeltje. “I love to look over the water with a cup of coffee and enjoy the silence first thing in the morning.”

Jeltje puts her home’s success down to her imagination (and “a great builder”). “I was constantly thinking about what it would look like and what we would need. I thought about the whole design right down to the smaller details, like where we needed sockets and lights.”

It was Jeltje who came up with the idea of converting the garage into the main bedroom, giving the couple’s daughters their own rooms upstairs, making this a home the family has no plans of moving from any time soon. “We’ve created the perfect home for us,” says Jeltje. The pendant is from Ay Illuminate, with the quilt from Cam Cam Copenhagen.

See more of Jeltje’s home in our Vol 2 Summer issue, which you can order for the special price of £5 per copy while stocks last (excludes P&P/worldwide shipping available).

Words, styling & photography: Jeltje Fotografie/House of Pictures.