{"id":20336,"date":"2023-04-12T10:30:26","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T08:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=42028"},"modified":"2023-04-12T10:36:43","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T08:36:43","slug":"an-18th-century-former-dockers-bar-in-amsterdam","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/an-18th-century-former-dockers-bar-in-amsterdam\/","title":{"rendered":"An 18th-century former dockers\u2019 bar in Amsterdam"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author and stylist Helma Bongenaar fell in love with this 18th-century former dockers\u2019 bar in Amsterdam, transforming it with repurposed materials, found objects and treasured collections. Photographs Claire worthy <\/p>

By Hannah Newton\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 12 April 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Necessity is the mother of invention, and the home of author and artist Helma Bongenaar and her husband Jeroen Alberts is the very definition of this old adage. Built in 1880, their modest Amsterdam<\/a> townhouse was originally a bar for the local dockers.<\/p>\n

Helma and Jeroen discovered it 23 years ago, when it was a government-subsidised home for artists<\/a> to access affordable studio space in the heart of the city. Helma, who was pregnant at the time, fell in love with the building, and, as luck would have it, the pair were selected out of many artists to become the new owners of this piece of local history.<\/p>\n

Helma and Jeroen are keen upcyclers<\/a> and believe that there is never a need to buy anything new, and this ethos has been the guiding principle behind all their interior style choices.<\/p>\n

\u2018We don\u2019t have a lot of money, but we do have grand taste! We always seek out affordable and practical solutions, and we love to skip-dive, which mortified our children when they were young,\u2019 says Helma, who is the founder of Sentimental Journal, an international magazine dedicated to craftsmanship and collecting<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Their taste is informed by the grand Dutch canal houses in the city, their shared admiration for the Rijksmuseum, and Helma\u2019s childhood, which was shaped by her parents\u2019 love of antiquity. Her father collected 17th- and 18th-century technical books and taught Helma electrics when she was just 10; she still makes all her own lamps.<\/p>\n

Her mother was obsessed with antique irons and French tableware<\/a>, and the family spent many hours scouring flea markets<\/a> and thrift stores across Belgium, France and Holland.<\/p>\n

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Helma and Jeroen\u2019s penchant for reusing<\/a> old materials is evident throughout the house. The sitting room ceiling is made from wooden panels taken from an old French armoire, while the wallpapers<\/a> were chosen from a shop in Ghent that only sells original 1950s, \u201860s and \u201870s papers.<\/p>\n

Seven glass doors were given to them by friends and, in return, Helma cooked a seven-course meal as a thank you for each door. Jeroen \u2013 a talented carpenter and maker, as well as an artist and a partner in the theatre act Delinus \u2013 used the doors to create walls between the kitchen<\/a> and the sitting room.<\/p>\n

He also added a small vestibule between the front door and the kitchen, crafted from a pair of old school doors found in a skip; the door handle is an old lampstand pole. To generate extra light and warmth in winter, they added vintage<\/a> mirror frames above, replacing the mirrors with glass.<\/p>\n

Fascinating antique collections are on display around the house, including the downstairs bathroom, where Helma\u2019s collection of vintage hand mirrors adorns the walls to brilliant effect.<\/p>\n

In the bedrooms, antique fabrics<\/a> are reused for bedding and pelmets, while elegant second-hand silk scarves, collected over the years, have been redesigned on the sewing machine as curtains for the kitchen and sitting room. Meanwhile, a blanket on the antique chaise was handmade entirely from old textile labels.<\/p>\n

But it is the kitchen that is the heart of Helma and Jeroen\u2019s home; painted in a series of soft, serene blues, with stripped-back wooden floorboards and a chandelier overhead. The chandelier<\/a> was made by Helma from several discarded ones she discovered on the street, to which she added the fringing and spoons.<\/p>\n

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\u2018I love to recreate new things out of old things,\u2019 she says. The kitchen cabinets were made by Jeroen from old doors, rescued from building sites and skips. \u2018We always ask if we can take them,\u2019 Helma explains. Jeroen added brass handles, which were once stair carpet rods.<\/p>\n

\u2018We both love craftsmanship and detail, and we like that each panel and cabinet is individual. It is time consuming to use old wood, and nothing is the right size, but we appreciate it so much more.\u2019<\/p>\n

The dining table, surrounded by a collection of mismatched antique Thonet chairs<\/a>, is always set as if for a feast: antique plates, 19th-century French glasses, polished candlesticks<\/a> and embroidered napkins \u2013 found in Dutch junk shops and French flea markets \u2013 are arranged carefully on a crisp vintage linen tablecloth.<\/p>\n

\u2018Cooking is so important to me,\u2019 explains Helma, who is the author of a cookery book, Au Bon Coin, which translates as \u2018The Good Corner\u2019, inspired by the location of her home.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m now working on my second cookery book. The food is key, but so is the way it looks, and crockery is part of the charm. I love setting the table; placing the cloths, plates, silverware and glasses. All my collections come together on the table. The richer the table, the more welcome the guests feel.\u2019<\/p>\n

Helma also hosts monthly pop-up supper clubs, which are attended by artists and designers from all over the city. These events are renowned, not just for her spectacular food, but for the care and attention she spends on decorating the table and the exquisite antique dinner services<\/a> she uses.<\/p>\n

\u2018Having a pop-up supper club once a month means there can be no shortage,\u2019 she says. \u2018It\u2019s a great excuse to buy more crockery!\u2019<\/p>\n

\""18th-century\"<\/picture><\/div>
Helma at her home in Amsterdam. The large, shopfront windows were made in the 1880s when this building was built as a dockers\u2019 bar.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Claire Worthy<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""18th-century\"<\/picture><\/div>
\u2018I am very blue,\u2019 says Helma. \u2018I like the idea of creating a grand old interior and using all blues to allow it to fit together.\u2019 Helma collects everything from china and silverware to French coffee cups, brass jelly moulds and Champagne coupes. The white lamps are from the 1920s and were the original shop window lights. The chairs are Thonet and have been collected from thrift stores and flea markets over the years. The second-hand table was found online.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Claire Worthy<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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The traditional scales were a gift from Helma\u2019s sister, who found them in a second-hand shop. The French caf\u00e9-au-lait bowls in the cupboard, amassed over the years, are used every day for tea and coffee.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Claire Worthy<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""18th-century\"<\/picture><\/div>
The unique and dramatic chandelier was repurposed from old chandeliers thrown out onto the street. Helma added some fringing as well as her collection of blue-and-white spoons, collected from thrift stores. \u2018It tinkles sometimes,\u2019 she says.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Claire Worthy<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""18th-century\"<\/picture><\/div>
Helma was charmed by the traditional shops and cafes of Amsterdam, which featured split levels such as can be seen here, where the sitting room is just a few steps up from the kitchen. \u2018I like the split-level thing. I like to live in a building that is not meant to be a home. Maybe it\u2019s the challenge.\u2019<\/span> <\/figcaption> Claire Worthy<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""18th-century\"<\/picture><\/div>
For the \u2018green sitting room\u2019, Helma chose a 1960s wallpaper from Priem in Ghent, and created an oval on the ceiling using paint, then added braiding. The daybed was upholstered by Helma, and she made the blanket entirely from old textile labels. The brass bugs on the wall are old mid-century ashtrays from France that Helma collected and uses as sculptures. The oval glass in the doorways was added to maximise light. Each was originally a mirror, which has been replaced with glass and painted to match the walls. The rope at the bottom of the stairs is from an old museum.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Claire Worthy<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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Another 1950s vintage wallpaper with green tones is used on the back wall of the sitting room. The brass lights are old theatre stage lights found in a German flea market, and the side table lamps were assembled by Helma \u2013 the bases are old Eiffel Tower souvenirs from Paris and the lampshades are from thrift shops. The cushions, lampshades, curtains and pouffe were all made by Helma and she added the gold trim to the sofa, because \u2018a touch of gold adds depth and richness\u2019.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Claire Worthy<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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A collection of sculptures under glass domes were the result of Helma\u2019s daughter\u2019s birthday wish: for her tenth birthday she wanted to pull a tablecloth from a table set with cups and plates and a few small ceramic dolls. Helma gathered up the casualties and reworked them as small sculptures.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Claire Worthy<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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On the staircase, an old lace curtain adorns the banisters.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Claire Worthy<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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Helma painted the beautiful oval shape on the ceiling, trimmed with fringing, as found in the grand Amsterdam canal houses that inspire her. The elaborate yellow fabric panel was found at a flea market, and the wallpaper behind the bed is a 1960s paper from the Priem store in Ghent. Her grandmother\u2019s blanket covers the bed and is at least 100 years old.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Claire Worthy<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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Helma\u2019s love of embroidery and remaking comes to the fore in her curtains. Here she added embroidered patterns from classic paintings that she found in thrift stores and added fringing and ribbons to connect the two pieces of material. The chaise longue belonged to Jeroen\u2019s grandmother and the chandelier was crafted by Helma from multiple old chandeliers. They found the original parquet floor in an online second-hand store and Jeroen laid it.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Claire Worthy<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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In their son\u2019s bedroom, Jeroen built drawers underneath the bed from an old cupboard.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Claire Worthy<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""18th-century\"<\/picture><\/div>
Wooden souvenirs carved with postcard scenes decorate the wall of their son\u2019s room.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Claire Worthy<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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Vintage 1950s wallpaper from the famous Ghent wallpaper store, Priem, lines the bathroom and Helma\u2019s collection of antique hand-mirrors are displayed on the wall. The light fitting was found in a thrift store and put back together by Helma.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Claire Worthy<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

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