For this second edition in the INSIGHTS series, I asked my flatmate Eva Vleugels to give you a tour of her bedroom.  This 25 year old leads a busy life, studying hotel management by day, studying sommelier in the evening and combining all of that with a job in a restaurant and an internship at everyone’s favorite food blog Alle Dagen Honger.

It’s no surprise that with such a busy life, she needs her room to be a place where she can relax and surround herself with beautiful items that make her happy.  Like me, she finds it important that her room feels hers for 100%, as we’re sharing this house with two other people.  Before, she was living in an apartment on her own, and although that might give you more peace and quiet, sharing a house has its advantages.  For the same amount of rent, she now gets to enjoy much more space and a garden.

Besides the garden, our neighborhood is one of Eva’s favorite aspects of this building: Zurenborg is close to everything, has a lot of young inhabitants and a peaceful atmosphere.  “I really enjoy sitting on our doorstep, enjoying the evening sun with a cold beer and observing the street.  There’s always something happening, but at the same time it helps me relax and it’s the perfect place to get some perspective on the past days.”

“I can’t and don’t want to describe my style of interior, it’s always changing!”  Her interior depends on the things she’s working on but also the house she’s living in.  “It’s important that my interior matches with the big picture, that’s what leads me when decorating.”  She enjoys the combination of white and natural materials, with colorful details, something that matches perfectly with our current home.  Humor, as long as it doesn’t get childish, is important as well.

That humor can be found in her collection of wine bottles.  Eva is interested in natural wines, which often have fun labels that add a touch of color to her interior.  Each of her wine bottles, holds a memory: who she drank it with, when and where.  No wonder they’re her favorite items in the room!

Other favorites are her plants:  “A sense of life is important in a home, not only figuratively but also literally.  My plants make me dwell on life every day, although I know that might sound a bit too spiritual.” 

The most important source of inspiration for Eva’s interior are other people’s homes.  “Whenever I enter a space where I feel at home, I try to dissect what the elements are that cause that feeling and translate them into my own interior.”  Images she encounters on the internet influence her as well, but she finds it important that she makes these ideas her own and does not plainly copy them into her own home.

Her dream home is a place with lots of light, wooden floors and a garden or terrace where she can grow her plants.  No apartment in a new building, or a place divided into small rooms, but a flowing space where you can breathe.  Eva loves living in our town house, but who knows what the future brings!  “Maybe I’ll end up in a farmhouse on the countryside!  As long as it’s a building with a soul…”  As far as soul goes, I think Eva has managed to bring out the best of it in her room…  I think it’s about time we join forces and tackle the common spaces in our house!  To be continued?