The
Dutch Touch
Kathy
Renwald
Wherever
he lands in the world Gerard Bos unpacks his shipping container and makes a
comfy home.
Six
weeks ago Bos moved to Hamilton from Tokyo where was he was Customer Experience
Manager for Ikea Japan
“My
container arrived from Tokyo and then I’m like a little animal
about to go into hibernation. It
has to be all unpacked I just need to have it finished. I have a busy job, I’m
travelling a lot, and it’s important to me that I don’t live out of boxes for
three or four months.”
When
Bos signed on for a three-year assignment as Customer Experience Manager for
Ikea Canada, he naturally assumed he’d live in Toronto. “I thought that was the
place to be,” he says.
But
it took just one rush hour drive from Toronto to Ikea head office in Burlington
for Bos to change his mind.
He
started to look for a place to live close by. Location agents showed him 20
rentals mostly in Burlington and Oakville, but missing was the spark of the big
cities he’d lived in across Europe where he worked for Ikea and before that for British
Airways.
"Being
in the home furnishing business, home is important to me, I need to feel at
home the minute I open the door, particularly
when you live in different countries over the years, that’s even more
important.”
So Bos, a native of
Holland started his own home search and focused on Hamilton. "I started to
look on Realtor and Kijiji, than driving one day I spotted the building and
thought “This is lovely.”
The
building was in the Stinson neighbourhood, a former factory converted to lofts.
Bos walked in and said ‘This is it.”
And
it is lovely, with warm wood floors, exposed beams,
and big windows with deep sills. The street with houses dating to the 1870’s,
is “like stepping back in time” Bos says.
When
the container arrived it didn’t take Bos long to put things in order. His
pieces are well travelled, Switzerland, Belgium London, Glasgow, the island
Jersey, Tokyo and more.
"This
is why home is so important, you gather your own things, develop style, the
minute your container arrives and you take your things out and find a home for
them that suits that layout, and somehow it always works.”
Though
the loft in Hamilton is two floors, most time is spent on the open space main
floor that encompasses the kitchen, dining area, living spaces, office and
bedroom.
Walk
in the front door and you’re immediately in the living space. An antique chest
of drawers purchased in London in the 90’s and a slim wooden shelf mounted by
the front door help organize arrival and departure clutter.
To
the right is the living room, with a gas fireplace glowing and morning light
coming in the from the east. “This has the loft look but it doesn’t have that
emptiness you sometimes get in lofts because the ceilings aren’t that high. I
like a warm, cozy feel in the home,” Bos says.
A
big leather sofa faces am iconic Noguchi coffee table Bos bought in Belgium 20
years ago, and two Italian designed chairs, are also well travelled. “I love
their shape, and they are very comfortable.”
Factory
sized windows have minimal coverings, and the deep sills are all used for
displays of pieces collected over the years.
“I
grew up at home with plants and flowers on the window sills, that’s quite
common in Holland. These sills are almost like cabinets and great to display
the things you love. I do love my Dutch touches.”
A
compact and efficient kitchen faces a small dining area where Bos has grouped
“up-cycled” wooden chairs with a mango wood table.
Beyond
the kitchen and framed by hefty wood pillars and ceiling beams another sitting
area showcases a beautiful antique glass cabinet that stores dishes, cups and
books. It has moved seven times with Bos. A striking orange two-seater sofa
divides living room from bedroom. “I spotted it in Sweden in the Ikea design centre
before it was launched and had to have it.” Bos swapped out the wooden legs for
metal ones for a modern look, using Ikea’s clever mix and match theory of
flexible design. He did the same at his window-facing desk, resting a rectangle
of bamboo wood on top of an Ikea set of drawers for a warm approach to office
decor.
In
many ways Bos’s loft is like a living lab of design solutions. Storage space is
at a minimum, so he uses cabinets, trolleys on wheels, and chests for storage.
“I’m not a minimalist, but I don’t like a lot of clutter,” he says. To expand
the sense of space at night he uses small Ikea floor lamps in each corner of
the room.
Ikea’s
philosophy of accessible design and flexible solutions comes naturally to the
52-year-old.
“Because
(the loft) is all open space you need to think about colour schemes, using
similar tones, and then creating compartments within the open space, for
sleeping work, and dining. If the flooring is the same throughout it helps.”
Between
getting to know Ikea’s 13 major stores across Canada, Bos wants to get to know
Hamilton. “I appreciate the diversity and creativity, there’s a nice feel about
this city that I like.”
And
it all looks better through the windows with “the Dutch touch."
krenwald@gmail.com
Instagram:@kathyrenwald
