Walls and Ceiling: Joa’s White No.226 | Images: Interior Junkie / Elisah Jacobs
With the Drents-Friese Wold national park as its back garden, the design of Suikerbossie nature house had the tricky task of paying homage to an entire ecosystem. The surprisingly simple solution, dreamed up by proprietor and interiors blogger Elisah Jacobs, was a palette of just two paint colours.
Using our Warm Neutrals Joa’s White and London Stone, Elisah has created a series of spaces that recall the sandy drifts, swirling mists and pink-hued moors of Drents-Friese Wold – and the effect is sublimely soothing.
To celebrate the completion of the nature house, we caught up with Elisah to talk heathland-inspired hues, Lego houses, and the one DIY task she secretly loves.
How much did the house’s idyllic setting influence its interior look and feel?
Very much so. I wanted to bring the inside in and the outside out, as it were. Because our house is in the middle of a nature reserve, I consciously chose to work with natural materials such as webbing, rattan and wood, and to use earthy tones. Above all, it had to radiate tranquillity.
Images: Interior Junkie / Elisah Jacobs
What made you decide on a neutral colour scheme? Can you tell us about your process of choosing colours?
I based the colour palette of Suikerbossie on the moorland landscape that the house looks out on. There you can see shades such as beige, soft pink, green and brown. I incorporated these into the colours on the walls, furniture and home accessories. The interior thus blends effortlessly with its surroundings.
We started putting together the colour palette in early spring, when the moorland was still quite barren. In the meantime, the colour of the heathland has changed: it is now a brighter green and purple-pink. In autumn it even seems to turn bright pink.
What specifically drew you to our Warm Neutrals?
The moorland had soft beige tones in early spring, which even tended to pink at the end of the day. I found the shade Joa's White perfect because it tends to be a very light pink at certain times of the day. I thought it was the perfect colour to mimic the heather in the house.
It is also a very nice neutral base. I wanted to use more pronounced colours like green in the accessories, and I wanted to use the doors as an accent, because having them the same colour as the wall seemed rather boring to me. So, I took beige as my starting point and I thought London Stone was the most beautiful beige.
How did the colours fit into your interpretation of the Japandi style?
The colours are a perfect match for the Japandi style because they are earthy and they make you feel completely calm. Tranquility and serenity really suit Japandi.
We see you’ve been DIYing the painting at the new house! How did you find the process?
I always paint myself, I've been doing it for years and don't know any better. I also find it secretly relaxing to paint the house! Farrow & Ball has such beautiful shades and finishes, it's always a joy to work with.
Images: Interior Junkie / Elisah Jacobs
What do you hope people will feel when they stay at the house?
That they immediately relax when they enter, that a sea of calm comes over them, as it were. I always relax immediately when I am there. I forget my whole life in busy Haarlem. And that is a real holiday: unplugging completely.
Can you describe your style in five words?
This goes back to my childhood when I used to draw cross-sections of houses and build villas with Lego. I had no idea that you could do something with this later on.
I went to study journalism and after six years of working as a fashion journalist, I changed course and chose interior design. In the end I did not become an interior designer, but started my own interior platform where I combined my love for writing and photography with interior design.
Still, I've been giving interior design advice for a couple of years now and I developed my own online interior styling course for hobbyists. The best of both worlds, so to speak.
What makes a property feel like a home?
Surrounding yourself with things you have collected over the years. And for me, being at home is also inextricably linked to smell. I always work with scent cards and scent sticks and change with the seasons, but always stay true to certain scents. For example, fig is a fragrance I often work with.
Images: Interior Junkie / Elisah Jacobs
What was your first introduction to Farrow & Ball?
When I bought our dream house in Haarlem six years ago. I went from an Amsterdam flat where all the walls were white as snow to a mansion in Haarlem, where the walls were screaming for colour.
Funnily enough, Farrow & Ball had wanted to work with me for years, so I agreed. After all these years, I still regularly paint new rooms. Colour is addictive. I just can't imagine a wall that hasn't been painted.
I also think Farrow & Ball paint is really beautiful on the wall: the colour changes throughout the day, which is so nice to see. I still get questions about the colours in our house every day.
Which Farrow & Ball colours do you have your eye on next?
I have loved India Yellow for years. But I have not yet found the project to work with this shade. But who knows, one day...
First your interiors platform and styling course, now the nature house – what kind of entrepreneurial project would you like to take on in the future?
Haha, a lot of people ask me that. But I notice that I have been so busy in recent years that I don't have any big projects planned for the time being.
Although... the intention is to modernise Suikerbossie at some point: bigger, more sustainable and with lots of glass so that the inside is really outside and vice versa.
Unfortunately, rising building costs do not allow that for the time being, but this project is definitely going to happen.
And finally: how do you enjoy your free time? What do you love to do when you’re not creating?
That is quite difficult, because I am always 'on'. But I love to read. I've become a real bookworm over the last year or so, and even though I'm really an online girl, I still scour the magazines.
I also got a ukulele for my birthday two years ago, which stopped for a while, but I'm picking it up again.