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The next victims of our I SPY series is the cute couple Marije & Thys. Marije has been active in the cultural sector for a few years now and is currently working as a cultural programmer at the library in Rotterdam. Thys has been actively involved in making the nightlife in Rotterdam vibrant and safe for everyone with N8W8 R’dam, the independent advisory body that advises the municipality and entrepreneurs in the field of nightlife. He also teaches at Willem de Kooning Academy.
Read the Q&A below and take a peek into their home with us.
The pictures in this article are made with a Nikon L35AD analog camera and a Olympus MJU II analog camera.
such as a ying yang tea light holder.
How would you describe your interior style?
Thys: something like artsy, sleek, but chaotic?
Marije: I can’t describe it better.
Do you make decisions together about the interior or who is wearing the pants in the house?
Thys: we make the most important decisions together. This sometimes takes a little longer as this makes us extra picky, but with the sofa, table and wall art we both suggested ideas until we found something that got us both excited. Marije, I think, sometimes finds it difficult if I don’t like something that she has her eye on.
Marije: I have a pretty clear opinion about what I like, yes, but if you live together you have to make concessions…
Which item in the house tells a story for you, Thys?
The festival coins on the wall! There are now more than a thousand of them and together they form an enormously colourful work of art. I’ve collected most of them during the music and food festivals I’ve worked on with Creperie OuiOui and the Banana Trailer. Some I have left over from parties I attended.
What does Marije think about this?
Marije: let’s just say this is an example of one of those concessions.
Do you ever argue about the household?
Thys: in a healthy way, yes. Every now and then Marije sees value in items that I really don’t need at home, but this also happens the other way around…
Marije: haha and we both really hate cleaning. We’re not really good at it either. When it’s time to clean, we just turn up the music really loud and try not to get too close to each other and then have a nice meal as a reward.
What do you prefer to do together at home?
Thys: reading, discovering music, gaming and cooking.
Marije: In Rona times we are mostly gaming. We are also cooking, having drinks, watching movies and recently we started learning to spin vinyl. We both really like it when we have friends over.
Which item in the house is of great value to you, Marije?
My father’s paintings! He has actually always been an artist but was never satisfied with his work and did not want to show it to people. My sister and I think that’s nonsense and that’s why we recently started a webshop on Instagram to show his work.
Do you have anything on your interior wish list?
Thys: closets! And do kitchen accessories count too? Because then I also have to mention a toaster.
Marije: yes, a lot, but let’s start with wardrobes.
How important is a sustainable interior to you?
Thys: I prefer to buy things that last a long time. Usually these are more expensive stuff, but I can’t stand to use something only one or two times. I think that’s such a shame.
Marije: I think it’s important, but there’s definitely room for improvement. Our interior mostly consists out of furniture from the thrift shop. We do try to get nice things there before we look at, for example, an IKEA.
What does your dream house look like? And is that house in Rotterdam or somewhere else?
Thys: I would prefer to live in a sleek, modern house with everything you need. Preferably surrounded by a green lawn, a babbling brook and a forest adjacent to the garden. However, moving away from the center of Rotterdam for this is completely out of the question at the moment.
Marije: a dream house is a house in a big city in combination with the space you have in the countryside. I like the urban mentality, but I also think it would be nice to have goats walking around in the garden, for example. The big city doesn’t have to be Rotterdam, but I do prefer to live in a bigger city. And Thys must of course also live in this house.
How is life in Blijdorp-Rotterdam?
Thys: fine, it’s nice that we are the ones who make the most noise in the neighborhood. Rather that than the other way around.
Dilemma, which of the two would you choose if you really had to choose:
Chaos or bourgeois?
Marije: structured chaos.
Thys: Chaos, creates opportunities.
Forever at the table or forever on the couch?
Marije: table, we actually only recently got a normal couch where you can really lie down (before Thys couldn’t even nap on the couch) so we are completely used to sitting at the table a lot.
Thys: at the table. I eat better here and working on the laptop is also better at the table.
Out together or at home together?
Thys: Out together! Due to the lockdown we have been home enough and we can always be at home.
Marije: I would really kill to go out together, we’ve been sitting at home enough for now.