Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » {mini} sneak peek: zelda

this morning’s mini sneak peek is into the quirky world of dutch product and jewelry designer zelda beauchampet. her unique place is actually an anti-squad house. the nature of these homes is that they are temporary (until they are torn down to be replaced by new ones), but they’ve kept zelda moving around to new places every so often for the past 8 years. she loves this sweet little place with its big garden, but won’t be sad to leave the terrible neighborhood it’s in come march. you have to admit, a place like this is bound to keep living interesting. click here for the full-sized images, and here for more great sneak peeks. [thanks, zelda!] -anne

The table and the chairs in the room is the place where I sit down with friends.I have an open kitchen where i love to cook and talk to my homies who are sitting around the table. The table is an heritage of my grand parents. It’s one of Knoll International’s fine designs - it’s Eero Saarinen and this table was number 881 of production. On the wall is a work of copy-artist Lieve Prins. She made this copymachine work when i was little. It’s me as angel of the Rijksmuseum (amsterdam).

The picture with the bike, is part of my living room. It is standing there because there is no other place in my house to park the bike. And because i love my bike off course! This bike is totally self-made. it’s already different now..got new parts on my bike..

This is my most favorite place in the house. I love my bed.. always clean and soft..haha especially one of my graduation projects (Identity matters): the bear sitting on top, who is always watching me, and taking care of my bad dreams. The little closet hanging on the wall is a design of Kiki van Eijk, she is a good friend of mine and we once swapped it for something i made. It’s hard to see but the plaid on my bed is also one of my designs. Me and 2 other girls made a temporary hotel room called the Secrets of the Pony Club. And the plaid i made was square stitched with pin up girls in the centerpiece.

I love my shoe’s..like every girl..i can’t have enough! Especially sneakers..but some nice heels are welcome too! I think i have 40 pairs of sneakers running around my house!

Actually in english it would translate to anti-squat. Antikraak in Dutch. The dutch law is made in a way that allows squatters to actually legally remain in a building if it has been empty for more than a year ( there are more specifics but basically that’s the idea). To avoid this, the owners of empty properties ( awaiting renovation, demolition, etc) rent the buildings out temporarily. This is a very cheap way to be able to live in a large building (sometimes offices, schools, churches etc…) as long as you’re willing to relocate often, with a two weeks notice, and with basically no say in what the next building will be like ( or even where it will be!).
I think it’s a european thing, mainly Dutch, but also starting to take root in England, Ireland and France.
I also live in antikraaks and love it, but it can be stressful at times… like right now when i have to move out within two weeks, but don’t have a new place lined up yet…

the saarinen table will probably always be my most favorite furniture design. it has always generated a smile from me every time i see one, i hope to have one some day, i love it! and i LOVE your bike.

I just don’t understand what is interesting about this or why it’s considered “interior design”. It looks like the apartment I slummed in during college. Mismatched chairs, some old hand me down furniture, mostly spartan walls with random images tacked in place…

Say My Name – I understand what you’re saying, but what separates this from most student apartments is that each piece is beautiful and lends itself to a unified overall aesthetic. I imagine Zelda has little money, but she has chic in bucketloads. If I wanted to see “done” houses, I would buy Vogue Interiors. Houses like Zelda’s are exactly why I read this blog.

I love so many of your “peeks” so I feel bad emailing something negative for the first comment. But I just don’t “get” this one. It looks like a college kids temp pad — I guess because its an anti-squad (?) maybe. Good for them for making it decent considering they might have to move, but I don’t see w hy it’s on this blog

This is such a great peek, and so far, it’s my favorite.

I love that it’s not the typical ‘design’ decorate-y look, and that it’s got a sense of humor, a frugality and a really wonderful, hip, punk rock, simplicity that is definitely a new driver in what we’ll see in design. I’ve been sick of brocade and pastels for a while, and this is refreshing.

Love that fixed gear bike with the pink chain and the NY tee as decor. Kudos!

I am going to agree with a few other folks who commented. Although there is a barebones aesthetic, accentuated with bygone souveniers from the past, there isn’t any direction at all that takes away any type of design inspiration.

anti-squad means you can legally ‘occupy’ the house, you don’t pay rent but a small amount of money for occupying the house so nobody can -for the time you live in this place- break in and squad the house. This is a system for house-owners to prevent damage to the empty property. The disadvantage is that you can get kicked out almost immediately, so you have to live modest :)
i think she did very well!

Scal and susy, I agree 100% with both of you. I love the fact that this perfect interior is in an ordinary house in a “terrible neighborhood “. I appreciate the spareness, the simplicity of it – and the fact that it hasn’t been “done” to death. Love it, Love it, Love it.

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