Dominique Delalande and Henk Lokhorst call Amsterdam home, but spend holidays in a cottage in a small village located in the Burgundy region of France. Henk is the decorator, combining heirlooms and antiques with elegant upholstery and brocante finds. And the home already held plenty of treasures. When Dominique’s mother moved there permanently many years ago, he says, “She took the complete contents of her Paris household with her.”
The house was packed. “With furniture,” Henk says, “copperware, crockery, paintings. Wherever you looked, there was something standing or hanging on racks, shelves, in benches, dressers.”
When Dominque returned to the cottage, its décor, furnishings, sixties-era carpet, and even scents, awakened his memories. Even so, the clutter had to be cleared out, and antiques dealers were invited to the home. Not only were there generations of things to sort through, the house was also dark and outdated.
