HENK at home with Olja and Mauricio

In the series 'HENK at home' we visit people who inspire us to get a glimpse into their daily lives. Meet Olja Ryzevski and her husband Mauricio F. Corridan, a creative couple living in Amsterdam with their baby boy Leo. 

On a sunny morning we arrive at Zeeburgereiland, one of the small islands surrounding Amsterdam, where Olja and Mauricio live in a spacious, modern apartment overlooking the river IJ. Having lived all over the world, from Berlin to Seoul, we talked about places they draw inspiration from, how to make your home child-proof, and how to play with colour in your interior. 
  We would say it’s minimalistic, clean, and modern with an industrial touch due to our concrete floors and stainless steel kitchen. We have always been inspired by Scandinavian and Japanese designs. We don’t like to have a lot of decoration and things around, so we keep it simple, or try, at least. But at the same time, it should always be comfortable and functional. 
  We were inspired by the many designers and styles we encountered during our travels. We fell in love with minimalistic design when living in Seoul, South Korea. Now we are definitely into Japandi design, which is a combination of many of the things we are drawn to: natural colors and shapes, highly aesthetic while at the same time functional.
  We definitely had to move things around to make sure that it’s safe for him to walk around and play. Instead of completely removing items like vases or plants, we are making sure that he understands which things are, for now, forbidden to touch. Since we always take time to think before investing in pieces, we are even more considerate about how this will work with a baby moving around the house. 
  Mauricio: Hard to choose, I definitely like the living room a lot as we have some really amazing views and it’s just so nice to sit there in the evenings and relax after a long day! 
Olja: Our bedroom - it’s really cozy, and I love how we have decorated it and how all the pieces work so well together with our concrete floor. I feel so calm and inspired by it! 
  We are both very much into neutral colours like beige, black, or gray when it comes to our clothing style and interior, but we do like adding a touch of colour here and there to make things a bit more fun! When you have such a clean and minimalistic space, it’s important to choose one or two colours you would like to see every day. It can be colourful accessories like vases or pieces of art. In our case, we decided to choose this lounge chair in blue, which is one of the most calming colours in interior design. It really pops in our clean and minimal space, works perfectly with beige and the touches of wood we have in our living room, and makes the room more playful. 
  Since we already had a big sofa, we were looking for a really comfy armchair, and we both loved its classic and timeless design. It’s also really comfortable! The Elements Coffee Table is our latest addition from Studio HENK, and it fits so well into our space. It adds a Japanese-inspired touch, and we love the design and the dark brown wood.

Inspired by Olja and Mauricio’s Japanese influences like our Elements Coffee Table in oak smoked stain? Customise your furniture piece via the configurator on our website.  We’ve replaced the Guiseppe with a similiar, slightly bolder chair in our collection. Would you also  like to add a pop of color to your interior? Discover our Cave Lounge Chair in Tonus 4 210.