So after looking at a dozen apartments, we narrowed our search down to two. They are in the same general area, with lots of amenities. Both of the homes were built in the early 1900's and have that tall, narrow Dutch style. I'd love to hear your thoughts! Which would you choose?
Apartment 1 - Museumplein
This apartment is around the corner from the world famous Musumplein, home to The Rijksmuseum (one of the top 10 in the world per National Geographic), the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedlijk Museum (the Dutch version of MOMA) and the Concertgebouw. It's a bustling location that exudes energy, next door to restaurants, trams/buses, and shopping.
The apartment is on the 2nd floor (3rd floor to our American brains - 34 steps to be exact!), faces south (so lots of sunlight) and comes furnished. There are 3 bedrooms, two bathrooms, and two toilets. As well as a rooftop deck and a balcony.
The living room is nicely sized - but the furniture is enormous, making it difficult to walk through the room. There is a gas fireplace, which will be wonderful in the winter! And the ceilings are really high, which makes the rooms seem even bigger.
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Marilyn Monroe photos - yeah....I want to look at her everyday!! |
The french doors open to a balcony which looks down on the cafe below. The office is off to to the left of the living room.
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View from balcony to cafe below |
What do you think of the bright red kitchen? At least it has an American sized range!
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Dining room with small breakfast room next to the windows |
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Office space - off of the Living Room |
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Don't you love this staircase? |
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Smallest bedroom - no idea why there are so many mattresses! |
There are 3 bedrooms upstairs, as well as a sauna, a giant closet with a washer/dryer, and the staircase to the rooftop deck.
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Sauna - which apparently doubles as storage for vacuum cleaner, cleaning supplies, etc. |
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Bedroom number two |
Check out the light fixture over the bed. It's blinding when it's on. There is a nice balcony through the double doors.
This is the hallway bathroom. I love the sloped walls/ceiling and the exposed timbers.
The front bedroom is really large and like the back bedroom, it has a king sized bed. Isn't the chandelier gorgeous? But again, why extra mattresses???
This Jack and Jill bathroom is between the two large bedrooms. That's the shower off to the right. And there is no toilet in either bathroom - that's reserved for the toilet room, which is in the hallway so everyone can access it!
The upstairs hall has these double doors with the washer/dryer behind them. The staircase leads up to the rooftop deck.
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View from rooftop - that's the Rijksmuseum in the distance |
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The Stedlijk Museum is straight ahead, with the Van Gogh museum on the right. |
The rooftop deck is pretty amazing, with views of world famous museums and the concert halls in every direction.
Apartment 2 - Old Zuid
This apartment is on a busy tram line, but is a quieter location than apartment 1. It has 2 bedrooms, two bathrooms (and a toilet in the bathroom - oh my, such a luxury!), and is unfurnished. Now unfurnished is WAY different than what we are used to. There is no such thing as a closet here - everyone uses a wardrobe. So you need to supply wardrobes, light fixtures (yup, there are just connections at the ceiling), furniture, etc. (Just be thankful this isn't Germany, you need to bring your own kitchen there!). We need a reconnaissance trip to IKEA to figure out what it would cost to furnish it!
It's a bit bigger than the first one and very contemporary inside - which would be a fun sort of change! I'm pretty jazzed about that idea. It's also on the 2nd floor, with a confusing stairway that shares storage space with the neighbors.
The living room is huge, with a gas fireplace and beautiful parquet wood floors.
Look at this kitchen! It looks like something out of a magazine with an oven, espresso machine and microwave all built in to the cabinetry. And there is a big refrigerator and freezer (it's the unit on the right side of the cabinet wall)- Hooray! The only thing I can't figure out is where you store your 'stuff' when you have a streamlined kitchen like this! The only counter space is on the open island. I'm not sure we're neat enough for this layout!
There isn't a balcony in this apartment, but the sliders off of the dining room open wide.
This small office is next to the dining room. A bit claustrophobic, but the french doors open to the railing.
Upstairs, there is a decent sized master bedroom. Again, doors open to a railing - so not as nice as a balcony, but still a great touch.
This is the nicest master bathroom we saw in any apartment, including a toilet, tub and shower. Oh, and all the bathrooms have those nice wall mounted towel heaters. That's a nice touch!!
This is the front bedroom. I love the angles and beams! The only tricky part is where would you put a wardrobe? There is only one blank wall that would really work for a bed - but wardrobes would need to go there too! Hmmm.......
So these are both great apartment options, with different pros and cons. Which one would you choose? Apartment 1? Or Apartment 2?
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