about Nicole van Schouwenburg
senior brand- and interior designer
“The beauty of the world is endless and I want to see it all!”
Hence, the most inspiring thing for me to do is to travel. It can take my breath away when ‘man meets nature’, like in the organic landscape of the rice field terraces in Bali. These small winding dykes, all made by hand, holding their ingenious water system, how they perfectly create this incredible tropical scenery. Vibrant colours, rural textures, subtle cloudscapes, rare animals, ancient cities, creative streetfood and skillful artisan work. For work inspiration (and pure joy) I hunt for authentic boutique hotels. Finally I am mesmerized by how the light of the sun plays with all this beauty and try to capture it in pictures (see my Instagram).
Being a senior designer I really get excited when I meet experienced creative professionals, who are on top of their skills, to learn from them and work together. As I actually do with Erik Kor, a master furniture maker. We work with love and fun and keep eachother on our toes. In my early days I learned much from the graphic design and branding mastodont Gert Dumbar and from my beloved aunt Kaatje de Lestrieux, a famous Dutch interior- and garden designer. She was my role model of an independent selfmade professional woman. She taught me how to think free, not to compromise on your own beliefs, and go for the life you really want. She had the magical gift of ‘taste’ and involved me in all her projects. She passed away but still speaks to me.
For 4 decades now, I am an independent design professional, running my own business in NL. I worked on many nice projects in the cultural- as well as the corporate field, designed a few successful products – like Delft Blue dinner plates with thoughtful texts in blue calligraphy – and teached graphic design and idea development at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam for 8 years.
In 2012, I was lucky to get a job in the Turks and Caicos Islands as a brand designer in the hospitality field. This job varied from designing paper coasters to private jets, to the interior decor of the rooms.
One of the greatest projects in the TCI we finished in 2018 was the design of 10 luxury beach cabanas on the shore of the private island of Ambergris Cay. A lot of my favourite activities came together in this project. Together with Erik we developed a fully customized Caribbean beach house from scratch. With local building techniques and modern comfort. Every piece of furniture was especially designed by us to please and ease the guest. These turned out to be top rated suites even amongst the most spoiled guests. Unfortunately our positions were made redundant when Covid-19 hit the world.
Decorative items for the interiors I buy all over the world. My passion is to find skilled artisan workshops in countries like Bali, Morocco, Spain, Colombia and Mexico, that make truly original pieces. I feel better by trading with these small factories, knowing that the people who work in these workshops are happy and earn enough. Also I do my best to use products that are circular produced.
Thank you for reading about me and enjoy my website!