David & Marijke Hukema | Restored
Restored
is a great little shop, or better yet, "a platform, a source, a store" on the Haarlemmerdijk, one of the busier shopping streets in the center of Amsterdam. I've known about it for a while, and have stopped by occasionally, but only recently found out that a former colleague of mine, graphic designer
Ruben Doornweerd
, created the visual identity of Restored. Ruben put me in touch with the shop's owners, David (1982, Heerjandsdam) and Marijke Hukema (1983, Enschede). I recently visited the shop and chatted with David - his wife was at home with their newborn baby, Avie.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?
We are David and Marijke. We have been married for seven years, and live together in the Baarsjes in Amsterdam with our two daughters, a newborn and a toddler of two. We both have backgrounds in graphic design - David studied multimedia design, and Marijke graphic design. We met at a course we had both signed up for called Bible & Arts about 10 years ago. We were both interested in the connections between faith, imagery, beauty and art. During our studies, we started dating and soon after decided to move to Amsterdam. David started working at the art café, Dwaze Zaken, and Marijke had always dreamed of owning her own shop/creative platform. In 2008, Restored was founded.
What brought you to Amsterdam?
We are from very different places in the Netherlands and were searching for a place to start our lives together. Amsterdam seemed to us to be a vibrant and inspiring city to live, so it was an easy choice.
What inspired you to start Restored? What has your experience been so far?
The dream was to have a physical place to foster the merging of beauty, creativity, and people. The shop was the ideal platform for all of these things - a shop, in its very nature, has a very open character. We constantly search for unique collections, interesting brands, and products with interesting stories behind them.
We now work with a small team to maintain our store, blog, webshop, and social media. We work with young designers and great emerging brands. Over the past few years, Restored has been quite successful (we also recently renovated the shop's interior). The location has a lot to do with that as the Haarlemmerdijk has become a very popular shopping street in Amsterdam. The street has a great mix of artisanal shops and unique concept stores, but you'll also find your average supermarket and grocery stores.
Would you say that the city of Amsterdam inspires you? If so, how?
The open character of Amsterdam really inspires us. People are open-minded. You can really go your own way. Even if you were to go to the supermarket in your pajamas, no one would judge you. We also love that there’s so much to do in the city. We especially enjoy all the festivals and outdoor concerts in the parks in the summertime.
What does a typical day look like for you?
We get up early and make a large pot of oatmeal for us, and our two year old, Ela. We take Ela (and soon baby Avie) to the daycare two days a week, and work together in the shop. On the other days, one of us stays at home with the girls. We live in an apartment on the third floor and don't have any outdoor space, so the park is our favorite hangout. There’s a coffee place nearby so all the parents and their kids can enjoy it.
If we manage, we have dinner all together, and once we’ve put the kids to bed, we watch a movie together. Or one of us might go out to meet friends, or visit the theater, or play sports. And when we’re lucky, we arrange a babysitter so we can enjoy an evening out together.
Can you name a few of your favorite places in Amsterdam?
Have you heard of Cinemum at
The Movies
(Haarlemmerdijk 161)? It's great, you can take your baby to the movies! We also like
Café Cook
(close to our home) – we think its the best terrace in Amsterdam West.
Two For Joy
(Haarlemmerdijk 182) makes great lattes and they roast their own coffee beans!
Café Dwaze Zaken
(Prins Hendrikkade 50) is really a gem in the city center - in the midst of all the tourists, it's a place that serves artisanal food and has a really relaxed atmosphere.
What’s next for you?
Dreams and ideas abound, but nothing concrete yet. First, we’re going to look for a suitable family home in Amsterdam. We also want to work on Restored's online presence, and we would really like to expand the ‘platform’ that has become Restored. Not just more space, but more collaborative projects with designers, for example. We would like to start our own collection of products, create a magazine, and set up a coffee bar, a studio, and a shop, all under one roof. But we’ll see what happens. We believe in letting things happen naturally, and following our hearts.
Thank you David and Marijke for this interview! You can visit their
website
and
webshop
, or visit their shop on the Haarlemmerdijk 39, open Monday from 13.00 to 18.00, Tuesday to Friday from 10.00 to 18.00 and Saturday from 11.00 to 18.00.