Inside a Neutral Belgian Home

The minimal design inside a Belgian home, with wooden floorboards and off-white walls, decorated only by a piece of modern art and a shelf.

Belgian architect Vincent Van Duysen is known for bringing spaces down to their bare bones, celebrating the very essence of a building through sparse, minimal design that also manages to be warm and soulful. Van Duysen has worked all over the world in residential and retail spaces (most recently Australian skincare brand Aesop’s latest German store in Hamburg), blending architecture and interior design to develop a signature trend-resisting style. One of his greatest pieces of works, though, is his own Belgian home – a 19th century townhouse in Antwerp.

Inside a neutral Belgian home, with rustic wooden furniture and off-white floors and walls.

When purchased, the house had been neglected for years, with the ground floor full of small dark notary offices and layers of old carpet showing the years of previous renovations. More than two years later, the house was completely transformed. The exterior is now a clean white, with large windows that stream natural light into every space, while the former offices are now one large living room.

The hallway and living room of a neutral Belgian home with only one piece of modern art and a colour scheme of cream and dark brown pieces of furniture.

The colour palette of this Belgian home is kept to a minimum, with neutral greys, unstained poplar wooden floors, shades of white, and black accents making up the interior. Rough textiles and raw concrete walls sit alongside smooth, polished stone surfaces to create a mixture of textures, while the history of the house is reflected in the white marble bath tub and Flemish country-inspired kitchen.

To see more of Vincent Van Duysen’s work, visit his website.