‘Oooh baby, do you know what that’s worth? Oooh, heaven is a place on earth!’ Who knew Belinda Carlisle was right all those years ago? Heaven is a place on earth, and I’ve found it, and it’s called Nijhof.

What is Nijhof? Simply put, it’s a store. But it’s not just any store; it’s the home store to end all home stores. Imagine if West Elm + Home Depot + Anthropologie Home + Crate & Barrel had a sweet, perfect, albeit bigger and happier baby. That baby would be named Nijhof.

Yarn?

Turntables & Terrariums.

Cabin Chic.

Pink!

Depression Glass.

Boxes on boxes on boxes.

From cappuccino makers to reclaimed wood farm tables, they have a ridiculously large, well-curated selection of housewares. Decor, window treatments, building materials, paint, stationery, records and turntables (?), furniture, lawn and garden, lumber, kitchen, bathroom, and living room concept floors. Everything. Coming in at a whopping 20,000 m², it’s nearly 5 acres of pure happiness. FIVE ACRES.

I’ve spent hours wandering Nijhof, window shopping for birthday gifts, taking photos for inspiration and dreaming of how I can become the kind of person that owns/needs an 18-seat dining table.

Marco tells me that Nijhof is an anomaly, and the only one of its kind. And it’s less than 2 miles from our house. If that’s not serendipitous, I don’t know what is.

In fact, I’ve given this a fair amount of thought, and I’m pretty sure that if there’s some sort of catastrophic event, and I find myself forced out of my home into a post-apocalyptic landscape, I could abscond to Nijhof and survive for quite a while if need be. You see, there’s also a large La Place restaurant and cafeteria on the second floor. Like any mega-store (think Sam’s, Costco, Ikea), Nijhof realizes the importance of satiating hungry shoppers so they can stay for hours at a time.

Pop.

Happy Cards.

Man with Wrench.

Wood.

Mid-Century Modern.

Inner Kid.

I could wax poetic about Nijhof all day, but I’m not trying to break hearts here. Just know that if you ever come to visit, this is the first place I’m taking you. All of you.

Now if someone can just point me in the direction of the Dutch-equivalent to the Container Store. Please and thank you.

xo,

R

PS…Because my photos don’t do it justice, Instagram: Nijhof.