A Dutch apartment adorned with natural Christmas decorations

Standing on the bank of the river Spaarne, in the charming Dutch city of Haarlem, is the oldest museum in The Netherlands: Teylers Museum. Established in 1778, it houses the collections of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst – a wealthy merchant with a penchant for scientific artefacts and art.

Before he died, Pieter Teyler set up a foundation, which now owns around a dozen buildings in the city, including this 18th-century canal house, where, on the top floor, Wilma Custers rents an apartment. Much like Teylers Museum, each room of Wilma’s home displays intriguing finds.

In the bedroom, vintage angel wings are suspended from a branch attached to the ceiling beam, wooden fish plates from Brazil line the walls of the hallway and chemistry lab glassware is teamed with hard-to-find ceramics on the dining table. This is the home of someone who loves to collect.

The heritage of the house was of course a draw (Wilma loves surrounding herself with things that have a sense of history) as was its riverside location. ‘When I walked in for the first time, I fell instantly in love,’ she says. ‘The views across the river from the living room are spectacular – I love watching the sailing boats in the summer.’

After moving in five years ago, everything was painted: the floors whitewashed and the walls refreshed with various shades of green – a colour theme that ties the interior together. ‘There was a time when people thought green was stuffy but I’ve always loved it,’ says Wilma.

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Bringing warmth and character into the apartment was something that Wilma, an interiors stylist, was born to do. She’s been passionate about interiors since she was a child, when she was forever rearranging her bedroom.

‘I studied Creative Therapy at university in The Netherlands before moving to Scotland, but soon realised that it wasn’t where my heart lay.

I needed to do something more creative, so I took a job at Laura Ashley. It was a re-schooling – I learnt about fabrics, patterns, paint, and that was it, I never looked back,’ she says.

Wilma’s work has since taken her across the world and her home is filled with curious yet stylish pieces – or, as she modestly laughs off: ‘pieces I’ve dragged along with me and can’t bear to get rid of.’ She explains that much of her furniture has been bought second- hand and updated.

‘The 1950s green chairs in the dining area were bought from a flea market. The seller was about to take them away and have them crushed so I asked how much he was charging. He said, “50 cents each”. I only had a €2 coin so offered him that and it made his day.’

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Similarly, the antique chest of drawers in Wilma’s bedroom was given to her by a friend in exchange for some styling advice and updated with black chalk paint.

Her weakness though, is crockery. ‘My partner and I love cooking, so we both have big collections. My favourite designs are from Gmundner Keramik in Austria – a company that has been hand-making ceramics since 1492. Pieces are hard to come by, so I tend to mix them with white plates and bowls for a mismatched look,’ she says.

Every corner of the apartment contains artful arrangements of seemingly disparate objects. Yet, despite this, it doesn’t feel overcrowded – treasured pieces are given room to breathe. ‘I’ve had to hide much of my things away in the attic because I can’t keep everything out around me, there’s not enough space,’ Wilma laughs.

Her collection of Christmas decorations alone is vast – 20 large boxes organised by colour and material. ‘I’m a last-minute decorator,’ she says. ‘I bring the boxes out in mid December and decide which colours I’m going to use. I tend to do something different each year. It’s never the same. This year, the centrepieces for the dining table are second-hand chemistry lab glassware filled with branches.’

Foliage and natural decorations are a theme that’s been continued throughout the apartment – even in the bedroom. ‘I just love going out into nature to find things that I like,’ says Wilma. ‘It’s there, it’s free and I like the idea that it’s being re-used.’