Creating Interiors You Love
Yeh Design Magazine
Inspiration • News • Projects • Design tips & Styling tricks • Your Interior is you
When the architecture changes during a proces
Yeh Design • Project in progress
The client decided halfway through the architecture process to remove the ceiling of their annex to create an extremely high ceiling. I love these types of briefings; the sky is the limit! Look at our design with this beautiful arched window minimalistic long stretched vanity warm ambiance with playful positioning of lights. We love to work with natural materials and contrast to create character and depth.
Do you want a custom interior design?
About Hsiu-Li Yeh
Yeh Design • Background of the art director Hsiu-Li
The owner and founder of Yeh Design – Miss Hsiu-Li Yeh – has extensive experience in interior design for commercial spaces. Twenty-five years ago after she completed her master’s degree with honour in the studies of TU Delft Industrial Design Engineering, she went to San Francisco. She found a job at an internationally renowned high-end architecture firm and got the opportunity to work on a project for a resort in Goya – a Marriot hotel chain. From that moment on, she fell in love with interior design and architecture.
After one year, back in the Netherlands, she became a well-known freelancer working for several famous design firms for example Jan des Bourvie in Naarden Vesting and SVT Branding and Design Group in Amsterdam. She worked on acclaimed brands like Schiphol, ABN AMRO, Albert Heijn, KPN, Heineken Strongbow, Trekpleister, V&D, Restaurant Sin Jah, Restaurant Sarang Mas, Costa Cruise, Fit For Free, and SportCity.
“Working with acclaimed architect Ole Scheeren (back then he was the partner of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture – OMA Rem Koolhaas) gave me a fantastic learning curve not only as a designer but also as a person.”
In 2005 she left The Netherlands to broaden her eyes in Shanghai. Here she worked in the high-end market in retail design and architecture. Together with a strong international group of creatives, architects, designers, and consultants, she was on the team amongst architect Ole Scheeren back then partner of OMA (Rem Koolhaas) and alongside directors of Cartier, and Hermes. [Ole Scheeren nowadays has an acclaimed architecture firm Büro Ole Scheeren]. They developed a master plan for 20 acres along the Pudong River, the area called Waitanyuen. As she recalls this Shanghai phase of her life “Working with the Office for Metropolitan Architecture gave me a fantastic learning curve not only as a designer but also as a person”.
In 2010 she moved back to the Netherlands. Now based in Wassenaar she uses her extensive commercial and international experience for hospitality, retail, luxury residential projects, and hotels like for example Botel Hotel on the Amsterdam Amstel waters and Hotel on the PC Hoofdstaat in Amsterdam.
Would you like to hear more about the archived or other projects?
Farmhouse turns into Villa
Yeh Design • Project in progress
Yeh Design was asked to do the interior design and architecture of this beautiful traditional Dutch Farmhouse. Hsiu-Li Yeh right away had a vision for the barn which will be multi-functionally used for family gatherings and conference space.
“Traditional Dutch Farmhouse turns into a modern Villa. ”
The farm exists of three buildings. The main situates the living and barn. The summer house is the master bedroom and the “koetshuis” is going to be the office and guestrooms. An exciting total concept design project!
No colour – No glory!
Yeh Design • Tips for choosing colours
Choosing colours for the wall and door and window frames can be challenging. One tip that Hsiu-Li Yeh would like to give is check the colours always at the location with the actual light and furniture.
Shown here is the actual carpet which will be in the living room. Place the sample schemes on top and make a first selection. In this case, the carpet and Asian China plates were more important than the walls. So the colour to be chosen must be gluing all items yet a little bit suppressed. As result, the carpet and accessories will be the hero.
“Check the colours always at the location with the actual light and furniture”
We love to work with the paint brands Farrow & Ball or Little Greene. Try it out. After choosing the colours, buy a sample tin of each and paint on A4 or A3 carton. Hold it against the walls. Check during each day for colour changes. Sometimes a colours can look more yellow-ish, pink-ish, or blue-ish. In general, a colour will be more yellow-ish in southern light. And more blue-ish in the northern light. To compensate, choose a complementary colour. Adjust your choice accordingly.
For this project we tried 4 blues. In the end the client chooses the more saturated blue. The result is stunning, bold but classy with character.
Good luck!
Kindergarten Villa Bloom
Yeh Design • Project realized
In collaboration with Villa Bloom, Yeh Design designed the interior design and architecture concept. This kindergarten chain in The Hague and Zuid-Holland area in The Netherlands was looking for a minimalistic zen look and feel so that kids could calm down and play peacefully.
Next to a kindergarten it provides the service of a daycare and has a community purpose. In the cafe, children, parents, neighbors, and caretakers can all come together to spend quality time.
“A zen and minimalistic look and feel so that kids could calm down and play peacefully. ”
Minimalism is beautiful but it can become cold and not stimulating for children. It is a thin line. For this client, the brief was ‘playful yet clean and sober’. Yeh Design came up with a grid of the floors, wall panels, and ceiling to create a signature new ambiance for the brand Villa Bloom. Each room has a slightly different treatment but overall it is cohesive. Together with an intelligent and great-looking lighting plan the whole interior and architecture comes to life.
When working with the target group of children and daycare, health and hygiene have the utmost importance. On top of that, textures and colour can have a huge effect on the behavior and mental state of people. Therefore all materials are considered carefully and the colours are chosen for psychological and esthetical reasons.
Are you looking for a behavioral interior design with scientific knowledge used during the process? Each project is different, we love to dive into the depth with you. Call/text us: +31 6 4282 9978
Photoshoot
Yeh Design • Behind the scenes of a shoot
So proud to see the results of this project. While preparing for the photo shoot we had to pull everything together. So many details to consider. Furniture, accessories, lamps, even the hair, and nails of the designer. But miss Hsiu-Li Yeh enjoyed the whole process of the shoot a lot.
Here you can see some snapshots made by the iPhone 11 Pro.
“Hsiu-Li enjoyed the whole process of the shoot a lot.”
Here you can see one of the four spaces which are photographed. This is the connecting area between the two houses, on one side up a couple of stairs there is the living room and the other part is the living kitchen situated. This in-between area has the most lovely light peaking through the roof window. The ceiling is made dark for a boutique feel.
The architecture is kept modern, stylish, and industrial but it is styled and finished with natural materials, warm colours, and curvy furniture resulting in this interesting inside the outside area in a cozy and playful ambiance.
Shutters revival
Yeh Design • Finished Project
Proud to announce that the shutters project is finished. Hsiu-Li delivered and installed these shutters in a classical historic apartment in the center of The Hague. This young couple was looking for an elegant solution to create some more privacy in the living room and the kitchen. They came this the idea to use shutters, and the result is stunning! See how they combined style into a beautiful electric coherent interior design full of character.
“Shutters is an elegant solution to create privacy without blocking light. ”
By using shutters you create warmth and character in the interior decor. But most importantly, a shutter is an elegant solution to create privacy without blocking light.
If you have upper neighbors, and you need more privacy, try using blinds just the upper part of the windows. This way it is a win-win, on your level you keep the open view to your city garden yet the neighbors upstairs can not look straight into your kitchen. Brilliant!
When using shutters in the living room, the blinds will become a part of the interior decoration. Choose a colours that blend with your walls to keep it in the background. And use colour in the accessories to draw attention more to the foreground. The result is coherent and balanced.
Need assistance in selecting and purchasing shutters? Yeh Design is here to help you.
See more pictures of this project, go to The Studio – Quick fix – Shutters
Kick-off
Yeh Design • Exploring and building news ideas
New project kick-off. Hsiu-Li loves this first phase of the design project. It is the moment where you get to know the client, where ideas are going everywhere but Hsiu-Li will bring – sometimes conflicting – design styles together. Ideas are explored by making zoning plans and sketch floorplans. Initial materials and colour boards are made and discussed. All with one goal to get aligned with each other.
Hsiu-Li sees design as a way of communication. It is the task of a designer to get the client’s wishes and dreams onto paper. It’s in that moment that an idea comes to life.
“Hsiu-Li sees design as a way of communication. It is the task of a designer to get the client’s wishes and dreams onto paper. It’s in that moment that an idea comes to life. ”
Do you need samples or are you looking for a specific material?
Sketch Study of a Barn House
Yeh Design • It always starts with a sketch
The family of this lovely historic cozy house decided to take it step by step in their search for the perfect home. This existing build consists of a relatively new existing build and an old classic barn. The family had a problem making it one coherent story. In total, it missed up-to-date feel and character. Yeh Design helped to develop a concept and gave Styling advice for the colours and the window shades.
Colour, Material & Styling Tips
Yeh Design • Project realized – Renovation kitchen & lounge area
Lovely thirties architecture house in Wassenaar needed a big redo. They decided to renovate the complete ground floor, including new flooring, walls, kitchen and annex/wash/kids room. When you want a minimalistic look but still feeling warm? Try the white-grey sand tones of Farrow & Ball. Without becoming too colorful the environment will look and feel so different. Try the colour Strong White as shown here in the pictures. Tip: If you go for a minimalistic look as shown here, try using this one colour for the walls and on the cupboards! With just some paint, you can freshen up your space and bring coziness to your home!
“Tip: If you go for a minimalistic look as shown here, try using this one colour for the walls and on the cupboards! With just some paint, you can freshen up your space and bring coziness to your home!”
Hsiu-Li Yeh also gave advice for the kitchen design, colours and materials. Nowadays you see a lot of black kitchens, but that can become too cold and not. timeless. After the advice of Hsiu-Li and the initial idea of the client, they decide to go ahead with dark blue, more specifically “Hague Blue”. To let the kitchen stand out more, a slightly darker beige grey tone is chosen for the walls of the kitchen. Used here is the colour: Cornforth White of Farrow & Ball. In total the result is stunning, don’t you think?
“To let the kitchen stand out more, a slightly darker beige grey tone is chosen for the walls of the kitchen.”
The new heated flooring with beautiful neutral European Oak is done. The walls are painted and the kitchen is finished and operational. The next phase is what to do with the window shades or curtains. It will be a combination of bamboo shades and velvet beige gold velours. We are working on the specifications. More pictures coming up soon.
Stay tuned for styling tips and tricks? Do you colour, material, and advise on handgrips? Follow us on Instagram @yeh.nl or send us an email or chat instantly. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Villa Zuid-Holland
Yeh Design • Project under construction
Villa Zuid-Holland is a classic beauty that somehow feels super exciting and new.
Yeh Design merged two buildings into one spectacularly luxurious and smart villa designed for a young family. Passionate about the client’s family heritage and contemporary design, Yeh Design decided to use that in the design. This expressed itself in a bohemian Ibiza style fused with a slick black modern style in a deliberate mixture of textures and materials.
“Passionate about the client’s family heritage and contemporary design, Yeh Design decided to use that in the design.”
The whole objective was to evoke the water location of the villa. The area between the two buildings will be the super light heart of the villa including a second entrance, a bar, and a pool table. Connected to the building on the west side, which is the seaside of The Netherlands, will be the “the boat” part including a dramatic dark large dining area, a spacious open kitchen area with a large black and dark grey stone cooking island, and a long dining table for at least 8 persons. This shows a lifestyle full of sharing, fun, and happiness.
The master bedroom, which is above the kitchen, has partly a glass floor to capture the light directly from the sun or reflected from the water alongside the villa. The building on the east side with the design theme “on the beach” is slightly lower, smaller, and more cottage-like. We decided to enhance this by housing the living room here and make this a super warm and cozy space by using soft materials and colors.
“Warm white shades of sand grey tones, and soft earth tones contrasted with dark timber, black wood, and steel for an exhilarating cutting edge bespoke interior design.”
On the first floor, guests can stay without disturbing the owner who will be living on the other side of the building. The whole villa will have a young spirit, with a chic and contemporary Ibiza lifestyle and a cool attitude. Warm white shades of sand grey tones, and soft earth tones contrasted with dark timber, black wood, and steel for an exhilarating cutting-edge bespoke interior design.
The construction has started, see pictures of the construction here. The plan is to finish before Christmas, fingers crossed! We are looking forward to telling you more once it is finished. In the meantime, you can find updates on Instagram @yeh.nl. Stay tuned!
“The construction will start soon, we are looking forward to telling you more once it is finished. In the meantime, you can find updates on Instagram pages of @yeh.nl
New collaboration for Yeh Design and Peter Baas
Yeh Design • News
This month started with a nice and refreshing collaboration between Yeh Design and Dutch photographer Peter Baas. As the fitness avenue for SportCity is now open and running in Den Haag New Babylon, Hsiu Li wanted to document the project with a new eye on the design.
Peter Baas fits perfectly with the task, he is specialized in interior and exterior photography and known for collaborations with big hotel brands like Van Der Valk, the Hampshire, and Fletcher hotels. The results looks is stunning!
“Peter Baas fits perfectly with the task, he is specialized in interior and exterior photography and known for collaborations with big hotel brands like Van Der Valk, the Hampshire, and Fletcher hotels.”
Do you want to see more about the SportCity projects in New Babylon Den Haag? Email Us: yeh@yeh.nl
The magic of wallpapers, before and after a souterrain remake
Yeh Design • Design tips & Styling tricks
As the Yeh Design project of the apartment in the heart of Amsterdam is currently under construction, more sneak peeks of the design are revealed here. Hsiu Li thought to show an interesting example of how she tackled the redesign of the souterrain of the apartment. The space came already with nice features, a metal stair with a golden cork wallpaper on the wall and a long white corridor. Still, the goal of Yeh Design was to reach a sophisticated hotel look of the apartment, a cozy and modern feel in each area of the house.
Two questions arose: ‘how can a space with such features be elevated?’ and ‘how can it come to life in a homogenous way?’. Hsiu Li suggested a simple and yet efficient way to bind the elements together and enhance the existing architecture. She chose a natural, fibre-made wallpaper to cover the white corridor walls and match the golden cork wallpaper that was already present.
The reason why this solution worked so well is because the wallpaper created a warm and welcoming feeling in the corridor, it also reflected the light and bonded together with the golden stair wall in a subtle and elegant way. So, what do you think about the results? Hsiu Li suggests to mix wallpapers as you do for pillows and linen, differentiate the patterns scale so that they don’t compete visually. She also recommends to look at the wallpapers of brands like Elitis, Dutch Wallpaper Company and Arte which provide perspective on the new trends.
“Hsiu Li suggests to mix wallpapers as you do for pillows and linen, differentiate the patterns scale so that they don’t compete visually.”
Do you need help finding the perfect match of wallpapers for your house? Call/text us for free consultation: +31 6 4282 9978
Elegant bamboo window shades
Yeh Design • Design tips & Styling tricks
Do you have windows viewing a street? Do you want more privacy but you don’t want to paste the complete window with frosted foil? Here is the answer. Hsiu-Li recommends using bamboo rolling shades. Bamboo creates a very nice ambiance since the light does still peek through the shades, but the vision to the inside of the living room is very limited. Next to the semi-transparent shades, use also curtains. For her this combination is the ultimate solution for window coverings.
“Bamboo is a naturally sustainable material. No shade is exactly the same. This makes it lively and gives character to your space.”
Hsiu-Li is always looking for nice beautiful materials, and preferably sustainable as well. She beliefs quality will win over quantity. If you can, invest in good materials which last longer, and you can enjoy longer. Window decoration is something you normally don’t change for a decade, better do it well from the beginning. Bamboo is a great option. It is a naturally sustainable material. No shade is exactly the same. This makes it lively and gives character to your space.
“Window decoration you normally don’t have to change for a decade.”
Do you like this look? It has two layers of window covering. Shades and curtains. A couple of things you have to take into account.
- Choose wisely which windows. You don’t have to do all of them. Just the prominent windows to showcase and where you need privacy, for example the living room and the dining room. These rooms can get shades and curtains. The rest will sustain with curtains.
- Choose the colours. For the shades, Hsiu-Li advices to go for shades to stay in the neutral and natural colour scheme. Are your walls white? Take a darker colour to contrast the rest, for example dark brown or almost black. Never choose full black, it is too hard and will make your space too dramatic. For the curtains, if you like colour and patterns, use them for the curtains, but not for the shades. The sky is the limit here. Always request samples and hang them against the wall (to mirror the actual situation, curtains are hanging, the light falls differently than for the sample). And add to the sample all the other materials you have. Match the colours and materials as your like but always in a smart way. Need help with this? Get a Personal Designer, click here.
- Order the shades and curtains. This is a real profession. Measuring how much fabric you need for a curtain can be difficult. And hanging everything up in the correct way can also be quite a challenge. Unless you are very handy, Hsiu-Li advices you to ask a professional. This will save a lot of stress. For these bamboo shades, contact Yeh Design. The design experts can help you choose what material and colour fit best for your need, and Yeh Design can arrange somebody to come to your home to take all the necessary measurements. Concerning the curtains, if you ordered already the fabric, this company can help you to make the curtains, and arrange the rails for you: Knip en klaar gordijn[only the Netherlands].
“Measuring and hanging the shades and curtains is a real profession. Hire someone who knows what he is doing to save a lot of stress.”
Luxury apartment in the heart of Amsterdam
Yeh Design • Work in progress
With full enthusiams the Yeh Design team is working on the luxury aparment in the heart of Amsterdam. The scope is to redesign and style the ground floor and the hallways in the souterain level. The building is a moment with lots of gorgeous authentic features. Yeh Design started in the first phase by making mood boards to test and see what the client want. As a result the big appartment will be modern and minimalistic with a hotel luxurious feel. With the requirment that it has to be cosy and warm. The real challange is to create a good balance in between minimalism and cosy-ness.
“Even though the clients knows what they want, but it only when they get to see the pictures they start to realize what they said.”
In the second phase we diverted a little bit more on the living room. it has a long plain wall, what can we do to make it exiting. Hsiu-Li decides to replace an exiting cabinet of black steel and rotan natural materials and put it in between the traffic area and the living area against the wall. This way two two problems are solved, the long wall is now excting and by doing so, there was a new zone create just in front of the window. This extra zone is perfect place for a piano or sitting area for the kids. Another challange for the living room that needed to be tackled was the light. The living room a high ceiling and it hardly has direct daylight. In a situation like this Hsiu-Li recommends not to even try to compete with the daylight. Sunlight is very strong, no artificial light has a same capacity. Hsiu-Li advises to stay in the dark colours and make a cosy corner. In the render you can see what they has designed.
“A dark room I would advise not to try to make it like, you never can compete sunlight. Rather make it cozy.”
Within 3 months Yeh Design finishes with all the 4 Design Phases. The Design development is done, the build has started. We will show you once the realisation has finished. The team has worked hard, as a results a beautiful well functioning design, with the style the client loves.
“The design development part is done, now the build can start.”
A peek in Yeh Design’s studio
Yeh Design • News
Yeh Design is located in Wassenaar and has a nice studio. An villa in small office area in Wassenaar, just around the corner of the legedary resturant ‘t Schouwtje, where you can still get the hot stone grill menu like 30 hears ago! In the villa on the first floor the design studio of Hsiu-Li Yeh is situated, and on the ground floor her tea company/online shop Yeh Tea is located.
“Natural day light is very important for a healthy work environment.”
On the first floor she and her design team can work in a comfortable contemporary style office. The space has on 3 sides natural daylight, which creates the perfect embiance. Natural day light is very important for a healthy work environment. It will keep your mind fit and alert.
“Dark blue stands for fortune and wealth.”
Hsiu-Li has always been interested in feng shui. Feng Shui is basisly placing the objects in space correctly so that the energy can flow easily through the whole space. Colour and materials can influence the flow. Dark blue stand for furtune and wealth. Thus a big part of the wall has become this colour. It’s all about balance. Play with dark colours and light colours.To compensate the darkness, a beige sand colour curtain is placed right beside it. The result is a beautiful contrasting and powerfull and complete story.
“It’s all about balance. Play with dark colours and light colours.”
The 5 design steps we follow.
1. Sketch & Analysis Phase
In this phase, we first analyze your design challenge. We check the location, situation, and your requirements in terms of functionality and style. We make an initial priority list of the design wishes and from there we start to make the first rough sketches.
2. Concept Phase
Following up on the first phase we dip deeper into all the criteria. With this, the concept and theme will be developed. This included zoning plans, floorplans, initial light plan ideas, and mood, colour, and material boards. The design ideas will be visualized in more detail.
3. Preliminary Design Phase
This is the phase where we start nailing down all the design decisions. Along the way, more criteria will be infused into the design. The visualization will be shown in more detail and we start making elevations on a specific zone or fragment alike a custom wall solutions, lighting, furniture, etc.
4. Final Phase
Here we recap all the designs we made and start to wrap up and make the drawings ready for the production of the carpenter, or construction of the build.
5. Installation
The construction starts. The build, installation, and styling will be done by our team. A true worry and stress-free experience. In the end, you will get the key back to your beautiful home.
Let’s get personal
Hsiu-Li Yeh is a highly acclaimed industrial design ingeneer from the Netherlands. With over 25 years of experience in Interior Design & Architecture she now works with her team on projects and design tools to make your space brilliant.
“All I want is to make people happy. I can’t do much, but design I can. This is my tool to make the world a little more beautiful.”
From restaurant daughter to Entrepreneur.
Growing up in Ede, in the middle of The Netherlands, she soon moved north because of the opening of a new business in Leeuwarden. Hsiu-Li went to Delft for her studies at University of Technology. After working abroad San Fransisco, Shanghai and Stuttgart for several years, she settled in Wassenaar. From her office, she runs the successful design studio Yeh Design and popular online tea shop Yeh Tea.
“I’ve been very lucky to be able to collaborate on projects with big designers and architects like Jan des Bourvie and Rem Koolhaas.”
As a mother of an 7 year old daughter she always has to guggle between work and her private life. But nothing is more important to her then her family. Together with her partner and father of her daughter they have a classic townhouse which has been modernized a couple of years ago. The result is stunning. It is a place where she relax and be together with family. But it’s also where she also can do her work. Especially now with the pendamic she understands that your home is your safe zone. On top of that is has to become a home office. This can be a challange. You also still want it to look nice.
“My home is my safe zone, where I can be together with my family but also stay in touch with my team and do my work.”
With her online service, she and her team can be your a personal designer to help you to get through this challange. Go to the webshop and get instant assistance in making an appointment. Yeh Design is looking forward hearing from you!