bedMATE du mois #24 : Mandy Woelkens

Every month we visit a creative and inspiring person. She or he is the 'bedMATE of the month'.

The bedMATE is the most iconic item in our collection. The extra long cushion serves as a headboard, but also as a cuddle buddy, a friend who provides support.

We crawl into bed with the 'bedMATE of the month'. We take a look at their home and their colorful (bed)rooms. In conversation we discover how they experience the SUITE life. What's going on in their heads? Where do they get their inspiration from? And what color do they dream in?

This month all-round creative Nicole Huisman visited the colorful dike house of media maker Mandy Woelkens: presenter, writer, editor-in-chief of
LINDA.meiden and podcast host.

'A project I will never forget was the shoot that took place in Suriname, for LINDA.meiden, before I worked there, together with my love. That's how I met Nicole! I then stayed longer to show my love the country where my parents come from and friendships were formed there that I still have - and I am now even editor-in-chief of the magazine!

Mandy sips a cup of tea in her colorful living room. 'It's just been painted! We said to the painter: no, it's not just painting a wall of white sauce, haha!' The window frames and doors are bright pink, the walls are peachy orange, there is a piece of Gucci wallpaper above the stairs (Mandy: 'Hung upside down, oops'), the same stairs are dark green and downstairs it is warm red/purple. Yet there is balance. 'To me, color means: warmth, atmosphere and coziness. Pink is
my favourite. And I prefer to combine opposite colors.' And if you find that exciting? 'You can also try it with accessories. Maybe the amount of color and combination we have is a bit intense for some people, but if you have it all in a white shade, you can of course put a table, cushions or those kinds of items in a nice color!'

What else is planned? 'The garden! We are going to fill the borders with new plants and hopefully we will have as many apples as last year. There will be a slide for the little one and hopefully we will be able to move the fig. Fancy!'

Mandy studied theater, film and television sciences at the UU and also started as an intern at the radio. 'But I actually got to where I am now by slowly but surely working my way forward and upward. I do so many different things! There are two very nice new projects in the pipeline. I hope one of the two will go live this year.'

Back to the house. They live upstairs, sleep and bathe downstairs. When we walk down the light pink stairs, our eye immediately falls on the bathroom: warm and cozy, with hand-shaped, light pink tiles. The bedroom feels just as nice. 'At first I thought that white was spacious and everything had to be clean. But I'm not. So thank God I let that go. So boring! I like color and it feeling cozy, so that's how I would describe it now.' What makes it especially a home? 'When my two loves are there.'

And what about bedding? And weekend rituals? 'Bed linen should really feel good. That first. And I also think quality is very important. An extensive pancake breakfast always takes place at the weekend. We already did this with the two of us, and now also with the three of us.'