A Tour Of Tiles

This will be sort of a picture post- I seem to have run out of day. Hate it when that happens.

All my life, not surprisingly, I have been surrounded by Dutch tiles. Most are known as Delft tiles, but there other types of tiles also. When I went back, I fell in love with the extravagent displays of tiles in fireplace design. I've had a secret desire (yes, a very tame desire) to tile my kitchens with Dutch tiles, but then I would have to tear up my kitchen and bring it with us every time we move. Not very practical.

The first picture is from a house dated 1764, belonging to a friend of my father's. It was so 'gezelig' (roughly meaning cozy, cofortable) to sit in the arm chair and read in this room. The fireplace was magnificent- they were in the process of restoring it.The next two pictures are from Rembrandt's house, dated 1606. I wasn't allowed to get really close to the fireplaces, but they were beautiful. Just being in the house that he painted "The Nightwatch" was something special. Seeing his studio and the tools he used made me feel a little closer to history.
The last picture is from the "Openlucht Museum" in Arnhem, where actual old buildings have been moved from the whole country to make an open-air museum. This was the interior of a middle-class family's house. Very gezelig!



PS- I'm sorry this post looks so bad. I couldn't for the life of me get the pictures to post more attractively, and I finally cried myself to sleep.