A LOOK INSIDE JENNIFER EWBANK'S HOME: A COLOURFUL SEVENTIES INTERIOR

BRING BACK THE SEVENTIES

A bright red piano welcomes us into Jennifer Ewbank’s living room. Next to it, a guitar leans nonchalantly against the wall. Above the piano, Dolly Parton, Kacey Musgraves and Joni Mitchell smile at you in a hall of fame of LP covers. There can be little misunderstanding about this cheerful vintage interior: a singer-songwriter lives here.

Jennifer herself partly explains the pronounced colour choices for the interior as a result of childhood memories. 'Robin and I are both crazy about the seventies and eighties. Crazy about the warm colours and round shapes from that time. And of course the music from back then. My father always sang songs with a guitar and a harmonica around his neck. Donovan, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, that's what I grew up with. And Dolly Parton, one of my absolute favourites.

Photo above: LAB wallpaint Mrs. Wool no. 108 (walls) and LAB interior paint Monumental Moss no. 265 (frames and radiator housing). Photo left: LAB wallpaint Mrs. Wool no. 108. Photo right: LAB wallpaint Mrs. Wool no. 108 (walls) and Fez no. 288 (ceiling) and LAB interior paint Monumental Moss no. 265 (frames and radiator housing) and Fez no. 288 (woodwork ceiling).

And my parents also had the seventies colours in their house when I was growing up. In the attic they still have a sink in exactly the same shade of green that is now on the woodwork here – Monumental Moss no. 265. I wouldn't need a green toilet bowl, but for the woodwork it seemed great to me. It is a beautiful, warm, sturdy, and yet also classic shade. One that many other colours also match, such as the lilac of the curtains and the armchair, one of my favourite pieces of furniture.'

BACK TO THEN

That Jennifer is not averse to nostalgia is also evident when she takes us to the children's rooms. Just as her mother once made a long desk under the window for her, she now did the same for her own children Emily and Ben. 'I did all kinds of crafts, and then I could look outside. I wanted that for Emily and Ben too. Three Ikea cabinets, a shelf, the brush over it and done.

'Speaking of the view: the fact that you only see greenery from the house, while they live on a fairly busy street, was one of the reasons why Jennifer and Robin fell for this spot. 'And also because this neighborhood borders the dunes, I'm a beach girl.'

Photo above and left: LAB wallpaint Warm Cream no. 38 (walls and ceiling) and LAB interior paint Monumental Moss no. 265 (frame and woodwork). Photo right: LAB wallpaint Saint-Tropez no. 460 (walls) and Velvet Fudge no. 380 (wainscoting) LAB interior paint Monumental Moss no. 265 (doors and woodwork stairs) and Velvet Fudge no. 380 (skirting boards and woodwork wainscoting).

COUNTRY RED

In Jennifer's own bedroom, white cowboy boots with red hearts are on display, confirming that country is her favorite genre. The room also proves once again that Jennifer and Robin are not afraid of color. 'We really wanted something different from the rest of the house. It became a dark burgundy red, Valentine no. 609. Just like a brothel, we sometimes joke. But no, it's a comfortable color, that feels like a warm blanket. And once I'm happy with a color like that ... look,' she points, 'I even painted the pleated blinds in Valentine, and the plastic window frames, the heating, the louvered doors of the closet wall, the skirting boards, everything.'

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ALLERGIC TO WHITE

Jennifer reluctantly opens the door to the bathroom, which is adjacent to the bedroom. 'We're not happy with this space yet,' she confesses. 'Everything is white and I'm allergic to that. But the layout is super efficient and the plumbing is still fine, so we'd rather not just demolish everything. That's not exactly sustainable and it's immediately expensive.' Somewhat hesitantly, she asks herself: 'I actually want to paint here, but will it look nice?' When she then hears about cementum with a waterproof coating from LAB, with which you can even give a tiled wall a concrete look in color, her eyes light up. Needless to ask what the next job in the house will be.

CRYING BEHIND THE PIANO

When you see Jennifer on stage with Douwe Bob, but also on TV with her niece in DNA Singers and with her father in the tender clip of Lighthouse , it is as if she is spreading colour over the world with her hopeful, narrative songs. When asked whether she experiences it that way herself, she responds thoughtfully. 'Music must always touch you first, before you can reach someone else with it. That is my feeling about it. It often happens that I have been writing a song while crying at the piano. If I then later receive messages that such a song also means something to someone else, yes, that remains very special. I had that with I'll Find You , for example, which I wrote for an unborn child. And with Lighthouse , about the bond with my father, who has always been a beacon of security for me.

And while we're on the subject of colour: I'm working on a song about a rainbow, which is about a nasty accident Emily had with a pony a few years ago. Luckily it all turned out fine, but I'm only now at the point where I can write something about it to process it, to really be able to leave it behind me.' Jennifer pulls herself out of her melancholic memories by adding with a laugh: 'You see, I like emotionally heavy music. And I like that just as much, all the emotions are part of it. At the moment I suddenly have a lot of up-tempo inspiration. The next album will be very different again.

WOMANCAVE

For Jennifer and Robin, their home is a place where they can live to the fullest, even happily. 'Well, if the paint gets scratched or chips come off, it can be painted over again in no time. We have two children, two cats and co-parent two large dogs. You can't be too picky about that. We also like to have family and friends over, we like an open house and a buzz. Only to write songs I need to be able to isolate myself. I prefer to work at night. When the whole world is asleep, those are the best moments for me, that's when I'm at my best. I need to be able to sit in a cave to be creative. That's why I'm so happy that we have space here in the basement to make a studio. That's the next big project, I'm really looking forward to it.' What colors will Jennifer paint her woman cave? Keep following her, maybe she'll tell you in a song one day. And if not, she'll definitely show it on her Instagram @jenniferewbank .

Author: Chris Muyres
Photography: Lotte van Uittert

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