Book Review: Piet Boon – StyLing by Karin Meyn

Piet Boon Styling is a large, wonderfully finished, and luxurious book. Both inspirational and practical, the book is the first to reveal the secrets of Piet Boon Styling.

This lavishly illustrated book is a source of inspiration for all adepts of the recognizable Piet Boon style. Creative Director Karin Meyn has composed practical checklists and shares unique tips and tricks to decorate and style the different rooms of a house and beyond: living room, bedroom, kitchen, office. Piet Boon Styling is a practical manual for those who want to give their own touch to an interior.

Karin Meyn has been a creative director for Piet Boon for the past 25 years. This multifunctional design studio has become a renowned international luxury brand with a versatile portfolio. With her special gift to combine different forms and colors and her passion for art, beautiful fabrics and other materials, she is the brain behind the atmosphere and the relaxed, stylish allure of the brand. Together with her team, she constantly tries to find those specific objects that enrich her many projects. She has also developed her own accessory line.

Piet Boon is one of the most relevant and iconic designers of our time, and belongs to most famous Dutch architects and interior designers. Together with a creative director Karin Meyn, Piet leads his own team of designers, interior designers and architects completing projects around the world for a constantly growing group of clients.

Those who wonder how Piet Boon succeeded to break through as a top designer not only in the Netherlands but also internationally, one look at his collection of furniture and home designs will provide the answer.

His three decade long career was inspired by a desire to combat a lack of functionality in today’s designs; to create solutions that are both functional and beautiful. His appreciation for simplicity is no doubt a hallmark of Dutch design.

Having started as a contractor, designer Piet Boon has an innate sense of pure, timeless forms which he manages to translate flawlessly into home and furniture designs with sturdy yet elegant lines and a contemporary look. Notable in all Piet Boon designs are the honest materials, subdued colours and a high level of comfort. Piet Boon designs homes, offices and hotels, every interior detail such as furnitures, door hardware, bath and bed linen, lamps, fireplaces, kitchens, bathrooms and beds also carry Piet Boon’s unique signature.

Piet Boon was born in the Netherlands in 1958. He started his career as a contractor, developing his eye and understanding of structure and function through the building process. In 1982 Boon founded his own design studio which he runs with Karin Meyn. Based in Oostzaan, near Amsterdam, the studio employs the best architects, designers and interior designers. They produce furniture, architecture and interiors, and is are recognised specialists in delivering total concept design solutions

His practice innovatively combines functionality and durability, with a love for natural materials and signature details. Piet Boon studio has collaborated with brands including Miele, Bang & Olufsen and Moooi, and continues to work producing luxury lifestyle design.

He launched the “Piet Boon Zone” line of furniture and lighting in 2003 which now successfully operates in 34 countries. In addition to designs for private clients and various commercial housing developments, he designed the interior of the Delano Hotel in Las Vegas and beach houses in the Caribbean amongst others.

Boon also designs houses and entire neighborhoods. In 2006 he designed a floating neighborhood near Almere. He also designed the area around the new marina at the Schelphoek in Hoorn. In 2006 Boon designed a limited edition version of the car Range Rover Sport, which in 2011 was given a second edition which was performed in a matted ‘two-tone’ combination in Off Black and Piet Boon Grey.

He has published three books – Piet Boon (2001), Piet Boon 2 (2005), and Piet Boon Beach (2007), which show the rapid international development of the design studio into an international luxury lifestyle brand. Piet Boon 3 was published in 2011 in 8 languages.

The garden for his own home in Oostzaan, designed by Piet Oudolf, was featured in the BBC’s Around the World in 80 Gardens.