One house just isn’t enough when children arrive on the home front… so we celebrate these gorgeous Amsterdam canalhouse-inspired closets from the Dutch design company Kast van een Huis. 

Designer Marie-Louise Groot Kormelink first had these closets made when she set out to decorate her own children’s rooms and could find nothing she particularly liked. So, inspired by her Flemish surroundings, she soon had an entire collection of buildings ready for habitation.

With a Stairgable, Bellgable and Neckgable profile, these fabulously fun closets will ensure your child is au fait with her Amsterdam architecture long before she sets sight on the actual canals of this iconic Dutch town

Gables were both a design solution and a decorative embellishment for Dutch buildings from the mid 16oos, hiding the steep saddle roofs of the narrow houses – usually not more than 30 foot (9 metres) wide – that were increasingly being built along Dutch canals and providing a means of indicating the worth and identity of the owners and occupants of the building with crests and coat of arms often being used as well.

In Holland, these cupboards are already collector’s classics, and soon after they were launched, the Amsterdam Collection won the Prix Decouverte at Maison & Objet 2010.

The three gable designs of cupboard also come in three sizes, so you can include a mix and match of  styles and sizes for an authentic looking ‘roomscape’ or even build a ‘village’ that can act as a room divider (if you have a fabulously large space!). There are two options for  interior storage – four shelves, or a clothes rail and three shelves. And keep in mind that these can also be used for everything from storing clothes to books or toys, and once your kids are done with them, they could even be turned into a pretty fun workspace for home office equipment.

With 11 standard colours (including the ‘undressed’ option), as well as any number of customised colourways, now you really can paint the town red… or blue, yellow, purple, or green…

In 2012, a matching sofa bed option was added to the Amsterdam Collection.

Designer Details Kast van een Huis was started by designer Marie-Louise Kormeling to create special cabinets for children and adults. She wanted these cabinets to be durable and timeless in quality and design, they should appeal to both children and adults, should be multifunctional and adjustable, and its design should bring a smile on your face. The brand now also has beds in the same Canalhouse collection as well as a Cityscape collection of closets with a graphic modern architectural twist.