‘The Word On The Street_’ is a new feature where we get out and about in our local neighbourhood(s) and explore the spaces and places, be it here and now or in the making, that we want to hang out in, whether for work or play, eating and drinking, shopping, resting and thinking…

This week we profile the Raw Materials Home Store situated on Rozengracht 229-233, 1016 NA Amsterdam.

Having passed the shopfront with its handsome and rugged displays pretty much everyday when commuting on the tram to the office, always either too early or too late to coordinate with the store’s opening hours to be able to step inside, I walked the long way home one sunny Saturday afternoon and to my delight Raw Materials was open!

It was like stumbling upon Aladdin’s Cave, with all its treasures intact! The spaces which make up the store have been treated to look and feel raw, edgy and warehouse-like, with under-passageways and over-walkways, side rooms and back rooms, that you can leisurely meander through and discover the treasures which await at every turn. And on this particular day, with the sunlight streaming outside, it also found its way into the deepest, darkest corners through the clever use of skylights, picture windows and lightwells, giving all inside an ethereal glow.

The ‘treasures’ in this ‘cave’ are beautiful and precious, but not in a jewel-like, sparkly sense. No; here the products are battered, unpolished, recycled, used, weathered and old, relics from the past; some more recent, others more ancient. They have stories to share and histories to show us.

The owners, two brothers, have meticulously curated every last detail of the spaces and collections, every last item of furniture, accessory and decoration, travelling further afield and off-beaten tracks all over the world to find their treasures and commissioning small-sized producers and makers to create new, unique pieces.

Every last item is beautiful and will add a natural, rustic, industrial or ethnic feel to our interiors when taken home; the colourful Mexican-style embroidered chairs; the chunky solid wood, French Farmhouse-style dining table; the children’s’ school desk and chair; hand-crafted feature lighting, the dentist’s chair, the soft hues of the glazed rustic earthenware; the (almost) life-sized hand-carved wooden elephant… these treasures, and so much more, await your visit!

_YR