About

Too hard to pronounce and sounding too aggresive. That’s the conclusion I reached in the spring of 2023 after more than a decade of writing a blog called Interiorator.com. I wanted something fresh, something friendly, something fun. Et voilà! The Tasteful Friend was born.

Photo credit: Jacqueline Louter-Hoos www.jaxpix.nl

My name is Patrick Kooiman and I just love everything that has to do with art, interior decorating, antiques, and design. During the week, I have the absolute best job in the world as Senior Category Lead Classic Furniture & Decorative Objects at online auction platform Catawiki. I also have a fantastic side hustle here in my hometown of Rotterdam, giving interior advice through a shop called Dutch Seating Company.

I have a long background in writing about interior design and art – not just for my blog, but also for most Dutch interior design magazines. In 2018, I published a book called VOLUME. It features a series of interviews with some of Europe’s finest style experts about their lives, their passions, and their best decorating tips. And in case you’re wondering, I also do a lot of photography and styling myself. Want to know even more about me? Then check out my LinkedIn profile.

With the start of The Tasteful Friend, it feels like a new phase in my professional life is starting. After a period in which I focused mostly on my daytime job, I now have enough time to get back into the habit of writing daily. In other words, exciting times ahead!

I’ve chosen to run my blog on a relatively new platform called Ghost. It allows me to get subscribers who I can share my stories with in a weekly newsletter. I’d LOVE it, of course, if you subscribed. It’s free of charge for now, and it allows you to leave comments under every article I write. Once I think the time is ripe, I am going to switch to paid subscriptions – just so you know. By doing so, I can work without advertorials and social media because, let’s face it, that whole influencer thing is so over.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading The Tasteful Friend as much as I enjoy writing it. If you have anything you want to share with me, feel free to drop me a line. Oh, and of course, don’t forget to follow me!

Yours,

Patrick

PS: The Tasteful Friend is still a bit of a work in progress at the moment, so please bear with me as dot the I's and cross the T's.

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