A sustainable roof terrace for Pie and Jessica in the heart of Amsterdam

Pie Aerts & Jessica are an artist couple who've decided to commit to a sustainable lifestyle. And their terrace couldn't be any better. Today we're getting to know a little more about them and their way of life, and taking a look at their new 100% sustainable design rooftop.

It started with a leap of faith

Nature photographer and activist Pie Aerts changed his life completely.

He said farewell to his demanding office job to follow his heart and start out on a new journey.

"Photography has always been my passion, but I never dared to take the leap. I was fed up with developing and performing in an office environment," says Pie. The rat race and its attitudes no longer fit in with the spirit of our times, in my opinion. I became alienated from it, and I was searching for meaning," says Pie.

A trip around the world

In 2017, Pie and Jessica both decided to quit their jobs and spent two and a half years travelling together.

During that trip, Pie's first photography book, Tales From the Roads Less Traveled, took shape. In it, he portrays - from the Andes to Nepal - 20 of the world's most remote peoples and places in a breathtaking manner. It's a quest for what we in the Western world can learn from these people. How does Pie describe his photography work? He works at the intersection between man, animal and nature, and is looking for the answer to the question: "Why are we increasingly alienated from our natural environment, and from each other?" All their travels, and getting to know different cultures, had and still have a great impact on their way of life.

Jessica is an editor and works as a Director of Marketing at Dille & Kamille. At the end of 2020, she founded an inspiring online platform, Intentional, that examines and aims to travel and live in a way that's more conscious of our relationship with the planet, and with ourselves.

The style of their home in Amsterdam

"The adventure is great, but for me personally, the best thing about travelling is getting home"; says Pie. "And you can feel that in our house. It's warm and safe, things we both find very important.

A style? It's difficult to say. It's a mix I think."

Jessica adds: "Our home has a lot of character, with earthy tones, wood, and personal objects full of memories."

Sustainability it important to Pie. "In the furniture sector, you still see very few examples of sustainability.

Where does your wood come from? Do you use the least plastic that you possibly can? What's your history? Kave Home really take their sustainable ethic to new lengths. They're pioneers in that respect, and we find that beautiful."

"That's the roof terrace for both of us - especially now that it's been redecorated with Kave Home. We've lived in Amsterdam for 10 years now, and until now we didn't really have an 'outside' space. Since the lockdown we've been spending significantly more time at home. It makes you look at your house very differently. We wanted to build a roof terrace, and to create our own outdoor space where we wanted to spend plenty of time. And we succeeded! The restaurants and terraces in the city can reopen; but we'll be sat on our own roof terrace, together with our newborn daughter. We won't be leaving that spot any time soon.

Favourite piece from their home

Jessica is quick to answer:"I absolutely love the Geralda chair. It's made from a hardy, sustainable acacia wood and woven by hand."

Pie's favourite is, definitively, the Flaviina corner sofa. "I think that it's a sofa that's honestly charming. And even for the outdoors, this sofa's durability is really remarkable," Pie tells us.

Kave Cares: Sustainable production & materials

Sustainability is one of Kave Home's most important values—from the materials to the production processes. That's why only sustainable items were used for Pie and Jessica's roof terrace.

"Personally, I think it's important to try and give as much furniture as possible a second life," says Pie. "And that's what Kave Home does. For example, I found out that if a piece of furniture gets damaged, Kave Home suggests replacing the parts rather than the whole item. It never occurred to me that you could change one slat in a table. Almost any other company would say: we'll send you a new table. That way of thinking seems very typical of Kave to me."