Chris: “I do more housework than Loes realizes. For example, if I see that the windows are dirty, I will clean the windows.”
Loes: “We both think of ourselves as doing a little more in the household than the other. But I’m right, haha.”
Chris: “The maid used to come every week, now she comes every other week.”
Loes: “We have invested a lot recently, including in our own home and in a holiday home that we built with friends. That’s why we have to make some cuts.”
Chris: “It doesn’t bother me that she comes less often, because I can live well with an unclean house.”
Loes: “I now use the vacuum cleaner more often.”
Chris: “We really alternate between cooking and washing up, depending on how it suits us.”
Loes: “I have been running a company, Firma SCHAEP, together with a friend for a year now. We make works of art from felt, with wool from local sheep. I love doing it. You need to work the wool with soap and water, squeezing out all the air, until you have a wet roll. You can express your aggression in it. It is a beautiful process, you only have partial control over the result. So two works of art are never the same.”
Chris: “I like the fact that Loes now also has a company. I have an architectural firm in Ouder-Amstel, together with two colleagues. Owning your own business is something completely different from having a permanent job. You want to develop opportunities, so you go the extra mile. When Loes goes out for a day of making felt, she won’t be home until dinner. I used to be the only one who often had to work overtime, but now she understands me better.”
Loes: “The physical aspect of felt making is a nice contrast to my other work. Because I also work as a healthcare psychologist in the hospital three days a week. For example, I help people who suffer from psychological complaints after an operation. That is intense work, so I also enjoy doing something creative with my hands.”
Chris: “I am currently experiencing some unrest at work. I mainly design villas for private individuals, although we also have business clients. The problem is that private individuals are now staying away. Due to the high interest rates, borrowing money is currently very expensive. As a result, building a house yourself has simply become too expensive.”
Better Eindhoven than a Vinex district
Loes: “Until five years ago we lived in Utrecht. We wanted to live bigger because of the kids. Then we looked at a plot in Leidsche Rijn, a new residential area in Utrecht.”
Chris: “I had already designed our home. But in the end we didn’t see ourselves living in a Vinex district, so we moved to Eindhoven. Here we were able to get a larger house with our budget. And we prefer to live in a pleasant city outside the Randstad than in a new-build area within the Randstad.”
Loes: “Here we live in the city, a ten-minute walk from the center. We have a beautiful 1950s house. The children go to school around the corner. They have many friends in the area. And we have a connection with the neighbors, who are also all doing creative things.”
Chris: “I really enjoyed living in Amsterdam, and later in Utrecht. But I don’t miss living in Amsterdam or Utrecht at all.”
Loes: “Utrecht has become a kind of second Amsterdam, especially since the Tour de France started there in 2015. Lots of tourists, very busy.”
Chris: “Eindhoven is also becoming more expensive, because the tech industry attracts many people to the region. We were there in time, but we have many friends who are also in the creative field, furniture designers or designers, and they can hardly buy a house in Eindhoven anymore.”
Loes: “But it is also nice that the city is becoming more and more international.”
Chris: “You can think all kinds of things about it, but you can also look at the positive side. Chip manufacturer ASML will now also finance cultural offerings. So it could also mean that there will be more culture in Eindhoven, that there will soon be more to do.”
Feminist
Loes: “I always had Wednesday afternoons with our children Juul (10) and Roos (7), until a few months ago. Now I work on Wednesdays and Chris has the kids on Wednesday afternoons. Then they are free, so you can do fun things with them.”
Chris: “I really like it. Things were different when they were very young. Then on Wednesday afternoon you suddenly find yourself with a baby, in the middle of your working week. That doesn’t make me very happy. But now that they are a bit older we can enjoy doing crafts together. So now I actually like it.”
Loes: “The point now is that I miss the children. I always thought it was a nice break from the working week. So from January we will exchange again. We thought of it in a very feminist way. I thought: Chris would just pick up the kids from school for two days and I would just pick up one day, that would be a good thing. But then I notice that I want to spend more time with the children.”
Chris: “Maybe this is actually feminist. That you just arrange it exactly the way you want it.”