We couldn’t be more taken with the moody interiors by Dutch design firm DAB Studio, run by Lotte and Dennis Bruns in Amsterdam. Two recent projects of theirs, in particular, have us itching to redo everything in rich tones of dark wood with oxblood accents. In an apartment along the capital’s Kaisersgracht canal, the Bruns have deployed rustic details – ceiling beams, roughhewn wooden planks for the floor, exposed old brick – to add a softness and ease, even a certain coziness, to an atmosphere of otherwise polished elegance. Additional touches, like silky sink skirts (as eye-catching as they are alliterative), are surprising yet just right.

At a residence in Zwaag for a family with three children, DAB conceived of an open plan kitchen and dining area that’s a balance of horizontal and vertical planes. Hand-scraped smoked oak planks on the floor are mirrored on the ceiling, while wood paneling along the walls somehow gives the space a snug quality without sacrificing airiness. Though the palette is dark, the warmth of the wood renders it glowing. Grey-blues and deep, rusty reds emerge in the kitchen island made of Arabescato Orobico marble, which also recurs in the countertops and dining room table. Adding further shape and texture is Frank Gehry’s cardboard Wiggle side chair – one of those objects that looks simple enough but makes you ask: Wait, how did they do that? DAB’s deceptively understated spaces leave us asking the same question.

FIRST TWO PHOTOS BY FLARE DEPARTMENT ALL OTHERS BY DANIËLLE SIOBHAN