One day noticed Buy without looking n stylist Roos Reedijk suddenly: hey,I’m famous. Not that it matters to her. And otherwise husband Wicher andchildren Loef (12) and Bien (10) will ensure that she remains sober.
While the majority of the Netherlands takes it easy this time of year, RoosReedijk is already running around like crazy. Not very surprising, becausesince the start of the successful RTL program Buy without looking – nowthree years ago – it is actually always busy, says Roos. “The fun things keepcoming at me, and since I can’t say ‘no’ well and I’m quickly enthusiastic, Ieasily go along on that roller coaster. Every day is different, every week isfull, I just don’t have enough time to think about everything. Later, when Igo through all the old photos, I will probably only see what I am experiencingnow.”
Centipede
Roos admits that sometimes she should take better care of herself. “I am acreative, chaotic jack-of-all-trades. That’s nice, but the pitfall is that Ioften overwhelm myself. When I’m doing something I enjoy I hyperfocus, but assoon as I get a little bored I let it go and jump to the next thing. I have tolearn to finish what I’m doing first.”
Especially now that the influx of interesting collaborations is almostunbearable, she says. “At first I happily went from one job to the next, but Iam aware that now I really have to choose a direction. It’s nice when everyonelikes you, but I can’t really handle it on my own anymore. I need to find abetter balance and set a clear vision: what do I like, what do I want tocontinue, what makes me happy?”
One option is to further roll out her brand and gather more people around her.Although, according to Roos, that is more difficult than it seems. “My work isnot rocket science, but therefore not easy to delegate: everything revolvesaround taste and feeling. Clients ask for my signature and my style. And thatis hard to give up.”
Buy without Looking
Roos had laughed at this problem a few years ago. She had a nice, manageablejob in the fashion industry. “I enjoyed my work, and the fact that I couldoccasionally be on autopilot was a conscious choice. My private life wasalready turbulent enough, with two young children and a man who started hisown business.”
When things got itchy, Roos started her own company as an interior designer inaddition to her work. Just then came Buy without looking on her path, theprogram in which Martijn Krabbé helps young couples find their dream home.Because Roos did not aspire to a TV career, she initially proposed to play herrole behind the scenes, but things turned out differently: Roos became a well-known Dutchman in no time.
“At the start we didn’t know that the program would become so popular. Becauseof corona I didn’t realize it either: after all, like everyone else, I was inmy own backyard. I saw some commotion on the socials, but it wasn’t until Iwent back into the world ‘after corona’ that I really noticed it. I rememberthe first time I was driving on the highway and people in the car next to mestarted waving and shouting. Huh, what’s going on here? I found thatoverwhelming, in a good way.”
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Famous Dutchman
Her children Loef and Bien are also increasingly aware of what is going on.“In the village where we live, everyone has known each other for years. But ina new situation it is different now. When my son first started high school,other kids said, “We know your mother!” That was new. Just like the buzz on amarket in France. Then Bien nudges me: ‘Mama, they already know you here.’”
They find that funny, but otherwise the family is not impressed. “It helpsthat my husband also works for television, she is no stranger to that world,Martijn Krabbé comes over here and there are regular cameras in the livingroom. In addition, my husband is incredibly level-headed. When he hears meexplain to someone that I can’t be there ‘because of recordings for RTLBoulevard’ he says: ‘Roos, just say you’re going to work.’ In short: not muchis done about it, haha.”
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—|— ## Criticism
She laughs that not everyone is a big fan of Roos. “As soon as you appear onTV, everything you do or say comes under a magnifying glass. ‘What is thatstylist thinking!’ Or, very often, “What a funny voice she has!” It doesn’taffect me. I can’t hear myself that I have a crazy voice, and if it is, whatcan I do about it? I easily ignore that kind of ‘criticism’. I’m sure enoughof myself; I know what I’m talking about.”
“It doesn’t affect me when people say: what does that stylist think?”
According to Roos, it is an advantage that she is already ‘a bit older’ andaccidentally rolled into the world. “I never consciously chose this career, soif it doesn’t work, then it doesn’t. I’ve also had the same friends around mefor years, so I don’t need a new life, I’m already very happy.”
Late bloomer
Roos calls herself a late bloomer. Had this success come twenty years earlier,she probably would have been less sure of herself. “I was a shy girl whodidn’t start dancing on the table until she was eighteen. Even during mystudies, it wasn’t until the last year that I really ‘turned on’. I come froman ambitious family with brothers who are good at everything, studying,sports, everything. I did it all too, but I had to work hard for it. That mademe insecure.”
“I was a shy girl who only started dancing on the table when she was 18”
At the same time, having to compete against her brothers made her strong. “Notonly in terms of career or success, but also literally: I was always fooled,beaten up, there was a brother waiting for me on every corner of the stairs.It was loving, but continuous sparring. I was born with the urge to prove, butit was never my mission to be successful. I didn’t have big dreams like mybrothers: just let me live a smaller life, I thought, I’ll get there at my ownpace, my way.”
Just like her father, also an entrepreneur. “At the age of forty he thought:now I have to do it. Then he started for himself. At the age of forty-five Imyself thought: if I still want something in my life, I have to do it beforethe age of fifty. Buy without looking turned out to be a lottery ticket, butcould just as well have been a flop. It is a combination of happiness andfaith in life itself.”
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—|— ## Combining old and new
In the program, Roos often faces the challenge of combining old stuff withnew. And let that be exactly one of her qualities. “In this I distinguishmyself from others, someone who is a interior designer often has a penny tospare. But in most cases there is no money left for a new sofa after arenovation. I just want to show that it doesn’t have to be very expensive.Creativity also goes a long way. Don’t throw away grandma’s old chair, have itupholstered. Also in the context of sustainability, take a look more often atthe thrift store or on Marktplaats.”
Roos notices that especially young people want everything new and correct.“They prefer to empty an entire showroom, but there is no personality in that.Moreover: you have to leave something to be desired, something for which yousave together, don’t you?” She finds many houses soulless these days. “In myown living room, everything has a story or a memory; an item for which wesaved together, a precious birthday present or a pimped lamp from grandma;that makes your house your home. I have a cute pink bench, just from thethrift store, completely cleaned. That makes me happier than something that isdelivered new in plastic at home. I am sorry to see that people are not socreative anymore, I would like to help with that.”
Nomadic existence
Searching for beautiful things is not a stranger to Roos. “My parents used toscour the city and country for unique parts for our boat. Until I was ten Ilived with my parents and my brothers on an old sea tjalk in Zwolle. My fathersingle-handedly refurbished that boat and made it fully ready to sail – everyholiday the mooring lines came loose and we sailed around the world. Myparents made clear choices: they spent their money on their passions. So welater lived in a beautiful house, but drove an old car. We didn’t go on wintersports, but saved for beautiful sailing trips to all corners of the world.”
Conscious with money
They taught Roos how to handle money consciously. “I remember friends gettingthree Levi’s jeans at once, while my mom said, ‘Ask for your birthday.’ Themoney was there, but I also had to work for it. If I wanted to go on a skiingholiday with friends, I had to save the money myself. It was not a given thatmy parents added money, although they often did. They paid for my studies, butfor all the fun things around it I had a dozen jobs.”
“If my son wants designer clothes, I tell him to look at Vinted”
Roos also wants to pass on that awareness to her own children. “We live in asociety where kids are used to getting a lot – I make sure my kids do choresaround the house, they don’t just get everything. Now that my son is insecondary school, he suddenly starts talking about designer clothes: ‘Mommy,they all have one of those sweaters with a compass.’ Then I think: hello, doyou know what a sweater like that costs, he really won’t get it. I do let himinstall the Vinted app, so he can see if he sees something cool there.”
The whole article is in Kek Mama 01-2023, available in stores from 3January.
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