CONNECTIONS INTERNATIONAL
My first introduction to Ljiljana Merkelijn was by her business card: Interior Decorating Advice: Colour, Art, Light, Atmosphere - The joy of creating is essential to life. This philosophy aptly describes Ljiljana and her approach to decorating and life in general.
We met on rainy day and, despite the weather, the mood was instantly cheerful. Ljiljana and I talked about her life and her work in The Netherlands. Born in Montenegro, Serbia, she moved at the age of 4 with her family to Brisbane, Australia, and lived there until she was 12. This was where she first noticed her love for houses; all different kinds of houses.
Ljiljana’s joie de vivre and gift for making people in her presence feel immediately at ease is one of her greatest assets. Also an asset is her quiet, purposeful time management which allows her to work through a very busy and irregular schedule without appearing to be rushed at all. Always gracious, always accessible, Ljiljana answers all of her customers’ questions big and small. No question is insignificant: every inquiry is belangrijk.
Ljiljana has boundless energy and loves to meet people. She enjoys dancing and music in her leisure time and organizes dancing at the Heerehuis. With this energy, she can be a parent, a business owner, and an employee, and still find timet for a fulfilling social life and travel.
More than 20 years ago, before her daughter was born, she was working in the restaurant/hotel businesses owned by her husband’s family. She enjoyed the hospitality industry and thought that is where she would stay, but that was not to be.
Parallel Universe
When her daughter was born 15 years ago, she spent a year as a fulltime mother and started a mother-and-child drop-in centre. This group is still active. Interestingly, Ljiljana started her group around the same time as the one started by Louisa Penton, a founding member of Connect International. Ljiljana had heard about Louisa’s playgroup but, because they were located across town from each other, they never met.
Becoming an Interior Decorator
When Ljiljana felt ready to return to work on a part-time basis, it turned out to be not an option in the family business so she decided to do something else.
That something else was a furniture design business. Ljiljana went to an employment centre to find a part-time job and they sent her to try for this one with the´warning´ that they didn´t know what the owner was really looking for and thus it was difficult to find a candidate he would accept. She went for the interview and was completely taken with furniture design. The owner, seeing how much she loved it, decided to let her try. After only three months, she had her first client for home decorating advice.
On the road to becoming an interior decorator, she went to design school. The cutting-edge creative aspect of design and materials is something she now maintains close contact with through working at Kruit & Kramer. Here, she keeps track of trends, changes in the industry, and how to design something different.
Many Clients from Many Cultures
The furniture design business she started with was located in Groningen and Ljiljana’s work took her to surrounding towns where Gronings was widely spoken. It proved to be a challenge: to gain clients there, she learned to understand Gronings although she doesn´t speak it.
Many of her clients are well-travelled. They come from within The Netherlands and abroad. One of the things she enjoys about working in Groningen is to help people get settled into Dutch life and understand the Dutch perspective. This is something she learned as a newcomer long ago and now she can share her knowledge.
Merklijn
Liljana started Merklijn 5 years ago. Unfortunately, as Merklijn grew and gained momentum, her marriage reached its end. This unhappy time was very difficult. Divorced two years ago, Ljiljana has managed to find meaning and purpose in the unexpected direction her life has taken.
To introduce me to the work she does, Lijlana brought me on a tour through two of Groningen’s largest home decorating venues, Vos Interieur and Kruit & Kramer. The array of choices seemed limitless. Here, Lijjana was in her element. With the time we had before her scheduled appointment with clients, she introduced me to Leolux, one of the best known good quality furniture manufacturers in The Netherlands. Leolux, started as a family business in 1934, has its main showroom in Venlo and offers a good variety of classic and modern styles.
With her love of meeting and working with people, Ljiljana has built a strong network of professionals, companies, and designers with the knowledge and expertise to fulfill her clients needs.
When she meets clients, she helps get the process started with a discussion and questions to help her learn about their tastes and personalities. This is great fun all around, even for men who might initially feel inclined to leaving home decorating decisions to their wives. The tastes of both partners will be brought together in surprising and creative ways. Her goal is to decorate clients homes in a way that reflects their personal tastes and, above all, makes them feel happy.