‘When I came back, somebody already had their hand in the toilet’

The room of second-year Industrial Design Engineering master’s student Joris Agtereek (24) is a trip down memory lane. Old photos, posters, and tickets, each with a story of their own, cover the walls.

Room: a 14 m² room on the Matenweg. He pays €380 including gas, water, and electricity, and shares a bathroom with three housemates and a living room with seventeen housemates.

How long have you been living here?

‘This is my sixth year here, but not specifically in this room. I’ve switched a few times. First I was in the room next door, then I moved one room further down, and eventually I ended up here. It was a bit of moving around and figuring things out.’

So it was difficult to find a place?

‘Yes. When I started looking for a room in 2021, it seemed like everyone suddenly wanted to move out aswell. I started looking in April that year, and it wasn’t until October that I ended up at this address. Before that, I crashed on someone's couch whom I had met through Twitter. It was fine, though. During the house viewing, they were so enthusiastic about me that they even called me for the second round when I didn’t show up.’

It looks cosy. Where did you get most of your stuff?

‘A lot of it is secondhand. I also sometimes take things home that people have left out with the trash. I found the shelves on the wall on the street, for example. I like thrift store 'Het Goed', and otherwise I go to IKEA. Everything you see in this room is either secondhand or from IKEA.’

Are you a neat freak or do you not mind a mess?

‘Somewhere in between. I can handle my own mess very well, but I absolutely hate it when it’s someone else’s. I’m often the one who does all the chores in the kitchen to make sure it stays neat. I try to do a bit of tidying every week, and then do a proper deep clean once a month.’

What's unique about your room? 

‘I have a lot of special memories throughout my room. There’s all sorts of stuff hanging on the walls. I have cards from family members, posters of the first few house parties I organised, you name it. I have a record collection worth more than €3,000. That’s a bit of a COVID hobby that got out of hand. My DJ setup is also something you don’t see in every room.’

Do you have a funny story about your room?

‘Yes, although it’s a pretty disgusting one. We once had a big party at the house. To get to the bathroom, you have to walk through the room. One time, the toilet got seriously blocked up. There was stuff everywhere. I knew I had a plunger somewhere, so I quickly went looking for it. Well, when I came back with it, someone already had their hand in the toilet. That was really bad.’