The Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage manages over 30,000 applied arts objects. These common appliances have added value due to their artistic design. A selection of about 600 appliances of highly diverse nature has been included here, with four focal points.

The institute's collection of furniture is the largest in the Netherlands. The majority was produced in the past two hundred years, but the oldest pieces of furniture date back to the fifteenth century.

Posters and some poster designs by Jan Lavies (1902-2005) are well represented in the Institute's collection thanks to a generous donation by the designer himself. Among the most well known are posters like Fly to Java by K.N.I.L.M. and the designs for the Holland-America Line.

The Institute owns a large collection of ornamental pottery by decorative artist Colenbrander. It consists mostly of vases and a few decorative plates. These objects became part of the ICN collection thanks to the Van Bilderbeek Lamaison bequest, and are currently on loan to the Dordrecht Museum.

Royal Delft is also well represented thanks to the 1985 acquisition of a large part of the factory collection. This acquisition, made with support of the Vereniging Rembrandt, also included sketches and designs on paper, for example by Léon Senf.