This Former Woodworking Shop Is Now a Bright, Vintage-Filled Loft
This Former Woodworking Shop Is Now a Bright, Vintage-Filled Loft
Fenna’s home has quite the history to it. In the 1930s, the structure was a woodworking shop, with the ground floor as the workshop and the wood stored on the first and second floors. When Fenna’s parents bought the house next door 18 years ago, this building had already been converted into a living space, including an upstairs apartment and an indoor gym. At the time, Fenna was 16 years old and living with her parents, but her older sister moved with her boyfriend into that upstairs apartment. Her sister had the gym’s mounted mirrors covered by walls and added a bright green kitchen, but otherwise left the space as is. Because Fenna and their parents were literally next door, Fenna visited her sister often, and says that this space “therefore feels very familiar and like home.”
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About a year-and-a-half ago, Fenna’s stepfather decided to “modernize and refurbish” the upstairs apartment. With the help of two friends, her stepfather began demolishing and renovating the space, updating electrical and plumbing systems. It was around this time that Fenna, who had at that time been living in a noisy flat, decided to throw her hat in the ring as a potential tenant of this new modernized space. “I sent a picture of my cat and me and said that I may already know a new tenant for the property. Soon a serious conversation followed,” she writes.
Her timing was impeccable, and Fenna was able to contribute to the renovation and paint color choices, something she really enjoyed because it gave her the opportunity to “emphasize the industrial function of the house a little more” and bring back the loft vibes to the space.
“It is a beautiful, characterful building with details from the 1930s here and there, such as the yellow diamonds in the window frames,” begins Fenna. “I love the stairs to the first floor; the planks are robust and wide and in their natural state. I find the idea that so many footsteps have already been taken in this area very special. I have the door of the French balcony open as much as possible. This way I quickly connect to the outside and my cat, Kato, also loves to peer outside, lying in a ray of sunshine.”
Fenna and her stepfather updated the space, transforming yellowed walls and brown-gray woodwork with a more modern color palette. “I chose to paint the window frames and the woodwork around the stairs matte black. All other woodwork is fresh white — the ‘Bride’ color from Praxis.”
There’s an accent color on one wall (“Anise” from Praxis) but the rest of the space is nice and neutral by design. “This simple base was the perfect palette for me to go further with wild home accessories and colors, without losing the character of the house,” Fenna explains. “After a few months of renovation, a lot of painting, and much more cleaning, it’s great to focus on decorating my new place to live in my old, familiar neighborhood.”
Resources
ENTRY
- Hanging lamp, coat rack, and umbrella stand — Vintage from Instastore
- Home accessories on cabinet — Thrift store in Tilburg
- Shelving units — IKEA
LIVING ROOM
- Dinner table — Vintage via marketplace
- Dining room chairs Tapiovaraa— Two low via Decennia design, two high; heirloom from my grandfather and grandmother
- Lava lamp — bol.com
- Disco letters — Vintage
- Wall plates — Fornasetti
- Mask — Casa Blanco Tilburg
- Art, portrait ink — Levi van Veluw
- Hanging lamp — Vintage IKEA, thrift store
- Coffee table — Design unknown. €10,- via marktplaats
- Bank — Vintage DeSede DS18 design, secondhand via store HOC
- TV box — Free via marketplace and DIY by mounting other legs underneath
- Box — Secondhand via the Portagora thrift store
- Black sculpture on cabinet — Jysk
- Half round sideboard — €20 marktplaats
- Floor lamp Bony design — Vintage via marktplaats
- Hand chair pink — Marketplace rug
- New, gloria panel — Volero.nl
- Curtains — IKEA
- Blinds — Already hanging there
- Home accessories various — Meimarkt (flea market), IKEA, marketplace, thrift store, desenio posters, vinted, Instagram shops, quantum, leenbakker.
KITCHEN
- Kitchen reused. Used to be a bright green kitchen from the Bruynzeel brand via Mandemakers. Painted in matte grey, color number unknown. Praxis tiles, product name unknown. All electricity was already included.
- Ceiling lamp — Helena Tynell vintage via Portagora thrift store
- Glass cabinet — Thrift store in Tilburg, painted gray
- Glasses — IKEA
- Mugs — Action
- Coffee canister— HK living
- Other — Recycling
- Marketplace coffee machine
- Flowerpots — Thrifted
- Poster — Pink blue “instant coffee solves nothing” by mella-mella.nl
- Ice cream — Odette
- Waste paper basket — Kwantum
- Other accessories — Thrift, Vinted, marketplace, flea markets
BEDROOM
- Bed — Beterbed.nl
- Art by Dali — ixxi.com
- Vintage tomato rack — Marktplaats
- Candlestick mona dessert — Suzanne Stevense
- Hands collection — Diverse, vintage and thrift
- Flower pot with Strelitzia plant: Intratuin — Dutch garden centre
- Desk chair — Vintage shop
- Vintage desk table — Received for my birthday years ago
- Rugs — Volero
- Everything else from thrift or marktplaats.nl bed linen via wehkamp.nl
Thanks, Fenna!
This tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.
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