German Houzz: Vintage Makeover Turns Cramped Into Cool
A former language school in Berlin is transformed into a bright, mid-century style apartment
It’s hard to believe this is a ground floor apartment in an off-street building in Berlin – and that it was once a labyrinthine language school, complete with claustrophobic classrooms. The rooms have become so bright and spacious since their transformation, no-one would ever guess how they started out.
The client from Frankfurt has a professional interest in design, but could not be present for most of the work. So the pros at Vintagency took care of everything – from tearing out walls and renovating the bathroom, to choosing furniture and accessories. They coordinated most of the project details with the client over the phone and via email.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives there: The owner of a Frankfurt-based design agency
Location: Berlin’s Mitte district, Germany
Size: Roughly 115 square metres
The client from Frankfurt has a professional interest in design, but could not be present for most of the work. So the pros at Vintagency took care of everything – from tearing out walls and renovating the bathroom, to choosing furniture and accessories. They coordinated most of the project details with the client over the phone and via email.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives there: The owner of a Frankfurt-based design agency
Location: Berlin’s Mitte district, Germany
Size: Roughly 115 square metres
Turning to the left, we see what looks like a long dining table, but is actually a conference table. The fact that this is not obvious is intentional. The 115 square-metre apartment is designed to combine living and working, not separate them.
The old Bertoia chair has been reupholstered, and the sideboard is a Charlotte Perriand design. “We agreed to base the look on vintage furniture. You have to distinguish between expensive pieces which are almost an investment like art, and lower cost ones, which can be repainted and upgraded if required.”
Vintage yes, but not retro – you could call it a casual Berlin style. The mix, including items by less well-known and emerging designers, like the Tivoli lamps by Simon Henningsen, is typical for Vintagency. “That is part of what makes Berlin great – the ability to reinvent yourself and create great new things with what is already there,” Bona says. Supporting and promoting these designers is very important to them, not just in their projects but also by featuring them in their blog, for which they visit and interview their local heroes like Supergrau, Maiami or Elisa Strozyk in their workshops.
Vintage Bertoia wire chair, reupholstered with Kvadrat fabric: Unique Factory; table made to measure: Benjamin Pistorius; vintage sideboard: Charlotte Perriand; Tivoli pendant lights by Simon Henningsen: Original in Berlin
The old Bertoia chair has been reupholstered, and the sideboard is a Charlotte Perriand design. “We agreed to base the look on vintage furniture. You have to distinguish between expensive pieces which are almost an investment like art, and lower cost ones, which can be repainted and upgraded if required.”
Vintage yes, but not retro – you could call it a casual Berlin style. The mix, including items by less well-known and emerging designers, like the Tivoli lamps by Simon Henningsen, is typical for Vintagency. “That is part of what makes Berlin great – the ability to reinvent yourself and create great new things with what is already there,” Bona says. Supporting and promoting these designers is very important to them, not just in their projects but also by featuring them in their blog, for which they visit and interview their local heroes like Supergrau, Maiami or Elisa Strozyk in their workshops.
Vintage Bertoia wire chair, reupholstered with Kvadrat fabric: Unique Factory; table made to measure: Benjamin Pistorius; vintage sideboard: Charlotte Perriand; Tivoli pendant lights by Simon Henningsen: Original in Berlin
Left of the entrance and cooking area, there is the living room with a new wall opening. In the background, we see the long table at the entrance.
In spite of their separation, the cooperation between client and designers was intensive. The client and agency even found time to visit secondhand markets and select stores like Original In Berlin or Transatlantica together.
When browsing digital inspiration images and mood boards with the client, Vintagency soon realised that colours would also be an extremely important aspect. “Right down to choosing the right shade of white. She knew exactly which white she wanted,” recalls Bona.
Due to the lighting situation, adding colour selectively with furnishings was the obvious choice, and that decision was made quickly too: “She said right away that she loves the contrast between petrol and rust,” relates van der Linden. They found the dominant blue in the sideboards – mid-century, probably Belgian – that the client already owned, in almost the same style as the Perriand sideboard.
Pedrera coffee table: Gubi; Wooden Textiles side table, ceramic table: Elisa Strozyk; vintage Georg Thams armchair: Mid Century Design; 265 wall light: Flos
When browsing digital inspiration images and mood boards with the client, Vintagency soon realised that colours would also be an extremely important aspect. “Right down to choosing the right shade of white. She knew exactly which white she wanted,” recalls Bona.
Due to the lighting situation, adding colour selectively with furnishings was the obvious choice, and that decision was made quickly too: “She said right away that she loves the contrast between petrol and rust,” relates van der Linden. They found the dominant blue in the sideboards – mid-century, probably Belgian – that the client already owned, in almost the same style as the Perriand sideboard.
Pedrera coffee table: Gubi; Wooden Textiles side table, ceramic table: Elisa Strozyk; vintage Georg Thams armchair: Mid Century Design; 265 wall light: Flos
The windows that lead to the roofed portico – at the right of the image above – are quite large, allowing a great deal of natural light to flood the living area. The white-glazed floorboards that replaced the previous, worn yellowish floor made the biggest contribution to brightening the space.
The new suite of rooms, from the living room through the office and in to the guest room, seem to almost glow, and there are plenty of fixed points where your eye can rest. This reveals subtle relationships from every perspective – like the recurring delicate black lines in the iron frame of the coffee table, the lamps in the office and the trapezoidal patterns of the soft Beni Ouarain carpet.
The new suite of rooms, from the living room through the office and in to the guest room, seem to almost glow, and there are plenty of fixed points where your eye can rest. This reveals subtle relationships from every perspective – like the recurring delicate black lines in the iron frame of the coffee table, the lamps in the office and the trapezoidal patterns of the soft Beni Ouarain carpet.
In spite of the client’s love of vintage products, she did not insist on them at all costs. For example, she wanted to use the connecting room off the living area as an occasional office, and some compromise was required.
“It was difficult to find vintage furniture for the exact needs and dimensions of this office,” van der Linden says. “Sometimes, the best solution can be to have something custom-made.” In this case, it was a desk module by Berlin-based company Neue Tische, which is airy, light and has a lot of working space.
Eames armchair, La Fonda base: Vitra; table made to measure: Neue Tische; lights: DCW éditions
“It was difficult to find vintage furniture for the exact needs and dimensions of this office,” van der Linden says. “Sometimes, the best solution can be to have something custom-made.” In this case, it was a desk module by Berlin-based company Neue Tische, which is airy, light and has a lot of working space.
Eames armchair, La Fonda base: Vitra; table made to measure: Neue Tische; lights: DCW éditions
The guest room, which adjoins the office, is the same size as one of the old language school classrooms – but much cosier now. With a stacking bed and a small desk space, it has everything you need for a few quiet hours of downtime. The striking blue is contrasted here with a few yellow highlights, for example the classic Panton Flower Pot lamp.
Vintage shelves: Wilhelm Renz; Verner Panton Flowerpot lamp; artwork: Emer O’Brien
Vintage shelves: Wilhelm Renz; Verner Panton Flowerpot lamp; artwork: Emer O’Brien
Returning through the living room, we arrive at the dining table, with its mixed and matched chairs by Bertoia and Friso Kramer. The magical play of light projected on the ceiling by the Tivoli lamp is clear to see. For even illumination, Studio Lux fitted inconspicuous ceiling spotlights throughout the room as well, in just the right places.
The narrow corridor in the background leads towards the bathroom and bedroom – the most intimate area is the most secluded, towards the courtyard.
The narrow corridor in the background leads towards the bathroom and bedroom – the most intimate area is the most secluded, towards the courtyard.
The bathroom was refurbished without breaking the budget, even though an underfloor heating system was installed inadvertently. Because of a missed comma, Vintagency sent an update email to the contractor that read, “the floor, heating also have to be done…”. However, the contractor read ‘floor heating’ and started installing the heating coils… A happy accident, and one they can look back on and laugh.
But the client is usually blissfully ignorant of other small problems and errors, inevitable in major projects. “That’s what we’re there for,” say the two designers.
Lighting: DCW éditions; accessories: Iittala
But the client is usually blissfully ignorant of other small problems and errors, inevitable in major projects. “That’s what we’re there for,” say the two designers.
Lighting: DCW éditions; accessories: Iittala
The second, large bedroom is at the very end of a narrow corridor, and around the corner. In the entrance area to the bedroom (not shown), an Ikea closet was fitted into a niche, and again jazzed up with fronts and red leather handles by Superfront.
This sleeping area also features a sunny yellow colour in accent pieces, perhaps as a mood-booster in the morning. The client already owned the sun mirror, a piece that effortlessly matches the bedside table by Florence Knoll, and the standard lamp by the icon Greta Grossman.
And assessing and integrating existing pieces was one of the first steps Vintagency took when planning the interior. After all, they did not have much time to create something that reflected the client’s personality – something that looks like an interior which had grown over the years.
Vintage floor lamp: Greta Grossmann; small table: Florence Knoll; mohair blanket: Maiami; bed: Vitamin Design
This sleeping area also features a sunny yellow colour in accent pieces, perhaps as a mood-booster in the morning. The client already owned the sun mirror, a piece that effortlessly matches the bedside table by Florence Knoll, and the standard lamp by the icon Greta Grossman.
And assessing and integrating existing pieces was one of the first steps Vintagency took when planning the interior. After all, they did not have much time to create something that reflected the client’s personality – something that looks like an interior which had grown over the years.
Vintage floor lamp: Greta Grossmann; small table: Florence Knoll; mohair blanket: Maiami; bed: Vitamin Design
The client loves vintage products – which is one of the reasons why she chose Vintagency. They know just where to find beautiful old-style pieces; that’s what they specialise in after all. When she was a student, long before she started Vintagency, Maj van der Linden started selling vintage furniture on eBay. “In the late nineties, a lot of people started throwing out their old furniture from the sixties and seventies with their household trash,” she says. “Just walking around the better-off areas of Frankfurt, you would see classics by Cassina or Knoll lying around!”
Over time, van der Linden found that while many buyers know whether they like certain pieces of furniture, they couldn’t picture suitable rooms for them. And so she decided to offer an all-round service on request.
What makes Maj and her partner Rosario Bona stand out from the crowd is their passion for vintage furniture, a nose for the right sources and, more particularly, their extensive network and good contacts. Not just with small vintage shops, young designers and artists, but also other experts. They are not shy about bringing in experts for areas outside their specialties either. For example, Berlin-based curator Annabelle von Girsewald helped them choose artwork for this project, and Studio Lux helped solve the difficult light situation. “We work hard to maintain our network,” Bona says, “and that allows us to react perfectly to all requirements of a job.”
Result chair, designed in 1957 by Friso Kramer for Ahrend de Cirkel.