Reader's home of the month
This month's £150 Habitat giftcard goes to lindsaydglasgow's 'terrace on a teeny budget'...
Converted mattress factory
A laid-back home with a vintage vibe…
'I just love anything old,' exclaims Lyn Gardener, talking about her Melbourne home. 'I always recycle where I can, and would rather have old doors, taps, sinks and windows over new any day.' Top marks, then, to this style-savvy antiques dealer, who has embraced vintage with a capital V and filled her former mattress factory home with a collection of objects that, to the uninitiated, could be labelled 'junk'.
It was no surprise that, with such a well-trained eye for anything old in need of a bit of TLC, Lyn should fall for this former factory space. 'It was totally run-down and unliveable, with water leaking everywhere and a sagging, asbestos ceiling. But I could visualise it looking lovely,' she says. Lyn waited patiently for three years for the factory to come on to the market, then snapped it up and has never looked back.
With the help of a local builder, Lyn 'modernised' the space without ripping out its soul, ensuring the practical elements, such as the electrics, were up to date, while retaining original features like the big windows, brick walls and ancient floorboards.
Lyn has recently turned her magpie's eye into a business, selling treasures in Empire Vintage, her antiques store in Melbourne's Albert Park. 'It's been great being able to turn a hobby into a business, but I find it hard to be really disciplined when I'm buying,' she says. 'It's still a case of “one for the shop and one for me.”'
Take a room-by-room tour around Lyn's vintage-styled home
It was no surprise that, with such a well-trained eye for anything old in need of a bit of TLC, Lyn should fall for this former factory space. 'It was totally run-down and unliveable, with water leaking everywhere and a sagging, asbestos ceiling. But I could visualise it looking lovely,' she says. Lyn waited patiently for three years for the factory to come on to the market, then snapped it up and has never looked back.
With the help of a local builder, Lyn 'modernised' the space without ripping out its soul, ensuring the practical elements, such as the electrics, were up to date, while retaining original features like the big windows, brick walls and ancient floorboards.
Lyn has recently turned her magpie's eye into a business, selling treasures in Empire Vintage, her antiques store in Melbourne's Albert Park. 'It's been great being able to turn a hobby into a business, but I find it hard to be really disciplined when I'm buying,' she says. 'It's still a case of “one for the shop and one for me.”'
Take a room-by-room tour around Lyn's vintage-styled home
