Home design: our warehouse renovation
Designer Lynda Gardener mixes old and new with the found and the collected to create a warm sense of whimsy in her inner-city Melbourne home, writes Hande Renshaw.
Lynda Gardener, an interior decorator and owner of boutique accommodation, is an avid collector. Her warehouse home in inner-city Melbourne is filled with countless treasures she has slowly collected throughout the years. What is now a light-filled haven for Lynda, her partner, Mark Smith, the marketing director for the Queen Victoria Market, both in their 50s, and their beloved cocker spaniel, Jack, was originally a totally dilapidated mattress factory.
“When I purchased this warehouse 15 years ago, it was a mechanical store with an asbestos ceiling, caved-in roof, with plumbing hanging from the wall with absolutely no windows,” says Lynda. “But I could see its potential and I instantly fell in love – I wanted this property, no matter what,” she says.
The challenge was then set to transform the neglected warehouse space into the vibrant home the couple lives in today.
As an interior decorator and having renovated a few of her own properties already, Lynda was keen to take on the design of the warehouse herself. The renovations were extensive, as the warehouse was uninhabitable and literally falling apart.
Lynda started by installing concrete floors, a new ceiling and changed the roof into a classic pitch style to let in more natural light and add the illusion of more space. The roof is now the main feature of the upstairs spaces. The open-plan upstairs area was once a number of small rooms, which were opened up to provide one huge space to house the bedroom, open bathroom (complete with claw-foot bath) and a walk-in wardrobe.
The interior spaces are now bright and full of sunlight throughout the day. “The original warehouse space had no internal redeeming features and was dark and dreary, so large bi-folding doors were installed to create lots of light,” says Lynda.