His friends didn’t see it, but Ronald himself knew the apartment he was going to rent would be a haven of well designed tranquility. The 22-year-old interior designer to be saw through the silver window frames, the stained red carpeting and the yellow walls and recognized the huge potential. He saw huge windows, a clever lay-out, and a very central location in the Southern Dutch town of Oss. He signed the lease and started making plans.
The same friends that were less thrilled about the place in the beginning, proved to be of great help. Together they stripped the walls, tore out the carpets and revamped the flat to what it is today. Ronald: “I knew immediately that I wanted light walls and a dark floor. This adds the sense of space and gives an instant chic appearance. By painting the toe-boards in a light colour, in this case the same white as the ceiling, one avoids the floor being like a box”.
Sitting room with wall dividing bedroom
The dividing wall between the main room and the bedroom needed something special. Ronald wanted to keep as much light coming through into either room as possible. “A friend and I started thinking up ideas. One was having the wall rotate with a TV in it. Or maybe lowering the wall to where it would just be a partition, we thought of many things”. The final outcome is a very clever lower wall with wooden blinds fixed on galvanised steel pillars. “The pillars are actually curtain rails. It was a tough job creating this as the rails had to go through the wall to be able to support the wooden blinds. I am very pleased with the result”, adds Ronald.
The window frames and the ceiling were painted a bright white to contrast the subtle grey on the walls. For the floor Ronald was hoping to put in a concrete floor in a darker anthracite grey. But the existing floor proved to be a bit of a problem. Ronald: “We needed to level it and sand it down to be able to put the floor in. In the end I opted for a marmoleum (vynil) floor”.
The kitchen cupboards are covered in black adhesive foil.
The Kitchen was in perfect condition and the lay-out was great too. It would have been a shame to rip it out. Especially considering this a rental flat. But the veneer with faux-wood print had to go. “My father in law had experience in covering up kitchen units and cupboards with an adhesive foil. I wanted a black kitchen, so covered the doors with black foil. The worktop looks really good with it, so that stayed”.
Instead of a regular dining set, Ronald chose to put in a high breakfast bar with four stools. It separates the kitchen from the main room and when not used as a table makes for extra worktop space.
Details throughout the flat
Ronald is aspiring a career in interior design. Homevoyeurs thinks he has what it takes!
Photography © Ronald Cornelissen
Inspired? The Homevoyeurs webshop sells many books about how to decorate small spaces. A great example is Studio Apartments: big ideas for smaller spaces by By James Grayson Trulove. You can order it here.
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