Houzz Tour: Life in the Vintage Renewal Loft
Step inside a Denver workshop where salvage finds get bright new purpose
Jeanne Connolly lives and works in one space, the Vintage Renewal Loft in Denver, CO. Her love for vintage fabrics and repurposed furnishings is her business, her passion and her living environment. The furniture and art objects that Connolly creates are inspired by past decades, fashion styles, different cultures, antique furniture and vintage craft books. See where this indie furniture re-designer lives and reworks classic and modern pieces to create one-of-a-kind usable art for her own home, studio and Etsy shop.
This pink tufted sofa was next to perfect when Jeanne found it at a thrift store, but it needed some new trim and a good cleaning. The painting, a gift from friends in Denver, is one of Jeanne's favorite pieces. "I've played off these amazing colors for many different arrangements in this space. It was really fun displaying some of my pillows on a white step ladder in the background, and the sofa made the best backdrop ever for oodles of other pillows." The Chinese water bucket to the right stores magazines Connolly flips through for inspiration.
Connolly loves this area of the loft. "The loft is just a big open space, so it's very important to create a lot of cozy areas with their own individual personality and purpose ... It's crucial to be able to love what you have and to restyle the same pieces in your home to make it feel different to you, as often as your personality dictates. My mother kept our house the same for 30 years. Mine changes almost monthly."
Here, the Eron Johnson Mongolian cabinet is adorned with antique Foo dogs, a modern Chinese calligraphy brush and one of Jeanne's upcycled pillows.
This picture of Connolly's loft space features a great vintage sofa covered in a tweed fabric — it was perfect the way it was, so there was no need for redesign. She simply adorned the sofa with several Vintage Renewal pillows made of burlap, neckties and scarves. The painted vintage screen was "an absolute thrift store score." The accented 1940s chair is a Vintage Renewal piece redesigned in an incredible vintage fabric oozing with ethnicity and carved wood panels. The coffee table in the picture once served as a bench.
Connolly says she just can't get enough of vintage tchotchkes; they are always a favorite at the Vintage Renewal loft. Recently, she began repurposing interesting vintage and antique pieces into lighting.
Connolly says she just can't get enough of vintage tchotchkes; they are always a favorite at the Vintage Renewal loft. Recently, she began repurposing interesting vintage and antique pieces into lighting.
A mid-century modern chair covered in a vintage brown-and-white plaid fabric receives a color pop with a gold-brown and ivory vintage fleur-de-lis fabric accent. Connolly loves the white welt cord, a crisp signature look.
Connolly wanted to create an overall feeling of living with vintage from head to peep-toe. This lifestyle shot gives an overall picture of her personal style. Elements shown here include her office chair redesign with a fantastic vintage farm table she found on Craigslist. Connolly created the chair for an art opening at The Hinterland Art Space in Denver where all her pieces were made from upcycled vintage ladies neck scarves, men's neckties — and good old-fashioned burlap for textural contrast.
Up close, you can see how vintage clothing has been upcycled into home decor.
Nestled inside a beautiful antique Mongolian cabinet from Eron Johnson Antiques, Connolly's one-of-a-kind pillows repurpose a beautiful silk woman's scarf and vintage trim.
Connolly has created a vintage office chair series that she also uses in her own home office. "I'm always trying to reinvent myself, and I also get inspired by things that I randomly come across that are screaming out for some new love."
She can't get enough of three-dimensional flowers on her furniture. This little office chair was covered in burlap and adorned with blooms made of vintage neck scarves.
She can't get enough of three-dimensional flowers on her furniture. This little office chair was covered in burlap and adorned with blooms made of vintage neck scarves.
An upcycled pillow made from neckties adorns a redesigned 1940s vintage chair.
This drafting table is so chunky and interesting, it would look great with anything. The backdrop is a score of thrifted art pieces Connolly calls granny art. "I love those old-school '70s crochet and embroidery art pieces I randomly come across in my vintage scouting!"
Created for ReadyMade Magazine, this vintage headboard is made out of upcycled vintage pieces straight from Connolly's closet and inspiration many of the pillows and office chairs in her collection. "I loved creating this interesting herringbone pattern out of all those different patterns and textures."
"This photo was taken when I first decorated the loft," Connolly says. "I had so much fun with all the different patterns. I was truly living my art in this stage of designing."
Thrift store scores blend in with gallery pieces picked up along the way.
"This is where the magic happens," Connolly says. "This space constantly changes along with the different projects that I am working on. I like my creative area to feel very whimsical since there is so much whimsy in my designing."
Connolly created screens out of salvaged doors found in a dumpster. After scrubbing them down, she upholstered them with some of her more festive vintage fabrics and trims for a lively room divider. "I almost love fabric more than I do furniture ... but they are both so inspiring to me. One can't live without the other in my world. There is no such thing as too much furniture or fabric! If I love it, I must have it for a one-of-a-kind vintage revamp to re-share with the world!"
Connolly's space, from the outside. Thank you for the interview Jeanne, and for showing us how one can live, work and be beautifully sustainable!
More:
Vintage Renewal info
See her Etsy shop
Houzz Tour: Kay Loves Vintage
More:
Vintage Renewal info
See her Etsy shop
Houzz Tour: Kay Loves Vintage