A one-woman studio.
From first coffee to final handover.
I run a one-woman studio in Amsterdam. Architect-trained brain, four years of client-facing materials work, a stylist's eye — held by the same hands, for the same project, from first coffee to final handover.
The rare combination that makes the studio possible — three competencies, daily-practised, held by the same person.
A five-year Master in Architecture. Spatial thinking, structure, composition, the seriousness of the discipline. The architectural brain is the foundation everything else rests on.
Four years sitting across the table from real clients — translating feeling into specification, holding the room when contractor and architect disagree, closing without drama.
A deep eye for the finished room. Materials fluency from Cosentino, furniture and textile instinct from the retail floor before that, taste sharpened on a thousand showroom afternoons.
Held separately, three jobs. Held together — by the same person, for the same project — a studio.
A premium interior has four conversations happening at once — with the architect, the builder, the designer's eye, and the client. Most freelancers speak one of those languages well. The studio is built around speaking all four, because that is what an editor of the whole project needs.
Reads and contributes to plans, sections and technical details. Understands sight lines, structural constraints, load paths, how a drawing changes when a wall moves. A moodboard that is already feasible — never just pretty. From the first sketch onward, every spatial idea is tested against what the building actually allows.
Four years inside Cosentino — Dekton, Silestone, sintered stone, edge profiles, tolerances, lead times. Knows what bends and what cracks, what arrives on a Tuesday and what needs eight weeks. Specifications written so the contractor does not have to phone with questions.
Taste, finish, narrative. A fabric that ages well with the family. Brass that patinates beautifully. Oak that warms a north-facing room. Style held continuously from concept to handover by the same eye — not handed over to a stylist at the end.
Listens for what they cannot yet name. Translates feeling into specification. Holds the room when contractor and architect disagree at 14:30 on a Wednesday. Four years of premium showroom work — the conversation skills the studio depends on most, and the ones almost no architect is trained for.
One studio. Four languages. No translation loss between them.
One trusted person carrying a complete interior project from the first conversation to the moment the keys turn in the lock.
Three ways to work together — chosen to fit the kind of project, the budget, and the size of the leap.
Private clients are the higher margin. Studios are the deeper relationship. Both doors stay open.
Until the first projects are photographed, the studio speaks through atmosphere — the materials, tones and textures that anchor the work.
Clients want fewer relationships, not more.
One trusted person, with one taste, who can hold the whole thing.
Trained as an architect, sharpened on four years of premium materials work, Studio Vanja is a one-woman practice in the canal-belt city — designing, specifying and finishing private interiors and small commercial spaces, end-to-end.
The work is residential, retail and small hospitality. The aesthetic is warm-minimal: lime plaster, oak, travertine, the quiet luxury of restraint. The promise is simple — one trusted person, from the brief to the keys.
If you are renovating a home in Amsterdam, fitting out a boutique, or running a studio that needs a freelance lead — write a short note. A reply usually arrives within two working days.
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