Outside the new apartments in Grindløkka, the Pene Rom stands with its doors wide open. On the second floor, the doors to an empty apartment open. It’s half past ten in the morning. Three people at work. They rarely talk to each other.
– We are not enemies. People who test us at work may think we quarreled because we talk a little together on the job, but that’s wrong, says Synne Jarenfeldt and laughs.
– We talk more on the way to and from assignments.
The first piece of furniture enters the door of the apartment, the area of which is about 100 m2. Within an hour, the apartment will be decorated with a sofa, table, chairs, pictures, curtains, blankets and pillows. Later in the day the photographer comes in to take pictures, then the apartment comes online about a week before the viewing.
– I try to prepare the work so that we are “invisible”. We find solutions, fix and arrange most things without disturbing the other parties in the sale process, says Synne.
A revolution in home sales
Digital media has revolutionized home sales. An online housing advertisement can contain from 15 to 100 images. Especially in the age of Corona, online opinions have been a mainstay. Pictures are crucial to the interest and number of buyers who come to view them. Some people design their homes themselves, while in-house designers like Pene Rom are noticing an increase in demand since they started 12 years ago.
– Since the beginning we have visited about ten thousand homes. Home design started with the Internet. My impression is that brokers prefer a neat home, says Jarnfeldt who started the company four years ago. Two years later, she was offered to take the position of Penny Rum. She said yes.
– There are three companies designing the house in Tonsberg. There is room for everyone. Our gathering area is mainly Tonsberg and Werder, but we also get assignments from Larvik to Drammen. We also have something going on in Oslo, Sinh says.
Logistics is the key to her business.
We can fill 90 houses with design at the same time. The heart of the operation is our warehouse in Undrumsdal. We have 250 beds, thousands of pillows and over 120 sofas to choose from. In the high season, a lot is published in designer homes. After that it can feel empty, Sen says.
Logistics means a lot in our working day. I’m constantly planning in my head. The design itself is one thing. The design must also be recovered. Cars must be emptied and filled. The design must be planned. It is always adapted to each individual project. There is a lot to think about and many considerations to take care of.
15,000 steps
Table tops, table legs, sofa cushions, and armrests are held and secured together. The truck is packed outside as efficiently as possible. It’s amazing for an outsider to see how much they pack in a car. A moving yoke becomes something with such a rational framework around it.
It’s not “cheat furniture”. The table top of the dining table is heavy. Anna Lara Gudmundsdottir takes promises so lightly that we have to check the weight of the countertop. It’s just to confirm that she’s stronger than Owens’ envoy
– You might see that Ann trains CrossFit. It’s powerful, says Sen.
– The pedometer shows about 15,000 at the end of the working day. Some days I do up to 20,000 degrees, Anna says, who lifts furniture in an upright position and hookah shoes. The same recipe follows employee Kristian Kjørboe who is back from starring in video games in Sweden. He played in the Norwegian national team against the teams of Sweden, Denmark and Finland. For Kjørboe, who takes heavy lifts, it’s nice to move in after a long weekend of video games.
– I’m not really tired. CrossFit gives me a good foundation. Gudmundsdottir says it would be a win-win situation as the workday complements the training I do in my spare time.
Over time, Anna has also developed a sense of home design and can do a lot on her own.
Many people love home furnishing and design. Many with us stopped and tried, but had to give up because they didn’t have the physical strength to withstand it, says Sen, who has a background as a closet maker.
– For 15 years before I started in Pene Rom, I worked in the Akantus municipal carpentry workshop, a suitable workplace for the mentally disabled. I became incredibly fond of those I worked with and visited late last Friday. Sinh says, I quit safe and good business, but I really enjoy driving for myself.
To secure herself as a home designer, she took a continuing education at the Norwegian Boarding School.
Customers want more than design
The empty apartment in Grindløkken comes with furniture, elegance and very little soul. It happens when the packaging is erased and everything that should not be there. The pillows in the sofa have cat ears. There are no strong colors or provocative art. The apartment is the focus. The design should not be too dominant. At the same time, the design should match the colors and era. With the right choice of design, a small room can seem larger.
It can be more challenging and rewarding to design old houses. We recently designed a very heavy booth in the woods in Hove that was built by a man from Canada. It was a fun job. Another fun task that challenged us before Christmas was designing 5 renovated apartments in two days in the center of Tonsberg, says Sen, who never gets bored at work. It happens that the tasks lead to the client also wanting to help with the colors and furniture in the house.
– It’s a growing business. People want help on a regular basis. One lady asked for help picking out the furniture she was going to take from home to a new apartment, and another asked for help in buying textiles and decorations for her new home. You can contact me for advice and advice on other things after design. Those who are demanding often have both common sense and endurance, but want affirmation or lack a little self-confidence, Sen says.
Just over the new year, a new employee named Catherine started. You’ll work with us 60% of the time to help customers choose everything from colors, textiles, and decors to rugs, furniture, lamps, and more.
Nice to go home
The apartment appears to be complete in an hour. Absolutely elegant, elegant and ready to show. The work they do is very clear. The empty apartment has been transformed with the design.
– It is a pleasure to see the result even though I am constantly working on new projects in my mind, inspections and performances. It’s always good to come home after work. Sen, who grew up in Oslo, says we run all day and get physically tired, but that feels good. She moved to Nøtterøy in 2001 as a result of love. Her parents moved to live with her. The daughter, who sometimes helps her mother on behalf of Penny Rom, is the Russian Head of the Year at Notruy High School.
When asked if the impulses from her job lead her to constantly turn her home upside down, she replied:
– I draw a lot. I probably painted my living room three times in four years. I can get tired of colors and want something new. Suddenly I wanted beige, this had never happened before. At home, I am very fond of mixing old and new in furniture, especially since I work in the furniture industry and make some of the furniture myself. It doesn’t cost me anything to move things around. I have this from work. My style is more bohemian than caring, says Garnfeldt.
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