A sneak peek behind the green doors of Dirty Janes Orange

The former PCYC building in Byng Street has been abuzz with activity these past few weeks as renovations ramp up in preparation for the opening of Orange’s new indoor vintage market, Dirty Janes.

Once open, Dirty Janes Orange will house stalls from more than 75 individual sellers, who each lease a space that they then make their own. Inside will also be a cafe with seating that looks into the main market space

Orange will be the third Dirty Janes location opened by founder Jane Crowley, who originally launched her curated multi-stall market in Bowral 15 years ago, expanding to Canberra in 2020.

The ground level of the Orange market is due to open this autumn, with the upstairs section to open in about 12 months' time after the installation of a lift and new stairwell.

“We've got about probably six weeks left in the build,” said Jane Crowley as she walked Orange City Life through the renovations in progress.

“The main infrastructure's up. We've got all of the stand walls up, and all of the electrics have gone in.

“There's a little bit of finishing off to do there and then in the next couple of weeks, we'll be putting in all of the fire elements and all of the plumbing is going into the cafe. 

“So there's still quite a lot that needs doing, but it's great to walk in and actually see the stands up and ready to go!”

Along with interior renovations, the outside of the building has been transformed with enlarged windows on the street frontage and distinctive green double doors installed in the entryway to the market and cafe.

“The response from stallholders has actually been really overwhelming,” said Jane, who has almost filled all of the 75 available spaces.

“You've got such talented people within Orange! We've signed up a milliner. I've got people who make furniture. I've got people who are dealing in textiles. Lots of artists! So we're giving them a space where they can hang their art and just have that bricks-and-mortar space.

“Furniture dealers…. If you like mid-century, if you like French design, if you like Australian rustic…  I've got some great dealers who are bringing in old enamel signs and country furniture. I've even got some makers who make furniture out of old timbers. 

“There's a second-hand book dealer, a second-hand record dealer. We've got vintage clothing and some beautiful vintage jewellery coming in. It's the whole gamut. I challenge people to come in and not find something that they're going to like!”

While the market is somewhat curated by Jane, each stallholder is encouraged to really make their space their own.

“I don't want to dictate and say, you must have white walls and you must have a rug on the floor, it’s encouraging their personalities just to really shine with what they do,” she said.

And what I'm trying to do is really mix them up so that it's really curated. You know, I'm never going to put a jewellery dealer next to another jewellery dealer. We want customers to come and have this real sense of surprise and delight!

So when will the green door be open to the public? Jane says she will have a better idea in a few week's time. 

“I reckon by mid-March,  I'll have a really good idea and then we'll actually announce when we're opening,” Jane said.

“I don't want to necessarily do a big party. We're going to save the big party for later on in the year when we do our ‘Wine Meets Design’ nights. We have them in Bowral and we bring in vineyards and we bring in artists… we’ve had jugglers and trapeze artists and it's a really fun night where we just bring the community and go, let's enjoy it by lamplight rather than big overhead lights. It’s great!”