Condo Living I

This is the first in a series of blogs about living in a condominium.  People move into condos for lots of reasons, most of which revolve around downsizing.  Perhaps they are newly widowed, divorced, remarried, children have left the nest or they have vacation homes and don't need a large primary home.  For this client the cause was a fire.  I had worked with the couple in their 1920's home for years.  We had gotten the interior just right.  The wife had gotten the garden just right.  Then a tragic fire struck.  The shell of the house remained but the emotional energy to rebuild did not.  The couple also had an empty nest and were soon to buy their beloved home on a river. 

Some of the items you will see here were salvaged and redone to use in the condo and some are brand new.  I believe the project and process of making their condo a home helped in the healing process.  Fortunately,  the couple found a condo that with some remodeling could be ready in a short amount of time.  The condo was painted in dark colors but we had the opportunity to change the colors and some of the other finishes.

The living area of the condo, once dark chocolate brown is now a soft butter color.  As there is no natural light in this large room, the soft yellow gave the room a  reflective  ambient  dayglow quality.  The butter color also provides a good canvas for the beautiful art work displayed.  (More about the art in a later blog)

This is one of mine and the client's favorite cozy nooks for reading or contemplating.  A loveseat from the fire was refurbished and covered with a lovely black cotton with wool crewel fabric.  The crewel flowers are in cream and soft sage.  Placement of the love seat between two book cases and the addition of the wall sconces makes this an inviting area to visit.  The butler's tray cocktail table, prefire, is set with a lovely heirloom tea service which provides another reflective surface.

Another area of the living room is furnished with a Baker console table that survived the fire.  It is completed with a Thumprints lamp, Rowe chair and oil painting and oriental footbath.

This is the view from the living room to the breakfast room area.  The clients recently replaced the white tile floors with hardwood.  The hardwood softened the look and sound features in the condo.  This dining area replaced a large formal dining room, seated up to 12, and a breakfast room in the 1920's house.  Some sacrifices are always necessary when switching to condo living.

These are photos of the master bedroom.  The walls are done in a soft shade of blue green, almost the shade of the sky on some days.  The two bedside chests provide surfaces but are also necessary for storage of dainty clothing items.  The bay window is furnished with two comfortable tub chairs that were refurbished and covered with a cozy beige fabric.  The custom ottomans are on either side of a highboy used for storing clothing and a flat screen television.  The ottomans were custom monogrammed and serve for sitting to put on shoes, etc..

This is a photo of master bedroom bay window area with tub chairs and custom roman blinds.

These are photos of the master bathroom.  We found it necessary to work with the existing white tile with black accents.  The metallic wallcovering has shades of gold, silver and bronze.  The lamp survived the fire.  The antique french porchoirs gave the owner hours of pleasure finding and selecting which to frame in the glass floating frames.  These porchoirs were done at the turn of the century by french fashion designers.  They were presented to clients in portfolio form.  All of the designer's sketches were hand retouched with color.  These pieces are highly collectible.

This is the guest bath. We once again used a metallic wallcovering to tone down the existing white tile and fixtures.  Black custom shower curtain and custom ottoman. A flokati rug from Greece softens the whole look.

I think the clients will tell you as they have told me that they love their condo.  The process of downsizing and making it theirs was enjoyable and healing.

More condo projects later.  Blogs on the horizon:  my favorite chairs, art work I love, lamps I love.