Condo Design: A Work-In-Progress at the DC Wharf

I hope your spring is off to a great start! Spring always brings the promise of sunnier days ahead. And after the year we’ve had, we could all use some sunny days. I’ve been thinking lately about how the interior design business — and my work, specifically — has changed since last March.  Pandemic-related impacts have been a mixed bag. The good news is that business is booming, as more people look at their homes in a whole new light now. The downside has been frustrating production and shipping delays in the industry. Patience has been the name of the game — as our condo redesign project in DC illustrates.

Condo Design during Covid

The incredible patience of our DC clients is paying off now. The empty-nest couple approached us about a year ago, asking for help reimagining the spaces in their newly purchased VIO condominium at The Wharf on DC’s waterfront. The corner-unit condo features steel-framed, floor-to-ceiling windows (affording water views) and modern finishes throughout. Our clients were looking for a clean-lined aesthetic that would complement the architecture. In short, they wanted to make the spaces their own but needed some help pulling it all together. Below is a behind-the-scenes look at our design for the living area and home office.

This project is a testimony to the success of virtual design. Most of our meetings with the clients were held over Zoom, and we presented the design plans and schemes virtually, using the following PowerPoint slides. Our clients have responded well to e-design. We will continue to use PowerPoint presentations and offer Zoom meetings long after Covid is under control.

Behind the Condo Design: The Living Area

The lackluster living area needed an injection of color and personality. This is how it looked before:

That long stretch of wall clamored for attention. And the existing entertainment center was the wrong scale. You can see the blue tape on the floor, where we marked off the size of the longer unit that we custom-designed for the space.

Our clients requested that we design the living area around their existing sectional sofa and area rug. The entertainment center was integral to our design. Below are a couple of inspiration photos for the custom console we ultimately created (more on that later).

We imagined a colorful, textural backdrop for the TV and the new  console. This rendering helped the clients visualize how the final space would look:

Scheming for the Living Area

We presented four schemes for the living area. We built each scheme around a wallcovering selection (the large rectangular samples in the slide below). Other elements in the schemes included paint colors, armchair upholstery fabric, and wood finishes for the chair base and console.

Our clients selected Option A, featuring an inky wallcovering with a tactile touch from Romo. The blues in the schemes blend with the watery view outside — and work well with the owners’ existing pieces.

Here’s a closer look at the furnishings we specified for the living area. As you can see (from #5 below), we proposed laying a larger neutral rug under the existing patterned one to beef up the scale and add textural interest.

The real star of the space is the 108″ long entertainment console. The talented team at Michael James Furniture custom-crafted the piece to our precise specifications. I wanted one long, sleek unit, rather than one made in sections. That sounds easy enough but the elevator is a very real consideration with condominium design and installation. To get the console to fit in the elevator, co-founder Ryan McCuen had to install the plinth onsite.

If you’ve followed Creating Spaces for a while, then you know I am a huge fan of the craftsmanship at Michael James Furniture. See more bespoke furniture designs they’ve executed for us in this great room redesign post.

Living Area After(ish)

What a transformation, even though it not quite finished yet! You can start to see the concept drawing above come to life. With the Romo wallcovering installed and the new entertainment console in place, the space offers plenty of function and looks good too.

The entertainment console combines natural walnut with creamy white, lacquered drawers with push-open/soft-close mechanisms. Above it, we hung floating shelves in the same lacquered finish. We also repositioned the Samsung TV, which was placed too high initially for comfortable viewing.

Behind the Condo Design: The Home Office

Work-from-home space has become imperative over the last year. Our condo design included reimagining a small den as a high-functioning study that would accommodate our two academician clients.

We envisioned turning a recessed wall nook into a dual work zone, similar to the one shown in the inspiration image below. Our floor plan includes a comfortable armchair for reading.

The detailed rendering captures how the finished space will look. We leave little to the imagination so our clients feel comfortable with the design direction from the start.

Scheming for the Office-Built-for-Two

The owners wanted to carry the living area’s blue tones into the redesigned home office. We presented three scheme options.

They selected Palette B, with muted shades of blue and taupe. The selections blend with the scenery outside the space’s tall windows. The rug (large rectangle below) is a durable jute, perfect for an office space with rolling desk chairs.

New furnishings and lighting add the function — and style — this study needed. We asked Michael James Furniture to craft a custom Parsons desk to fit the niche.

Home Office After (but not quite final yet)

We squeezed as much function as possible out of a small space. Below each end of the desk sit file cabinets with push-open/soft-close drawers for a streamlined look.

We gave the entire room a fresh coating of paint, including the niche’s back wall. The shade we choose for that accent wall is a slightly toned-down version of what was there before. The new shade blends beautifully with the rug and other design selections.

Condo Redesign: Big Reveal Coming Soon

We are grateful for wonderful clients, such as these condo owners, who graciously hung in there over the past year. Seeing this condo design take shape has been all the more rewarding, given a few unexpected challenges and delays. Once all the design elements are in place, we will share the final spaces in a Big Reveal!