Nelson Court
The owners had already been living in this apartment, so when they decided to renovate the unit, they already knew the specifics of what they wanted. Instead of creating new design schemes, we were happy to play more of an executional role in realizing the owners’ vision of their dream home. They liked designs with sharp contrasts, so we used black and white throughout. But with maintenance and durability in mind, we suggested light grey for the floor, which the couple was willing to accept. With the color scheme quickly decided, we spent a great deal of time sourcing finishing materials with interesting surfaces.
Another aspect of the home the owners wanted to change was the orientation of the living room TV. In the original design, the TV sat on the short side of the rectangular living room – this meant the distance between the 55″ TV set and the sofa was only about five to six feet – a bit too close for comfortable viewing. So in the new design, we enlarged the living room by merging in the study, thus making the space more of a square shape. This allowed us to rotate the sofa by 90 degrees, thereby increasing the viewing distance to a more appropriate nine feet.
The owners had additional members of the family: two cats. We planned carefully to ensure the home worked for the owners as well as the cats. Almost all furniture in the apartment was pushed against a wall, maximizing the space for the cats to circulate around. The much-needed storage space in the apartment was either covered or hidden so that the cats wouldn’t go clawing through them. All decor items were mounted, so no loose items lay around for the cats to knock over.