Claustrophobic. That is the first word that popped into my head when I first walked into this poorly laid out condo. Okay, well that might be an exaggeration, the space wasn't exactly claustrophobic, but as my client was showing me around the space, I could quickly see how under utilized the kitchen had been laid out when the condos were first built. Dark faux cherry colored upper cabinets hung over the base cabinets in an awkward L shape that blocked the beautiful view out of the living room window; leaving only a tiny 20" gap between the cabinet space to look out into the living room. And that was just the kitchen.
As we furthered our tour, my client showed me the powder bath - not a ton we can do there with layout, but tiles are my game, so the thoughts started to flow! We ended our tour with the master bath, this space also featured an under utilized layout. A large Jacuzzi tub took up most of the space, leaving only enough room for a small 3'x4' shower squished into the back corner.
Condos are generally not large spaces to begin with, so my client was in dire need for a better functioning layout in both the kitchen and master bath that maximized storage solutions throughout. First thing to go would be the obnoxious upper cabinets in the kitchen, followed by the Jacuzzi tub that had maybe been used a total of one time.
A space that felt like a cave was just dying for a gut renovation and to be designed into a beautiful and aesthetically pleasing space that featured a city view through the large living room windows. And so the transformation began.
We spent a ton of time on the front end exploring different kitchen layout options with the client to see what would work the best for the clients needs. The client had a love for cooking when they had a little spare time off from their busy work schedule, so the need for storing not only every day kitchen items, but also special kitchen items was our challenge!
By taking down the suspended upper cabinets, that left the client with less storage space, so we had to get creative. The large L peninsula was underutilized and sat well over 8 barstools, which was un-necessary for a space of this size. A small dinner party would only hold at best 5 or 6, so we eliminated the spot for so many barstools. Instead, we capitalized on that space to create more cabinet storage on both sides of the peninsula on the longer side of the L. We also capitalized on small returns and nooks in the kitchen area by installing floating shelving and skinny cabinets in small wall returns.
The client and I often joked that they had a bit of Vegas glam in their blood and desired for small touches of glitzy and glam. With the simplicity of our finishing selections, we were able to accomplish this by using small touches of glam in a wallpaper accent in the kitchen and living room, the backsplash and pops of fun tile in the bathrooms, and light fixtures. I was sorry to report back that the client's velvet Elvis didn't make the cut in the new design.
After a year long process of first gutting the place for a new design, and then selecting the perfect furnishings for the space, the condo was finally complete. Every square inch of this condo had been re-designed. It doesn't even look like the same space!
Photography by Tom Kessler
