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Empty Nesters Downsize to a Condo with A View
After the children were grown, their suburban house got too big. Ron and Claire wanted to move into the city, where they could be close to the theatre, the symphony and museums. They wanted to entertain, and they had also decided that it was time, in Claire's words, "to start using the good china and the keepsakes. We want to enjoy them while we still have time to do so!" After looking around, they found a condominium in a modern high-rise. It was light and open, and offered handsome western views.
But the open-plan layout also posed some problems, as did the stacks of books and papers that had cluttered their rental apartment. They turned to Nicolette for assistance with space planning. She evaluated their lifestyle and needs, calculated how much storage they would need, determined which furniture they should sell, and what new things that they would need. The image here shows Nicolette's space solution for the new condo.
One the most attractive features of Ron and Claire's new condo was a large, sun-washed room that is framed on two sides by windows.
The room's layout posed problems both when it came to arranging furniture and to dividing the living and dining areas. The room itself is a large box, seen in the photo at top right. Claire said, "If I did what I usually do, and put the furniture around the edges, I would just have a big hole in the middle!"
The light is strongly directional as well, which made it difficult to place the TV and avoid looking into glare.
Nicolette's space plan, shown in the 3-D image at right, divided the living and dining areas with filing cabinets that also hide papers and multi-task as a buffet surface for entertaining. Nicolette's space plan called for replacing Ron and Claire's old recliners with swivel recliners (shown above right) that could be oriented either for watching the TV, or turned 180 degrees toward the coversation area.
Claire's Comments
"I would highly recommend Nicolette's design services. Nicolette managed to make the things we already had look good just by placing them differently and showing us how they coordinated. "She recommended a few pieces of new furniture which we can acquire over time. She also helped us solve a long-term problem of not having enough storage for lots of papers and books. Her suggestion was creative and looks good in our condo. "What I like best is that she listened to us and gave us ideas for our lifestyle and our furnishings. She never tried to impose some other style of decorating on us-she took what we wanted and showed us how to make it work. "She listens well and is very creative. I liked the computer mock-ups showing various paint colors and furniture placement--it really helped us picture what the changes would look like. " |
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