Downtown Dining Room

This condo, with its million dollar view of one of the great lakes, definitely did not have a cosmopolitan feel. It looked like it belonged in the suburbs – a very attractive, well-built space, but an overabundance of cherry wood and traditional elements were ill-placed in this luxury condo.

The kitchen, living and dining rooms were all one large space, so it was important that they flow well. The dining room was pretty basic. I just wanted to take advantage of the view, so I wanted to keep the furnishings simple yet elegant. Light maple floors kept the condo further away from the uptown look we wanted.

A round dining table worked in this space with the previous owner, so this is what I stuck with. The table I selected, however, is a Jupe table, so it expands in a circle, with the pie-shaped leaves stored in the table itself. This allows for a dinner party for eight, with no worry of storing leaves, or changing the table into an oval when leaves are added.

I chose a chandelier that had glass icicles hanging, and it’s just stunning in the evening. Knowing that my client liked pink, I presented blush pink velvet for the dining chairs. Both she and her husband were shocked – and fell in love with the idea. It really sets the tone for the whole space. We then went to our local vintage rug store, found a rug style we liked, and were able to order some samples of various shades of pink yarn to select from and have our rug custom made with pink and gray yarns, and in the square size that we needed. The result is stunning, and the clients are thrilled. I had the square made large enough so that when the table is expanded the chairs will still be on the rug.

We had a quirky statue that I had designed into their first home that I worked on nine years ago, and thought it would be the perfect accent in the corner of the dining room.

Lastly, I designed a bench for the bay window at the edge of this space.