The following article was originally written by this author and first published on Homeclick.
The odd, curvilinear layout of this 1,400-square-foot Washington DC condo was no match for designer Tricia Huntley's imagination. Far from fitting square pegs in a round hole, Huntley's furniture choices tastefully adapt to the space and made for a happy client indeed.
Huntley enjoys the challenge of fitting furniture into odd-shaped spaces.
For, in this Washington, DC Penn Quarter condo located between the Capitol and the White House, the challenge was not so much knocking down walls or selecting the right furniture – both of which she did – but deciding how to work with the beautiful curvilinear shape.
The luxurious unit is located near some of the city’s best museums, boasts two bedrooms and two bathrooms, and is now fit for a princess.
A ladylike living room
Or rather, an uptown professional who likes pretty things.
The client was a single woman who wanted something entirely feminine and yet accommodating of her slight disability, which required the installation of distressed finish flooring instead of rugs. “Those are easier to slip on,” Huntley says.
Huntley shares of this gorgeous space that, “The genesis, just like so many projects, is that [one room is] kind of like a footprint that starts driving things.”
In this case, that was the living/dining room, but the “unusually shaped” space presented challenges. The floor plan “is like a long shot that has these appendages that spearhead off it. Imagine a spear with wings,” Huntley says.
The results speak for themselves, even if in a whisper. Huntley says she mimicked the colors of the Jimmy Choo store in DC, with the effect just as glam as she had told her client it would be: “I described the final color scheme [in the living room] to the client in this way, ‘Think of Angelina Jolie or Nicole Kidman dressed in a neutral, tailored Armani suit with a stunning red lip.’"
Details round out the room
Huntley’s told her clients many times that while they often want to buy properties with the best views, this could result in a wraparound corner to capture that view. “That makes for an awkward floor plan and funky shaped rooms,” she says.
So that’s why she did this plush curved sofa, adding the
ottoman. The result was “a lot of shapes with some kind of curve that make it easier to navigate around the room. It’s not a square box so to make all these linear square rectangular pieces [wouldn’t have] worked.” She also did a lot of solids instead of patterns, she says, because they worked better with the quirky shape.
The ottoman speaks to the sofa and that shape, she says. The mixed-use living and dining room tucks its dining area in the back, with the cool seating space featuring the sofa, ottoman, wing chair and console with TV in the front.
Washingtonian Wonder - Living Room
The designer’s favorite pieces in the room are the chandelier over the dining table, for its dramatic “jewelry-esque” effect, as is the custom faux snakeskin console she designed as “a nod to fashion and footwear,” both of which her client is fond.
The wall covering installation behind the console is also a favorite. “The paper is so gorgeous and luminous in and of itself, but I cut it in squares and installed it in a grid pattern for extra interest,” says Huntley.
Solid background to build upon
Huntley’s educational background is as formidable as the projects she tackles, with an MFA in interior design from George Washington University. She can appreciate not only the frilly part of creating a welcoming oasis for homeowners, but the nuts and bolts of the buildings themselves. She says her curriculum included architectural studies, something that helps inform her work today.
And the information she got from her young client, who hails from “horse country in North Carolina” was simple: “I don’t have a husband, kids, I’m a girly girl. I want it to be my girly girl bachelorette pad.”
Yes, ma’am that was accomplished: it’s mighty pretty.
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Interior designer:
TRICIA HUNTLEY | huntley & co.
www.huntleyandcompany.com
Photos by Kevin Allen
This article has been lightly edited since its original publication.
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