601 Pennsylvania Ave NW
This was a new DC resident that had rented this gorgeous apartment but didn’t have the time or, according to them, the skills to decorate it before they moved in and started working. This was not going to be a primary residence for them, just a place to stay when in town working, so they wanted to stay on a budget, but be nice enough for them to enjoy and host company should they need to.
So I did a complete furnishing of their place to make sure it was ready for them to hit the ground running.
My clients asks were that it be cozy, traditional, and that we put a TV in the bedroom. They also wanted me to add as much storage as I could, and they wanted to utilize their bedding from home that they loved so much.
In addition to storage, I had to focus on lighting since there is limited overhead lights and as this is a rental, we couldn’t add more. Additionally, lots of varied sources of lights are not just functional but also help to make the home cozy and balanced. I anchored the living room with a lovely linen blend sofa from Wayfair and a leather accent chair from Target and kept the color palette tight to keep the ethereal, calm mood I was after so the client could relax at the end of their stressful days.
The showstopper is this great electronic fireplace from Wayfair. Moving from a much warmer climate than DC in the middle of the winter, add warmth was a priority. It absolutely warms up the living room both aesthetically and physically. It allowed me to have a place to put the TV and easily hide those pesky wires while being a focal point of the room and add architectural interest but be renter and landlord friendly. I was skeptical about a removable, electric fireplace, but they have come a long way and this one looks like it’s always been there. The fire actually looks fairly real too.
In the bedroom, we added hints of purples and deep reds in the art to match the clients existing bedding and incorporated a great nailhead bed in grey linen with additional storage in the base. This bed grounded the space, provided a neutral backdrop to the clients vivid bedding, and provided FOUR additional drawers. The TV was tricky because it’s a rental and we wanted to limit the damage we did. I landed on putting it opposite the bed and off center on a mount so that we could still have the amazing vintage MCM dresser from GoodWood for storage and a place to add additional lighting as well as store the TV accessories. The dresser will also hide all the wires from the TV. Win - Win!
In the living and dining I also added a desk area off the dining room to allow the client to work from home when needed, but utilized a dining chair so that they could still have 4 chairs at the dining room table when not working at the desk without cluttering the area.
In the end, I think I achieved my goals. The total for furnishing all the spaces in this home, including the kitchen and 1.5 baths was just under $10K including all electronics and the fireplace. This will hopefully be a relaxing and serene home away from home for my client.
