Furnishing a condo can be challenging. If you want a sophisticated look, with good looking art, lamps, accessories, rugs, and furniture, consider an interior design firm. They’ll insure you get unique pieces in the right size & scale, quality, and colors for a stylish look!

You may be thinking that a great designer look should be easy to accomplish, but it’s not as easy as one would think, and here’s why:

 It’s difficult to know how items will look (in their actual setting) when you buy from photos or catalogs. Often once they arrive homeowners realize they bought the wrong size and scale, or they aren’t happy with the quality. A designer can help you avoid those issues.

With the before and after photos below, we’ll feature interior design tips to give your downtown condo a sophisticated style. And just do we mean by sophisticated? Well …. everyone’s version is different, since it’s a matter of opinion, one person might say classic, another might say stylish, or up to date, or cultured, coordinated and pulled together, or not trendy. 

See the before photos, the prior designer used a busy pattern 4 places: in the art, the rug, the pillows and the drapes. These busy patterns were strong, they competed with the brick, making it hard to appreciate the natural beauty of the exposed brick. The new solids and subtle art allow a soothing “less busy” look. A subtle or serene environment is nice to come home to after a hectic busy day at work!

When decorating a downtown apartment, consider window treatment ideas that are timeless, such as tone on tone fabrics, in order to achieve a sophisticated style.  For art, consider large contemporary art, like the local art from Greensboro, NC below. And when possible, have the designer display the actual art & fabric bolts in the room, rather than trying to visualize from swatches or photos.

Below before –  the primary color tones of blue red & yellow were updated to more subtle art, since this dining room area is small. The “Jazz man” art is a tall vertical to accentuate the nice tall ceilings.

 
Don’t forget bar stools! Stylish bar stools add so much to a modern sophisticated style. In the condo below, the dark wood of the cabinets is repeated on the bar stool legs. The ivory leather compliments the white quartz counter tops. 

Even a small entrance to a condo can feel like a welcoming foyer! Make it functional:

• A chest of drawers in distressed wood & steel is handy for keys, gloves, or a brief case,
• An industrial style steel mirror is handy as you leave for work

                                                                                             

An apartment or condo looks more masculine with tailored pieces:

• Below, our masculine distressed wood bed replaced the sleigh bed, and made the room feel  larger. This new bed is an industrial style!
• Modern lamps are the correct size & scale for tall ceilings
• Art on canvas replaced a print behind glass (to solve the glare caused by glass)
• We provided nightstands with ample storage.

AFTER condo bedroom                                                                          BEFORE bedroom