It was a serendipitous meeting on that fateful Modernism Week home tour in Palm Springs, CA, when Tom and Jay meandered into our William Cody Tennis Club Bungalow which we had recently renovated.
As we were guiding Tom and Jay through our home, our conversation revealed that we both lived in Chicago and had homes in Palm Springs. They described their main bedroom suite at the Carlyle on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive as beige, boring, dark, small and depressing. They wished to bring a pop of Palm Springs vibrancy to their mid-century, yet classic high rise condo. The stately, seriousness of the building and the unit needed to be honored, while incorporating color, light, space, and life. The bathroom was small with a single sink vanity and lacked a private water closet. The space between the bedroom and bathroom was divided by a hallway with a desk and entry to the walk-in closet. By opening the wall between the bathroom and the closet, enlarging the vanity by removing the the desk, carrying the new large format bathroom floor tile into the dressing area and closet, replacing the drywall shower enclosure with glass, and carefully turning the toilet, we created a space that was beyond our clients’ imagination.
Enveloping the entire suite in the dreamy, serene Benjamin Moore HC-171 Wickham Gray, while varying the sheens on the walls and woodwork, served as the perfect quiet canvas for the artful inspired materials.
We partnered with Hoiland Studios to replace recessed lights along the bed wall, built-in bookshelves and in the shower with linear cove lighting, as we drew attention to the design details and stunning quartzite.
The materials and finishes we specified, walnut, satin brass, terrazzo inspired porcelain, subtly textured porcelain on the walls, and Aria Quartzite pay homage to the classic, stateliness of the edifice, while the shades of blue in the splashy Phillip Jeffries mural wall covering, and sumptuous Pindler and Kravet textiles, brought the element of sophisticated playfulness our clients craved to transport from their Palm Springs life.
