Houzz Tour: A Virginia Loft Brims with Color and Cheer
A Lawyer Turned Designer Fills Her Home with Bold Hues and Playful Accessories
Interior designer Nicole Lanteri started out her design career in a direction that is vastly different from most — as a lawyer. "I was living in New York City, in my fifth year of practicing law," she explains, "and I just felt this need to do something totally different — something more creative." Lanteri sat down and thought about what she really liked to do (interior design), and what she liked about being a lawyer. "When I really started thinking about it, I realized that what I was starting to like the most about law was working with clients, being organized, and taking certain risks." An interior designer was the perfect combination — so she went for it.
After deciding to hit the road and head out of New York City, Lanteri and her husband moved to a loft in Arlington, Virginia. After searching around, they finally found a space that met their main requirements: a lofty space with central air conditioning ("I learned that lesson the hard way in New York," she says). Both Lanteri and her husband fell in love with the layout. The loft is open, but there's also a downstairs and an upstairs, which provides a good sense of division. "We honestly feel like we could live here forever," she says.
After deciding to hit the road and head out of New York City, Lanteri and her husband moved to a loft in Arlington, Virginia. After searching around, they finally found a space that met their main requirements: a lofty space with central air conditioning ("I learned that lesson the hard way in New York," she says). Both Lanteri and her husband fell in love with the layout. The loft is open, but there's also a downstairs and an upstairs, which provides a good sense of division. "We honestly feel like we could live here forever," she says.
The loft's light-filled living room is Lanteri's favorite room in her home. Because of the tall windows, the room is has plenty of light — even on cloudy days. A Room & Board sectional fits perfectly in the allotted living room space. "That couch was a splurge for us," says Lanteri. "I usually like to change things around, and not spend too much money one one thing."
The printed pillows on the couch are from Urban Outfitters and West Elm, and the contrasting blue and yellow rug is from CB2. Both the quirky red chairs and the ottoman were lucky finds on Lanteri's part — the chairs are treasures from Craigslist that cost only $75 each, and the ottoman was snagged from a Random Harvest tent sale in Washington DC.
Lanteri used graphic black and white IKEA prints in both the living and dining rooms to add a bold splash to the white walls. The dining table and mis-matched chairs were found at an antique store in New York's Chelsea neighborhood. Lanteri is also considering doing built-in banquettes in the dining room to add more storage and pull together the room. "I'm definitely looking forward to planning my home out in the next couple of years," she says. "I enjoy planning it much more than I enjoy actually doing it!"
In the master bathroom, Marimekko towels from Crate & Barrel are positioned on a shelf from West Elm. Lanteri carried the yellow, gray, black, and white theme throughout the room with a cute shower curtain from Anthropologie and black and white photos she took from the rooftop of The Water & Beach Club Hotel in Puerto Rico.
What's the one thing she wishes she could change about her home? "The kitchen and bath fixtures," Lanteri sighs. "They came with the apartment, and I can't wait to pick out new ones!" For now, she's accented the kitchen with funky accessories and a wild yellow tiger print rug that she found in the remnants section of ABC Carpet and Home in New York.
Although not entirely on purpose, Lanteri's home has a color scheme almost entirely made up of primary colors — red and yellow in the kitchen and living room, and blue in the dining room. She's currently on the lookout for some fun prints from the 1950s and 1960s in these colors to help tie all the rooms together. (By the way, how great is her colored knife set? I'm so jealous.)
When she was in college, Lanteri worked in a framing store, so she was able to amass much of her current art and frame collection while she was there. The eclectic variety of her gallery wall is tied together with a classic and simple framing and matting style.
"I use our house as a bit of a lab," says Lanteri. "I try everything out here, and if it works, I can use it with a client." These black and white stripes on a wall adjacent to the guest room are a great example. Both trendy and classic, they work well with the primary colors that accent the rest of the home. Lanteri installed cute little snail coatracks from Urban Outfitters, primping mirrors, and hooks to hang luggage racks at two his-and-her stations. It's the perfect welcome for overnight guests.
Due to her love of rearranging, this guest room was actually a dining room once, and the guest bedroom was in the loft. After it was switched, Lanteri bought a pull-out sofa so that the space could still be used for a lounge. "I like to entertain," she says, "so having this setup makes the flow of a party much better. By placing an Antoinette Fainting Sofa from Urban Outfitters and a quirky antique table from a Washington, D.C. antiques store, this lounge can easily accommodate the spillovers from the loft's main living area.
Like the master bathroom, the guest bedroom has a Marimekko theme, with red patterned towels from Crate & Barrel, and a splash of Marimekko wallpaper on the back wall (visible in the mirror). The small piece framed above the toilet is a postcard from Marlow & Sons in Brooklyn.
Lanteri recently redid the master bedroom after getting quite the steal at a design warehouse sale in Raleigh, North Carolina. After finding a beautiful faux-bois like wallpaper from Liberty of London by Osborne & Little (at a ridiculously great price of 10 rolls for $70), Lanteri knew she had found just the thing to spice up her bedroom. "I really wanted to do a lot of layers, prints, and colors in my bedroom," she says. "It doesn't work for everyone, but it works for me."
A gray EDLAND Chest from IKEA was dressed up with Anthropologie knobs she found on sale. Lanteri continued the "nature" theme in her bedroom with a floral printed rug and lamp shades with botanical prints from Pottery Barn.
Redesigning bedrooms has always been a lot of fun for Lanteri. When she first decided she wanted to make the switch from lawyer to designer, she did one project for free: a renovated bedroom and office. "When the client saw the finished room, she cried," Lanteri says. "It was like out of a movie. It was the most amazing feeling. I knew I was hooked."
Redesigning bedrooms has always been a lot of fun for Lanteri. When she first decided she wanted to make the switch from lawyer to designer, she did one project for free: a renovated bedroom and office. "When the client saw the finished room, she cried," Lanteri says. "It was like out of a movie. It was the most amazing feeling. I knew I was hooked."
This adorable chair (and great makeshift nightstand) was another amazing Craigslist find — particularly since it was already upholstered in the Schumacher Chiang Mai Dragon Fabric — for $40! Botanical prints hang underneath a fun cardboard moose head. The prints were found at a recent moving sale for The Kellogg Collection.
Part of the motivation for switching the guest bedroom out of the loft was to allow Lanteri to have a space of her own for her design work. Magazines, photos, and samples live on every available surface — an organized chaos that helps get her inspired.
A little antique pink couch sits against the loft wall next to several magazine racks. Two ottomans — the STOCKHOLM from IKEA, and the Cayden from Crate & Barrel — sit next to an antique table covered in design magazines for easy reading access.
A little antique pink couch sits against the loft wall next to several magazine racks. Two ottomans — the STOCKHOLM from IKEA, and the Cayden from Crate & Barrel — sit next to an antique table covered in design magazines for easy reading access.
A Verner Panton chair and crisp white Parsons Desk are bright spots of organization in a whirlwind of magazine clippings, photos and fabric samples on Lanteri's inspiration board. "My studio is a bit of a mess, but that's honestly how I like it," she says.
Next: Step inside more inspiring homes
Next: Step inside more inspiring homes
Lanteri loves to rearrange the layout and often moves furniture from room to room (which is why the living room in this shot is a little bit different than the shots above). The Lanteris also love to entertain, which is when the cute bar setup by the television comes in handy. The painting above it was a wedding present: an illustration of the restaurant where her husband proposed.