Houzz Tour: Downsizing in Denver With a Long-Distance Redesign
A couple’s apartment gets personalized with a black-and-white palette and eclectic artwork
Amy and Adam Maher decided to make a big lifestyle change, downsizing from their 2,000-square-foot house to the 600-square-foot apartment Amy had loved living in when she was single. They hung on to some of their favorite accessories and a handful of smaller pieces, but needed furniture that fit the scale of their new home. Now they have a personalized space with crisp graphic contrast between black and white, plus colorful eclectic touches.
AFTER: For example, Bensen suggested a medium-gray sofa but noted that they could go darker if they wished. The couple wound up choosing a dark gray textile that provided a sharper contrast with the white walls.
“With the clean-lined, dark sofa, I knew we’d want to mix in some more textures, so I suggested a cool leather chair,” Bensen says. “But I also noted that they could find a similar one, and it still would work.”
The newly renovated kitchen is now more open to the rest of the living room but recedes visually because of all the white. The subway tile backsplash is composed in a grid, which lends a more modern look than the expected offset pattern. The countertops are Ikea butcher block.
“With the clean-lined, dark sofa, I knew we’d want to mix in some more textures, so I suggested a cool leather chair,” Bensen says. “But I also noted that they could find a similar one, and it still would work.”
The newly renovated kitchen is now more open to the rest of the living room but recedes visually because of all the white. The subway tile backsplash is composed in a grid, which lends a more modern look than the expected offset pattern. The countertops are Ikea butcher block.
The rug was a key to the room; Bensen knew her clients wanted color and were drawn to Turkish rug designs. She found this one on Etsy, and her clients loved her choice. A large fiddleleaf fig adds life and color in the corner, while swing-arm sconces provide plenty of reading light. “They were not interested in having floor and table lamps over here, so I found them some wall-mounted sconces with the industrial style they liked,” she says.
She also knew they’d need a large-format piece of art to occupy the space over the sofa. “Often clients are intimidated by choosing art and go with something abstract or a pretty landscape, but Amy was totally up for finding quirky pieces,” she says.
Photo: Girl Smoking by Lita Bosch, Photos.com; ceiling fan: RH Teen; sofa and sconces: CB2; leather chair: Pottery Barn
She also knew they’d need a large-format piece of art to occupy the space over the sofa. “Often clients are intimidated by choosing art and go with something abstract or a pretty landscape, but Amy was totally up for finding quirky pieces,” she says.
Photo: Girl Smoking by Lita Bosch, Photos.com; ceiling fan: RH Teen; sofa and sconces: CB2; leather chair: Pottery Barn
The piece on the right is a bar cabinet on a brass base. “She’d found one at Anthropologie that she loved, but it had a lot of fretwork on it and cost about $3,000,” Bensen says. The new cabinet gives them a lot of storage but doesn’t clutter up the room, thanks to its graceful open base.
Bar cabinet: West Elm; peace sign: CB2
Bar cabinet: West Elm; peace sign: CB2
The living space is open to this dining area at the far end of the room. The couple’s office is on the left, and their bedroom is on the right.
Amy’s love for this Moroccan light fixture original to the apartment confounded the designer a little at first. “It had been there since she’d been a renter of the apartment years ago, and it was sentimental to her,” she says. “In the ‘before’ photos, with the drab walls, it was difficult to see its appeal.”
However, after the renovation, the olive-green glass and onion shape stand out against the bright white walls, and the fixture is just the right eclectic touch for the dining area. Copper dining chairs swagged in faux sheepskins complement it well and add shine to the space. “I had recommended something different, but Amy came across these when she was shopping in CB2 for other things — they are gorgeous and just right for the space,” she says.
Tulip table: CB2; Maui Mist wall paint and Carbon door paint: Behr
Amy’s love for this Moroccan light fixture original to the apartment confounded the designer a little at first. “It had been there since she’d been a renter of the apartment years ago, and it was sentimental to her,” she says. “In the ‘before’ photos, with the drab walls, it was difficult to see its appeal.”
However, after the renovation, the olive-green glass and onion shape stand out against the bright white walls, and the fixture is just the right eclectic touch for the dining area. Copper dining chairs swagged in faux sheepskins complement it well and add shine to the space. “I had recommended something different, but Amy came across these when she was shopping in CB2 for other things — they are gorgeous and just right for the space,” she says.
Tulip table: CB2; Maui Mist wall paint and Carbon door paint: Behr
AFTER: The homeowners’ existing brass bar cart was just the right piece for the spot. Adding a few fun accessories upped its style quotient. And Biggie seems to approve.
Bensen reversed the black and white the couple loves in their office, with black paint on the walls and white accents. “Amy wanted a really dramatic art wall, not just a few pieces,” she says. The designer presented her clients with a to-scale computer rendering of the gallery wall, specifying where to put the pieces they had and others that they were considering purchasing, and filling in with her own suggestions to round out the collection. Using white mats and black and white frames gave the wall the super-graphic look her clients love. “The key to a gallery wall like this is to really just start somewhere, stick with pieces that are in the same size range, and build out from there,” the designer says.
Bensen chose a dark butcher block from Ikea for the desktop and used two Alex drawer storage units from Ikea for the base, which add more contrast to the dark walls.
A Turkish-inspired rug and the leather desk chair offer texture and color. “Amy showed me some inspiration images where the black wall really made a colorful rug pop. We all loved the rug in the living room and the idea of contrasting another rug like that with the dark walls in the office,” Bensen says.
Graphite wall paint: Benjamin Moore; rug: Urban Outfitters; much of the artwork: Society6 and Minted
Bensen chose a dark butcher block from Ikea for the desktop and used two Alex drawer storage units from Ikea for the base, which add more contrast to the dark walls.
A Turkish-inspired rug and the leather desk chair offer texture and color. “Amy showed me some inspiration images where the black wall really made a colorful rug pop. We all loved the rug in the living room and the idea of contrasting another rug like that with the dark walls in the office,” Bensen says.
Graphite wall paint: Benjamin Moore; rug: Urban Outfitters; much of the artwork: Society6 and Minted
This black-and-white cross blanket, already owned by her clients, had been a key to helping Bensen understand their style early in the process.
Although the couple was mostly starting fresh in the apartment, one thing they wouldn’t give up in downsizing was their king-size mattress. With a bedroom that measures just 9 feet 4 inches by 10 feet 5 inches, this was a tall — or, to put it more accurately — a wide order. “I looked at it all sorts of ways, and the only one that worked was to push it against the wall,” Bensen says. “They did not care; they had to have it.” They also had to trade in their existing bed since it had a thicker profile and wouldn’t fit. She helped them find one with a slim, space-saving profile that adds a graphic touch.
The online design collaboration resulted in a dream apartment that makes the couple glad they gave up 70 percent of their living space.
Bed and dresser: CB2; lamp: West Elm; artwork over bed: Knuba by Alex Kostinskyi via Artfully Walls
More: Is an Online Decorator Right for You?
Although the couple was mostly starting fresh in the apartment, one thing they wouldn’t give up in downsizing was their king-size mattress. With a bedroom that measures just 9 feet 4 inches by 10 feet 5 inches, this was a tall — or, to put it more accurately — a wide order. “I looked at it all sorts of ways, and the only one that worked was to push it against the wall,” Bensen says. “They did not care; they had to have it.” They also had to trade in their existing bed since it had a thicker profile and wouldn’t fit. She helped them find one with a slim, space-saving profile that adds a graphic touch.
The online design collaboration resulted in a dream apartment that makes the couple glad they gave up 70 percent of their living space.
Bed and dresser: CB2; lamp: West Elm; artwork over bed: Knuba by Alex Kostinskyi via Artfully Walls
More: Is an Online Decorator Right for You?
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Amy and Adam Maher and their dog, Biggie
Location: Denver
Size: 600 square feet (56 square meters)
Designer: Stafford Bensen of Havenly
BEFORE: The walls were drab, and the floors were in bad shape. The couple had already planned to take down the wall you see behind the radiator to open the kitchen to the main living space, and to refinish the floors with a more modern dark stain. They wanted to start fresh with the majority of the furniture and accessories.
Amy is a vice president at an e-decorating firm. For this project, she decided to practice what her company was preaching. So the Denver-based couple hired Stafford Bensen, a colleague whose work they admired, to collaborate with them remotely from Boston.
To start the online design collaboration, the Mahers emailed Bensen photos and dimensions of the rooms, along with photos of spaces and products they liked and their other needs, like storage. “It was easy to see that they were into graphic black and white, an industrial Schoolhouse Electric kind of vibe, and eclectic boho style,” Bensen says. “As it turned out, we have similar tastes, so I told Amy, ‘I’m designing my dream apartment for you!’”
The designer put together a floor plan and furniture layout, recommended paint colors, and provided a furniture and accessories shopping list. “They can look at the shopping list, order all of it exactly, pick and choose from it, or look at the ideas and tweak their selections,” she says.