Brilliant Design
Kansas City Condo
The owners wanted a “French Country” theme but, admitted that they didn’t truly understand that concept. Additionally, they had a collection of modern Kansas City artwork that was required to be included in the project, as well as a few family pieces that were also “deal breakers” as far as design.
The budget for this project was $85,000 for the 895 square foot condo on the 10th floor.
A very large project, I was able to learn under the direction of Ron Anderson of Uniquely Design KC. I was allowed to work for the owner and work with Ron to make selections for the entire project. The project was a difficult one, as the HOA has specific rules for renovation, construction, and deliveries regarding times and days as well as the use of the elevators. Ron has done many projects in this building and was wonderful to teach me the aspects of a project this size in the city and in a high-rise condominium.
The small apartment is a one-bedroom, one bath with a “dressing area” outside of the bathroom. The apartment had not been updated since the 1980’s, with the exception of new carpeting in the 1990’s and a coat of paint on the walls in 2008. The previous owners did not have cable television, and when the new owners took the apartment, it had to be tacked around the doorway until this major renovation took place.
The kitchen was originally a separate room with louvered doors. We convinced the owners to remove the walls all the way up and add a nice kitchen island, with a wine cooler installed and a wine rack on the side. The island seats three, the size of their immediate family. We used sandblasted, hand-selected black granite that was sandblasted to appear to have a worn, leather look.
I selected a grey quartz for the kitchen countertop with a white subway tile backsplash. The kitchen had not been updated, as you can see the olive-green oven, white refrigerator that overhung the wall area and a linoleum floor. A brick wall was one of the requests of the owner, and we found that to be a great nesting space for the modern KC artwork they wished to have displayed.
The bathroom
The bathroom, which is very small, had the original cast iron tub. We removed the tub and replaced it with a nice walk-in shower with glass wall and built-in niche for bathroom supplies. The walls are white and grey marble tile, as is the shower, with a grey 2 x 2 tile flooring. I also used the same grey quartz for the bathroom countertop that we used in the kitchen area.
We replaced the original medicine cabinet with a larger, full mirror cabinet and added a wall-to-wall framed mirror above the countertop. The floors were replaced with hardwoods, and the doors were all painted black and we added new sleek hardware. Additionally, we added a stackable washer/dryer in the front hall closet, so the owner did not have to use the basement laundry room.
We are still making a few additions regarding decorations and artwork to complete this major transformation.
