Room of the Day: Lighter Look for a Townhouse Great Room

“This living room was just really weighed down,” says interior designer Jennifer Walter. Between the dark brick-red accent wall and her client’s existing heavy sofa and chair, she knew she had to lighten things up. Also, a long wall was a mishmash of media, leaning shelves and other disparate pieces that didn’t stand up to the wall’s large scale. Major parts of the new design are built-in cabinets and shelves that Walter drew on a napkin while on vacation. Her coastal surroundings at the time inspired a few crisp beach-cottage-style touches, like light blue walls and bamboo window treatments — just the right remedy to lighten things up.

Room at a Glance
What happens here: A single woman enjoys urban life, reading, watching TV and working from home
Location: Baltimore City, Maryland
Size: 320 square feet (30 square meters); 16 by 20 feet
Budget: Furnishings and accessories: $4,731; built-ins: $7,500

The design needed to turn the townhouse into a respite from urban life in the middle of Baltimore City. The designer needed to work with her client’s existing neutral sofa and matching slipper chair. “Sometimes it’s hard when things match,” Walter says. After seeing how much the deep red accent wall darkened the room, Walter knew she had to lighten things up. She chose Polar Sky paint by Benjamin Moore for the walls and a yellow and white patterned rug. These two elements set the color palette, and right away made the sofa and chair appear lighter.

Next she brought in bamboo blinds. “The natural fibers warm things up,” she says. The zinc coffee table adds a more aged-looking patina to contrast the many new and contemporary items.

Rug: RugsUSA; coffee table: Zin Home; blinds: Designer Series in Bamboo Natural, Payless Decor


Some of you may remember a discussion we had about “the right wrong thing” a few weeks ago. This happy sea animal (we’re not sure if it’s a porpoise or a dolphin or what, but Walter calls it “Charlie the Tuna,” so from here on out we’ll go with that) is just that thing. “Because we had so many smaller items on the built-in shelves, I knew I needed one big, impactful thing on the console table behind the sofa,” Walter says. This slightly crusty and happy former playground rocker was just the thing.


The townhouse’s new construction was lacking in details. The plan really began with these built-ins. Walter wound up sketching them on a napkin while on vacation on Fenwick Island, Delaware, inspired by all of the coastal white around her. The napkin sketch and phone calls with Timber Ridge Contracting got the ball rolling before she even returned to the job.

However, don’t let the mention of the napkin deceive you — these cabinets are full of thoughtful details. Tongue and groove paneling behind the shelves adds texture, while 3-inch-thick wide-open shelves give them modern heft. “The thickness also gives it more of a modern feel,” Walter says. The new custom molding at the top helps anchor the built-ins; it is composed of three sets of molding pieces: crown, then flat, then a second piece of crown.

The storage cabinets include space for media equipment and items the homeowner was unable to fit into other rooms. For example, she has extra china stowed in some of the drawers. Walter continued the tongue and groove paneling below the chair rail on the built-in wall for continuity along the wall. Along with the crown molding at the top, it firmly establishes the built-ins as part of the room.

Polished nickel hardware on built-ins: Restoration Hardware





When styling the shelves, she shopped her client’s existing accessories, and the rest are a mix of Target and vintage finds. There is recessed lighting over the top shelves that highlights the items.

Finding treasures runs in the family. Many of the vintage accessories came from Walter’s sister’s shop, Zinc Home and Garden. In fact, on a buying trip at Renninger’s Flea Market in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, the sisters “wrestled” over Charlie the Tuna. Walter was not going to lose that tussle, as she knew the piece was exactly what she needed for this client.





“We needed to bring in a lot of color without overdoing it,” Walter says. Brightly patterned pillows enliven the neutral sofa and make it feel lighter. They also distract from the matchy-matchy-ness of the existing sofa and chair fabrics.

Pillows: Crate & Barrel


A pair of vintage campaign chests was a lucky find, buried in the discount junk pile of one of Walter’s favorite shops, Laissez Faire. The painted wood pieces were in great shape; Walters just cleaned them, buffed them up and used Brasso and Barkeeper’s Friend on the brass hardware to restore the lovely finish.

The perforated brass lamps add more metallic shine. The campaign chests paired with the lamps lend some symmetry to the sofa area, thrown off just the right amount by the playground rocker.

Lamps: Pottery Barn


Because her client works from home a lot, she wanted a functional workspace in the living room. This bump-out provided just the right sunny spot for a desk. “I felt it was really important for her to have a desk workspace that worked with the rest of the living room and didn’t feel too office-y,” Walter says. To cut down on the clunkiness of computer accessories, they set up the printer and fax wirelessly and hid them in baskets.

Desk: Pottery Barn; chair: Eames, Herman Miller

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