SOME FATE-BLESSED homeowners enjoy expansive interiors with skate-boardable hallways and book shelves devoted solely to objets. Most of us, however, need to exploit every soupçon of real estate in our more modest living quarters, something at which interior designers excel. Their ingenuity helps them spot fallow or problematic spaces and turn them into much-needed nurseries, convenient bars and more. In prewar New York apartments, for example, prime territory below windows—where you might put furniture—is often monopolized by hideous radiators that can’t be blocked. Brooklyn designer Laurie Blumenfeld-Russo found a way to prettify the ugly beasts and create a place for her client to set her laptop and work while gazing out at an adjacent park.
Here, we offer a guide to Ms. Blumenfeld-Russo’s solution, and three other ways professionals have inventively revitalized “dead” spaces: a seemingly pointless foyer near an unused front door, a closet that wasn’t earning its keep, the junk-collecting area under a stairway. All got new leases on utility in the hands of designers who saw possibilities where their clients didn’t.
Sit for a Spell
When the couple who weekends in this one-bedroom 1899 house in Franklin, Tenn., decided to use their back door as a main entrance, this little front-door foyer was demoted to a pass-through. To give the area purpose and distinction, Nashville designer Robin Rains first laid down a vintage rag rug. Next came seats. She chose midcentury host chairs, armless and compact, which makes slipping into them easier, and positioned them facing each other instead of against the wall flanking the fireplace, “so the area seemed more cozy,” said Ms. Rains. She added a pair of concrete faux bois tables that won’t tip, and to top off the energizing contrast between the mod furnishings and the 19th-century architecture, she hung an Arteriors light whose metallic cups wittily echo the dishes on the old-fashioned scale.
Out of the Closet
When designer Stefani Stein assessed the needs of an expectant couple living in a cabin-like house in the Hollywood Hills, she realized they had ample closet space in their own bedroom and didn’t require the closet in an adjacent room. That room, which they wanted to use as a nursery, was so tiny it could barely accommodate a crib. Ms. Stein’s solution: Open up its closet to accommodate the imminent baby. The couple, who planned to move in a few years, agreed. “If they thought they’d be there as the child grew up, I wouldn’t recommend taking out the closet,” said Ms. Stein, who partly lined the cubby with Makelike’s Pointy wallpaper. “We didn’t want to paper the whole room because it would make it a little busy.”
Take The Stairs
In a house outside Beaufort, S.C., a large foyer extended from the front entrance past a staircase to rear sliding glass doors with a great view: a pool and an expanse of low-country marsh. Unfortunately, said Cortney Bishop, “it had become a landing zone for UPS boxes, backpacks, dog bowls.” Recognizing a great entertaining space when she saw it, the Charleston designer created a seating area with a rug and four swivel chairs (not seen). Next, “we needed the amenities so you didn’t have to go to the kitchen,” she said. Under the steps, Ms. Bishop installed a built-in bar of rich walnut cabinetry. Though the new area was dark, concrete walls prevented her from wiring it for lamps, so she kept things light with a mirrored backsplash.
Birth of the Blues
Brooklyn designer Laurie Blumenfeld-Russo and her client knew they needed a desk in the one-bedroom Manhattan apartment they were renovating. The bedroom emerged as the most viable location, but the only spot, the area under the windows, was occupied by ugly and dated heating and air-conditioning units that couldn’t be blocked by furniture. The solution: A custom radiator and a/c cover with venting grills and a kneehole for a chair. High-gloss navy paint was chosen to match the similarly hued grass cloth on the accent wall, and “the fluffy, feminine stool contrasts with the very architectural context,” said Ms. Blumenfeld-Russo. Shades made of an Asian-inspired Lee Jofa fabric provide another organic touch, and set off the now-savorable view of Riverside Park.
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