This Eclectic Cleveland Heights Apartment Fits A great deal of Character Within
4 min read









Developed by Reflections Inside Layout, this vintage-impressed condo bursts with design and character, when leaving no corner unused.

It really is not each working day that designer Katie Tumino gets to do the job with a home-owner who has an impeccable feeling of fashion and presently owns all the furnishings for a wonderfully made home. Tumino, guide designer at Reflections Inside Style in Cleveland, was thrilled when previous consumers asked her to assistance make their new place come to feel like household.
“The wife has great style and a great eye for layout, and much of her selection is inherited from her mother and father,” Tumino says. The pair had been downsizing into a condo in an 8-unit developing in Cleveland Heights. “We needed to get back to the primary feel of the constructing for a layout that was more correct for a space crafted in 1930.”
The dilemma, even though, was the space by itself.
The 2,600-square-foot apartment was all limited corners and peculiar angles with a cramped kitchen area built even much more congested by the reality that it housed the complete building’s HVAC device. “It was all quite inadequately laid out,” Tumino suggests. “Just a ton of squandered room.”
She completely re-envisioned the spot from doorways to cabinetry to home furniture placement — and not just in the kitchen area.
“My concentrate was making sure that the format and the movement of the space not only made sense but was perfectly suited to my clientele,” she states.
They reconfigured a rest room that was originally obtainable from two bedrooms by closing off just one of the doorways and blowing out a wall. And she expanded the bathroom itself, stealing house from a bed room closet to develop a wander-in shower with wall-to-wall subway tiling.
“It was like Tetris, figuring out how to make every little thing purpose the way they required it,” Tumino points out.
Renovations had been stalled for the reason that of the pandemic, but upon their completion, she and the consumer got to do the job planning the house. Their target was to meld the homeowners’ classic flavor with fashionable twists to enliven the space, aiming for a amazing mattress-and-breakfast vibe above a stuffy museum one particular.
“We introduced in some clean, present day lines by way of cabinetry, fabrics and wallpaper patterns for a minor bit of a funky flair,” Tumino suggests. “But there is also a good deal of nostalgia to her furnishings and accent selection.”
That nostalgia is pretty literally on exhibit in the memorabilia space, which is designed all over an antique optician’s chest the home-owner inherited. The enormous, wood piece is made up of dozens of tiny drawers that now serve as designed-in stands for photos, paintings and other classic curiosities. Meanwhile, neutral-toned, sunburst-patterned upholstery provides a bit of modern levity to the room.
“With all the darkish household furniture, we produced guaranteed to throw in some entertaining materials to put a refreshing consider on points and deliver out the attractive strains of these heirloom pieces,” Tumino says.
That theme proceeds all over the house. In the eating room, Tumino refinished the couple’s dining desk and turned an upholstered bench into banquette seating by cutting down its legs (to get it to the suitable peak). Exactly where the table is darkish, the banquette is mild exactly where the Oriental rug is classic, the rest of the materials are mild and even playful, with a squiggly-print pillow and a tiered lighting fixture manufactured of rattan.
A boldly patterned William Morris wallpaper in shades of black and brown handles one massive wall panel, like a piece of crafted-in artwork on show.
“We did not want it to overpower and acquire more than the rest of the area, so we stayed with earthy hues,” Tumino points out. And though neutrals abide, a steely bluish grey coloration is one particular of a number of repeating factors all through the dwelling that gives it all a subtle consistency.
Rattan, as well, seems more than as soon as, the two in the distinct chandelier and in the doorways of the bedroom closets. The all round effect is a cohesive house that feels tranquil and curated without having becoming apparent or overly matchy.
And whilst the substantial-scale architectural overhaul could only have been envisioned by a specialist, Tumino claims the interior decorating was finished in near cooperation with the homeowners, whose aesthetic and existing belongings drove the route of the project.
“We felt that it was very thriving in the end,” Tumino states, “and I assume the benefits converse for by themselves.”
Get impressed by our 2022 Residence Problem with these decorating ideas, local house spotlights and far more.