Category: Design Insights

The artist and architect, Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe once said, “God is in the details”. As interior designers, we create comprehensive environments that tell a story about each community. Carefully thought-out details that become an integral part of a space might not be immediately obvious to the eye – yet, are nonetheless crucial to a successful design.  Here you will find 5 key principals of interior details.

Make a Statement with Lighting

 

Lighting is a key feature in all successful interiors. When done right, it becomes a design statement, a way-finder and sets the mood.

At Instrata Pentagon City, the decorative lighting is used to focus the attention to the center of the space, over the seating. The placement helps to direct the eye to the concierge on the left and the leasing office on the right.
Selected for their quality and unusual design, these Italian pendants with handcrafted shades are used in lieu of architectural lighting to create a brand identity. Multiple shapes arranged in what appears to be a random placement speak to the quality of the property while introducing a design story that captures the energy of a chic European boutique hotel. Like the artwork in the room, this low-energy, LED fixtures are both practical and represent a significant design detail.

Create a Sense of Place

 

Over time, residents will develop a relationship with their apartment homes. Each time they experience a space or building detail that they connect with; the association is reinforced. The idea is to create a design that residents feel a personal attachment to. Special details that that resonate with an individual personalizes the space and help them love where they live.

Paying homage to the property location is one way to create this connectivity. At 1800 Oak Street, the design concept embraces wood materials reminiscent of the “Oak theme”. Details include oak bark at the face of the concierge desk and custom cast bronze, oak branch door hardware featured at the entry door and throughout the interior. With an eye to subtlety, design details that nod to the location creates a sense of place.

Make Function Beautiful

 

Functional details like convenient charging opportunities for smart devices and laptops speaks to today’s trend to blur work and play. Searching for a charging port need not happen when design details that consider easy access are paramount to the design concept. Mindfully electrifying tables, upholstery, and coworking spaces can be beautiful as well as handy. In this coworking library, table-top ports are built into each workspace creating a well-designed power source that masks cords and unsightly electrical devices.

Create the Unexpected

 

 

Walking through the doors of this building on DC’s hip H Street, Coda on H, residents, and guests are greeted with whimsical A-OK door hardware. The custom handles, that create the initial intrigue, were cast from the hands of our project manager’s daughter and put a smile on everyone’s face. They set the tone for the building design that is all about street art and playful experiences in this gritty-chic apartment building.

Details that surprise and delight are not just memorable, they create a building’s personality. People will engage on a deeper level if they feel the place reflects who they are or aspire to be.

Tell a Story

 

Storytelling through interior design details creates a powerful, memorable impression, especially when aligned with the property brand. Seth Godin, author, blogger, and former dot com business executive said that “Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories, you tell”. A great brand story is about creating emotion. What better way to enforce the building brand than to continue the story into the interior?

Branding the building with its name, “Cheval” (French for horse), this high-end Bethesda condominium had a story to tell. The connection between horses and humans is a powerful one. Winston Churchill said, “There’s something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man”. The long wall in the lobby provided the blank canvas for a subtle nod to the theme and began the interior story. Inspired by Irene Suchocki’s ethereal horse photography, a glass mosaic artist translated a fine-art photograph of galloping stallions into this dream-like vision.

Boutique, elegant and understated.

Design is all about the details that ground a property in its geographic location and tell a story that helps residents love their home. Whether it is a funky, edgy neighborhood or a sophisticated urban center, how the elements of design are curated, make each building unique.

Living affordably in a thriving urban environment often means giving up space—but that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice style along with it. Developers are offering smaller apartment units to make them more accessible in sought-after, high-rent districts. At Hartman Design Group, we like to get creative when designing model apartments to show prospective residents how much personality and function you can fit into these pint-sized pads. Take a look:

Studio Apartment at 2 Hopkins
Downtown Baltimore

Try introducing multi-functional pieces when your bedroom is basically a nook, and it faces the only wall where you can place the sofa. A queen bed leaves room for a dresser that doubles as a bedside table. A console table becomes a desk when you pull up a chair. The dining chairs also provide extra seating for guests, as do the ottomans that serve as accent tables when not in use. A pop of color on an accent wall adds a personal touch without taking up any space at all.

 

One-Bedroom Apartment at 360 State
New Haven, Connecticut

Several tricks are at play to visually expand this living room, like a large mirror behind the sofa to reflect the views and bounce light throughout the space. Allowing for a wider sofa, oversized wall lamps eliminate the need for side tables, and the furnishings have open legs to maintain a spacious feel. White, gauzy window treatments allow for natural light to flood the room without giving up privacy. When coordinating a model, we’re not afraid to mix styles—eclecticism makes a personal statement by mixing vintage and recycled furniture with new and updated pieces: Do your dining chairs have to match? Absolutely not! A transparent “Ghost” chair from Homegoods adds a great vibe without any visual weight.

 

One-Bedroom at Insignia on M
Washington, DC’s Navy Yard

The lesson here is not to be afraid of color in a small apartment. The tangerine accent wall makes Ikea’s white lacquered modular storage unit pop and highlights the fun, mid-century modern floor lamps. Mixed in with a vibrant rug that anchors the colorful upholstery, the energy of this living room is much more the focus than its size. And like other small models we’ve designed, the open legs of the dining table, coffee table and chairs visually expand the space.

What a view! In this small bedroom, the floor-to-ceiling windows open the space and connect it to Navy Yard’s hip, up-and-coming neighborhood. A low European-style queen bed maintains the broad sightlines, while wall lamps allow more surface area on the nightstands.

 

One-Bedroom at Insignia on M
Washington, DC’s Navy Yard

Here’s a great way to maximize living function. Ikea’s modern, modular white-lacquered wall system surrounds a “found” vintage dining table that doubles as a work surface. Shelving expands the function of small spaces and provides the opportunity to display special objects, books, photos, and art.

 

One-Bedroom at Vy
Reston Heights, Virginia

Make every wall count when you’re living small. This long entry provides an opportunity for both design and function. The stripes—an easy do-it-yourself touch—add color, make a personal statement and provide an intentional place for jaunty hooks from World Market to hold hats, bags, scarves and the dog leash. The design naturally draws your eye across the airy living space to the broad, outdoor views beyond.

In this compact, one-bedroom apartment, the window nook provides a natural enclave for the dining table, which can easily turn into a light-filled workspace. Imagine having your morning coffee or afternoon tea overlooking this lovely nature scene. And instead of a simple end table for the sofa, use a bookshelf with storage options.

Create your own artisan vibe! You don’t have to own a ton of artwork to generate impact. Paint and molding from the local home store go a long way. A neutral palette provides solid grounding for changeable accent colors in pillows, accessories, or rotating works of art.

The brightly colored credenza in the main living area not only adds personality to the room, it’s the perfect place to store AV equipment, games and anything else that might clutter the space.

Happy spring! Mother’s Day is coming up soon and if your mother is anything like us, a lover of interior design and beautiful surroundings, we have the perfect stylish gift suggestions for her! We surveyed our team at HDG for some thoughtful gift ideas and these are what we’ve come up with:

House Plants

Always a sure thing. Plants add color and shape to both indoor and outdoor rooms. They add a biophilic element – connecting one’s interior space to nature.

How about this Levitating Pot? You heard right! Levitating pots are an amazing combination of nature, classic design and technology, employing a zero-gravity system allowing you to cultivate your favorite plants in mid-air. Your plants will be nourished with 360 degrees of sunlight exposure, allowing them to grow straighter and healthier, all while floating supernaturally. House Beautiful has a myriad of great choice options, including the one pictured below:

Impressive, majestic, and tropical, you can never go wrong with Bird of Paradise! This low-maintenance plant is considered the queen of the indoor plant world and adds the perfect tropical touch to every room!

If your mom loves low-maintenance plants, show her you love her with this heart-shaped succulent garden from Pro Flowers. The perfect biophilic touch for any room, filled with a colorful array of succulents:

If Mom travels or would prefer a trouble-free biophilic addition, check out this artificial pair of jade plants in gorgeous geometric wall planters from Amazon:

Terrarium

A garden in a bowl! Terrariums are easy to care for, add that biophilic touch, and no two terrariums are alike. Doddle Bird Terrariums offer a miniature scene with live moss. Each piece is handcrafted using the highest-grade plants and supplies.

If Mom is more traditional, a la English garden, try this conservatory-style terrarium container from Spokane-based Ritters Garden & Gift and, yes, they do ship.

Or how about this High Borosilicate Glass Terrarium from Wayfair:

If you need plants for your terrarium, stop by the Little Leaf Shop on 14 ^th Street in Washington, DC or shop virtually, because, yes, they ship too!

Flower Vase

For elegant, feminine beauty, Michael Aram’s sculptural vases are the way to go. Here’s a stunning example:

Tray

It’s a classic accessory, standing at the ready to hold all manner of objects from the bar to the coffee table to the foyer or boudoir. So many options!

Designer and blogger Paloma Conreras has many to choose from, ranging from burlwood to glitz. Here’s our favorite, called Octagonal Ceramic Tray by Paul Schneider, in Dark Green/Greens Geode:

Does mom have a playful spirit? This Man on Edge granite sculpture in the Horchow John-Richard Collection will sure get her eye:

Tea Pots

For many, there is something truly soothing about warm cup of tea and having a beautiful tea pot from which to serve it enhances the pleasure. Check out Food & Wine Magazine‘s 8 Best Teapots of 2023 showcasing teapots practical and beautiful like this gorgeous Wedgwood beauty:

To fill the pot, choose from a fabulous assortment of custom-blended teas head over to Adagio Teas Tea Maiden Blend selection, including the Mother’s Day-themed Mother-Knows-Best (pictured) Earl Grey, Lavender, Rose and Cornflower. Disclaimer: these one-of-a-kind blends are produced by our very own tea-blend-aficionado Christine Watts.

Throw Pillows

Throw pillows are like a punch of personality on an otherwise neutral chair, sofa or bed. So it’s just a matter of figuring out where your mother’s personality lies.

Pfeifer Studios is all about organic texture and color and have a stunning array of choices:

Serena & Lily is its preppy cousin offering even more splendid choices:

And John Derian is full of decadence and whimsy:

Throw Blanket

As everyone who appreciates spatial design knows, throw blankets enhance and add color, texture, and personality to any room; a lived-in feel to an otherwise sterile space. West Elm offers a nice assortment of soft ombre throws:

If Mom wants understated elegance, perhaps this Pottery Barn ruched faux fur throw would be her preference:

Herb Garden

Beauty and function come together in a kitchen herb garden.

This windowsill garden is a riff on the traditional tulipiere, from Plow & Hearth:

Combine several herbs into one garden in this contemporary fluted earthenware container from West Elm:

Coffee Table Book

Bozzuto and Invesco partnered with Hartman Design Group to transform Instrata Apartments in the Pentagon City area.

Home to sports figures, government consultants and older professionals, Instrata Pentagon City is set back from busy 15^th Street, making it a quiet respite in a thriving urban location. Completed in 2003, the building was showing its age and not competing well in the marketplace.

A full renovation of the property’s indoor and outdoor amenities to a premier level was necessary to retain current residents. HDG’s mission was to create a boutique hotel experience that would differentiate the property from its competition. The new design encourages connection among the residents, provides work and play space, and solidifies a sense of community. As a result, says Lesley Lisser, Senior Director, Asset Management, Invesco Real Estate, “We noticed significantly higher retention rates, rent growth and strength in leasing. We realized that we created an overall lifestyle experience that residents are willing to pay for.”

LOBBY AND CONCIERGE BEFORE

LOBBY AND CONCIERGE AFTER

 

MARKETING OFFICE BEFORE

CO-WORKING AFTER

LEASING OFFICE BEFORE

LEASING OFFICE AFTER

CLUB ROOM ENTRY BEFORE

CLUB ROOM ENTRY AFTER

CLUBROOM BEFORE

CLUBROOM AFTER

CO-WORKING BEFORE

CO-WORKING AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Equity Residential partnered with Hartman Design Group to transform 1800 Oak Street Apartments in Rosslyn, VA to a Class A apartment community that competes with new product in this competitive market place. Now a stunning urban living experience with all of the amenities that today’s resident demands including multiple co-working spaces, a dramatic lobby, a sports bar, and a brand new state of the art fitness center.

Before completion of the major renovation in November, JiRod Freeman, the community manager, doesn’t remember anyone hanging out much in the lobby at 1800 Oak Apartments. “There was a lot of nonfunctional space.”

Since the new lobby opened, Freeman reports that these spaces are consistently occupied with residents who work from home or telecommute part-time—one day, he says, there wasn’t a single empty seat. “Everyone loves it. You’ll see random people come in here, taking pictures and selfies,” he says. “When you compare it to what it used to be, it’s just mind-blowing.”

1800 Oak Street comprises of 314 apartment homes and was originally built in 2004.

 

LOBBY BEFORE

LOBBY AFTER

 

SITTING ROOM BEFORE

LOBBY AND CO-WORKING AFTER

 

 

LEASING OFFICE BEFORE

CORRIDOR TO LEASING AND CO-WORKING AFTER

LEASING BEFORE

CO-WORKING AFTER

BUSINESS CENTER BEFORE

BUSINESS CENTER AFTER

FITNESS CENTER BEFORE

FITNESS CENTER AFTER

CLUB ROOM BEFORE

SPORTS BAR AFTER

When we think about design as a journey that leads to new possibilities for how we live in a built environment, biophilic design opens-up new horizons for interior designers and architects to connect people to nature.

As individuals become more isolated, it is important that design professionals intensify their efforts to re-connect buildings and interiors to our natural environment. Extensive studies have established the relationship between nature and human health.

 

Lifeforce elements such as light, sky, fire, and water draw upon on our survival instincts. Fire is perhaps the most dramatic way to infuse nature directly into the built environment. We are drawn to the color, warmth, movement and social engagement that fire elements compel.

“One of humanity’s greatest achievements has been the control of fire that allowed the harnessing of energy beyond animal life, and facilitated the transformation of objects from one state to another,” Stephen R. Kellert and Elizabeth F. Calabrese wrote inThe Practice of Biophilic Design .

 

 

That flickering of the flame, Rebecca Lindenmeyr writes inSustainability , is a “complex, dynamic natural scene” (like waves on the water or leaves rippling in the breeze) that can “capture and hold our attention better than artificial environments or stimuli.”

Header Image by Dominic Sansotta from Unsplash.com

Get ready to see more of the hue in 2019 as Pantone Color Institute announced “Living Coral” as its 2019 Color of the Year.

It’s hard to imagine that the movie “Pretty in Pink” came out 3 decades ago, but as we celebrate Valentine’s Day this year, the term filmmaker John Hughes made famous is more relevant than ever—and NOT just for women.

Millennial Pink is “all the rage” and now, there is no longer any debate that pink is pretty on everyone.

So, let’s bring out our faded Nantucket reds and Lilly Pulitzer’s because pink is back and swaggy-er than ever before.

“With Millennial Pink, gone is the girly-girl baggage; now it’s androgynous,”

Lauren Schwartzberg wrote in this detailed timeline on The Cut of how pink has surpassed fad into fixture.

As we look ahead in 2019, notions of what’s Pretty in Pink are evolving yet again. “Symbolizing our innate need for optimism and joyful pursuits, PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral embodies our desire for playful expression,” says the company’s announcement.

More saturated than Millennial Pink, coral is not afraid to make a statement, as we can see in this collection from Anthropologie:

In these home accessories featured in Aspire Design and Home:

In this collection featured by Underscored:

Want to memorialize this shade with more permanent features in your home? Products Magazine has some great ideas. How about appliances for your kitchen?

Try sprucing up an accent wall. Sherwin Williams has 18 shades of coral.

Whatever you choose, it’s a safe bet that pink—whether it’s used as a neutral shade, as an alternative to gray or beige, or invoked as an assertive accent color—is a worthy investment for our wardrobe and home.

“One of the great challenges of our time is to bring the beneficial experience of nature into the design of contemporary buildings, landscapes, communities, and cities”.

– Stephen R. Kellert, Nature by Design: The Practice of Biophilic Design

Biophilic design is an innovative way of connecting nature to the interiors of the places where we live, work, learn and heal. Considering that the average person spends 90 percent of their time indoors, we as design professionals need to consciously embrace the principles of biophilic design for multi-family condominiums and apartment buildings to ensure that in this stressful world, people feel that their home offers the ultimate health and wellness benefits. These benefits include reduced stress, enhanced creativity, clarity of thought and overall improved wellbeing.

In this first installment of a three-part post, we focus on the use of color as a visual connection to nature—one of 14 biophilic design patterns.

Photos, clockwise from left, by Kris Atomic, Thom Masat, Carlos Domínguez and Chris Lawton via Unsplash

 

Color is more than eye candy. Hue, saturation, tone and brightness define the ambiance of a space and impact our mood, motivation, productivity, creativity, and enthusiasm. When selecting a palette for a project, we closely consider the feeling that each room needs to evoke, and select color combinations that will help to express it.

Consider the emotions aroused by these colors of nature:

Blues and Cyans are colors that call to mind a bright blue sky or clean, cerulean water. Through this fellowship with nature, blues create a calming experience and reduce tension.

Shades of green are associated with health. Textures and tones of green in fabrics and other surface materials put us in touch with vegetation.  Effective ways to bring the outdoors inside include green walls, moss art, reclaimed wood, and other materials that mimic the natural world. Greens are proven to lower both your blood pressure and heart rate.

Reds are the color of fruits such as apples and berries. Their range paints a summer sunset and sprinkles the autumn leaves. Like a cluster of berries on a holly tree, red delights us when used in small bursts. Too much red, and its intensity invades our senses.

Yellow is the brightest color; used in the right intensity, hue, and saturation, it reminds us of the sun’s warmth, arouses feelings of happiness, and improves creativity and optimism. Yet, if overused, it can have an unpleasant or even disturbing effect.

 

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Biophilic Case Study: Signature at Reston Town Center

Boston Properties and Bozzuto

The award-winning Signature at Reston Town Center, located in Reston, Virginia, features broad outdoor vistas that echo nature’s colors throughout its public spaces. In this sunlit corner, a grouping of comfy blue chairs looks out toward a courtyard animated with a waterfall and reflecting pond. We commissioned abstract artwork in shades of blue, green, brown and white; the colors channel shades that could be found in a forest, while the texture and movement of the patterns echo the rippling waters outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

 

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Case Study: The Haven at National Harbor

The Peterson Companies, McWilliams Ballard

From the Potomac River on one side to the surrounding treetops on the other, nature flows in and out through The Haven’s expansive windows. Our eyes connect to the blue water in the pool and the river, and also to the greenspace surrounding this award-winning multi-family condominium building. The warm wood ceiling and the milky stone indoor/outdoor fireplace monolith are natural materials that further ground the design in its organic environment.

 

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For more information on Biophilic Design:

www.interface.com/US/en-US/campaign/biophilic-design/Biophilic-Design-en_US
https://www.terrapinbrightgreen.com/report/economics-of-biophilia/
https://www.terrapinbrightgreen.com/report/14-patterns/
https://www.steelcase.com/research/articles/topics/wellbeing/four-ways-to-weave-nature-into-the-workplace/

“With biophilia comes a restless curiosity, an urge to investigate and discover the elusive places where we meet nature, where she plays on our senses with colours and forms, perfumes and smells”.

– Sir David Attenborough

 

Header Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash

How does it feel to walk into a home with blank walls? Maybe it feels like the owner is there only temporarily—or that he or she just moved in. Either way, there’s a sense that something’s incomplete, or worse, that something’s just plain wrong. Such is the power of art in our lives: It defines and grounds us; it can lift our spirits and sense of wonder; it can make us smile; it can challenge, surprise and entertain.

“FROM A DESIGN PERSPECTIVE, IT CAN BE THE FOCAL POINT FROM WHICH A ROOM’S PALETTE AND STYLE EMERGES. ON A MORE PERSONAL LEVEL, AN ART COLLECTION TRANSFORMS THAT ROOM INTO YOUR OWN SANCTUARY.”

 

Just as we’re rewarded with sweeping views once we reach the top of a mountain, art provides an interior vista as we walk in the door or turn the corner into a new space. From a design perspective, it can be the focal point from which a room’s palette and style emerges. On a more personal level, an art collection transforms that room into your own sanctuary.

The same idea extends to public spaces, particularly in condo and apartment buildings. At a time when the cost of construction is rising, developers are building smaller units with larger public areas to get the biggest return on their investment. This trend puts the onus on us as interior architects and designers to conceive public space that can double as an extension of one’s home.

“EMPTY WALLS AND SPACES DEVOID OF HAND-MADE OBJECTS CAN BE UNSETTLING—LIKE OPENING A BOOK TO FIND ONLY BLANK PAGES, WITH NO STORY TO TELL.”

 

The question then becomes: Where do you start? When the project begins, it’s rare that an individual or team of people will express their personal tastes and preferences for art style or genre. At times, of course, the building owner might have a personal collection he or she wants to display, and that collection becomes the design driver. But most often, we start from scratch in determining how to beautify communal space that includes lobbies, lounges, meeting and recreational rooms, chef’s kitchens and eating areas—even pet spas and outdoor “rooms.”

That’s when we as designers look to a building’s location for direction. Whenever we can, we like to bring in local artists whose works tell a story about the community. Is it an area like Georgetown, DC, with a deep sense of history? Or maybe Hyattsville, Maryland, which has a thriving art scene? Perhaps it’s a central urban environment with a grittier vibe or a big sports town? There are all sorts of ways to bring in that local flavor.

At The Signature in Reston, Virginia, for example, we reached out to artist Susan Main, the curator, and director of galleries and exhibition programming at VisArts in Rockville, Maryland. We admired the swirling, whimsical lines in her work—just the kind of thing you’d want in a commissioned piece focused on signatures. We’ve asked her to create a large encaustic work representing 25 autographs of famous people who hail from Northern Virginia—from historical figures such as Booker T. Washington and Thomas Jefferson to contemporary standouts like basketball veteran Grant Hill and comedian Wanda Sykes.

There’s a different narrative in the Crystal City section of Arlington, VA, where The Bartlett—Arlington’s tallest apartment building—enjoys sweeping, uninterrupted views across the Potomac River to Washington’s monuments. We brought that vista inside with commissioned photography of iconic DC images, while we asked acclaimed DC artist Maggie O’Neill to create oils that reinterpret Washington’s symbols—the Capitol building; Uncle Sam; the Washington Monument—with wild splashes of color. The whimsy continues with a huge wall graphic that portrays midcentury-style dollhouses, and look closely in the lobby: The abstract painting that anchors the lobby’s focal wall hides a Bartlett pear etched into the oil.

While location always has a large impact on the art curation of these multi-family residences, the building itself can wield influence as well. We are currently working on Stonehall, a small luxury condo project in Bethesda that channels the charming European boutique hotels where centuries-old architecture plays into the design. Here, we’re combining architectural details with art to create a mood of quiet, urbane elegance. Every elevator lobby will feature beautifully framed, old maps of a great city—Paris, Madrid, Washington, Chicago, New York, and Amsterdam are a few—to identify that floor. Each design project is special in its own way, and choosing art as the finishing touch is always a favorite endeavor—both for the developers who’ve hired us and for our entire staff as well. The energy palpably rises when the discussion turns to art, and trips to galleries both locally and around the country inspire the most passion amidst the countless other furnishings, fabric and finish selections we’re making throughout a building’s public amenities.

Empty walls and spaces devoid of hand-made objects can be unsettling—like opening a book to find only blank pages, with no story to tell. As the interior designers of large buildings that are home to hundreds of residents, we take our mission seriously—and joyfully—in creating environments through curated art that make you feel properly at home the moment you step through the lobby door.

Written by Phyllis Hartman, ASID, LEED AP