This Luxe Florida Condo Mashes Up Classic + Contemporary Glamour

Welcome to design powerhouse Cheryl Kees Clendenon’s master class on opulent coastal style. From architectural details to the perfect fabrics, this home tour is a step-by-step guide to creating glamour in your home.

October 21, 2021

By: Lauren Oster

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Photo By: In Detail Interiors

Skip the Anchors and Driftwood When Creating Modern Coastal Style

When Florida-based interior designer Cheryl Kees Clendenon of In Detail Interiors first met her client, she knew she was ready for something new. “[W]hen we were initially hired for the project [she] was recently widowed and trying to find a stride that was her own in a space full of a lot of old memories and leftover furniture from her life in Tampa,” Cheryl recalls.

“We wanted the condo to feel totally completely 100 percent different from anything you'd expect for the space — but balanced when viewed cohesively against the exterior landscape and considered as a beach condo. This is not your rusty bucket-o-bolts design and certainly does not hit what a lot of people would identify as coastal — but we felt a leaning to consider the landscape outside in a fresh way with this space.”

Must-haves for the new-and-improved condo included “a more efficient kitchen space that was truly going to be a cook’s kitchen,” a generous space to host family and friends, and “an overall perspective for something 200 percent unique.” Follow along on Cheryl’s in-depth tour.

Customize Your Front Door With Gusto (and Gold Leaf)

A non-negotiable front door is still an excellent candidate for a glow-up. “The front door to the condo cannot be altered or changed… but it can be painted,” Cheryl notes. Our fabulous faux finisher did this for us and it is where we said ‘OK, the client can do as glam as she wants!’ So it is a metallic finish with some gold foiling worked in.” Other condominium doors, please try harder.

Create Continuity in an Open Plan Kitchen With Consistent Use of Stone

Dramatically-veined white Silestone embellishes the counters, peninsula and kitchen backsplash, then carries up and out across the entrance wall that flows into the dining room. “We did this for continuity,” Cheryl explains. “We could not do anything about the drop down over part of the kitchen as we expanded the space — the client was a big cook — and so to carry the continuity we could not achieve with the ceiling, we carried the countertop material across the entire back wall and over to the dining entrance. It distracts from the soffit [that is, the visible underside of the ceiling’s functional architecture] we hope!”

Unify Living Areas With a Single Type of Flooring

Continuity was a priority underfoot as well: “Flooring is the same throughout every room in the condo,” Cheryl says. “It is a 24 x 24-inch porcelain tile, rectified — which means it can be set very closely together, and it resembles concrete.” In other words, it’s perfect for heavy foot traffic from guests, even and especially if they’ve got sandy feet.

Materials also mattered in terms of kitchen hardware, which offered an opportunity to indulge the client’s love of details like the metalwork in her light fixtures. “She was big on materials looking and feeling real in terms of their actual composition, so she wanted something with clean lines but a handfeel that was very satisfying,” Cheryl says. Translation: No lightweight or "brass-inspired" accessories. “These pulls are actually brass through and through and the finish on them, while sealed, isn't too shiny, so it started with a hint of patina that felt very balanced with the grain-matched wood in a clean but natural sort of way.”

Pay Attention to the Subtle Details of Woodwork in a Kitchen Redesign

“The wood in the kitchen is walnut with a custom stain,” Cheryl explains. “It is grain matched so the grain follows the drawers.” Her team created a custom design for a subtly chic, angled panel on the face of the range hood, “as we needed it to blend in and not stand out, yet wanted some personality, too.”

Metallic Upholstery Brings Stealthy Glamour to the Dining Room

“This room is small, so we wanted to pack a lot of punch in it with the table and built-in wine bar,” Cheryl says. “The chairs are a custom velvet on the back and front and the seat is a leather from Vanguard. This again was a way to indulge our client’s taste for some glam without overpowering the room."

"They are perfect against the wall covering that also has some shimmer to it.” The not-at-all subtle but downright stunning pendant, in turn, is Hubbardton Forge’s Dahlia chandelier.

Mica-Flecked Wallpaper Makes a Coastal Entertaining Space Shine

Super-sparkly accessories are great, but have you tried infusing the walls themselves with glitz as in this Omexco wallpaper? “The wall covering in the main room and behind the bar area is a mica flecked paper. It is a bit of luxe in this upscale penthouse condo,” Cheryl says. “We loved that the mica gave a bit of shimmer and provided a bit of the ‘over the top’ the client wanted but without going too crazy.”

Chic Leather Stools With a Coastal, Coral Pattern Define This Home Bar

Just as area rugs can carve distinct areas out of free-flowing spaces, bold tones can be called into service to indicate "rooms" and zones of a home too, as with these bar stools. “I wanted another saturated color in the overall scheme here, and the cider-hued leather was perfect against the walnut,” Cheryl explains. “The richness of the color really anchors this bar area which previously was a wall — so instead of a wall we have rich bar stools! The idea is that the strong color becomes a defining part of the space — like a wall does — but in this case of course it’s all opened up. Yet we still wanted the bar area to be delineated — in an open floor plan this is super important.”

Distressed Leather Adds Comfort and Character to Living Room Seating

The inspiration behind the condo’s channel back bar stools was simple: “Pure comfort,” Cheryl says. “The leather is a ‘bomber jacket’ style leather, so it looks worn in.” It also hints at a lovely life change that happened long after the project was first conceptualized: “This was a bit of a masculine touch as the client decided to get married in the middle of this renovation!”

Designer Tips on Choosing Patterned Curtains for a Living Area

The S. Harris fabric framing the condo’s spectacular balcony and view of the Gulf of Mexico, Sabine Bay and the Intracoastal Waterway, was around from the very beginning. “We loved the way the pattern was anamorphic — and atypical in a lot of ways for a condo on the water,” Cheryl says. “But the colorway really worked with the neutral floors and balanced the strong color of the leather sectional. It would have been a big mistake in our design aesthetic to have used a fabric with color in it so we opted for pattern.”

Feeling pattern-curious? “One thing consumers need to remember is that pattern is not scary — bunch the fabric in your hands to see how it will look when pleated,” Cheryl advises. “It really takes away some of the boldness you see in a photo of the fabric ‘flat’ and is more representative of how it will look when hung.”

When Space Is Precious, Hold Out for the Perfect Sectional

Cheryl ordered this showstopping teal sectional in a custom size from Kristin Drohan. “She was great to work with — we ended up having to purchase the leather from one of our other vendors as we could not find it anywhere. But this space is relatively small so the custom size was a must,” she explains.

Pro Tip: Lessen a Television’s Visual Impact With Custom Cabinetry

Cheryl and her team went the extra mile to develop an elegant frame for this mounted TV: they collaborated with their longtime cabinetmaker for the dramatic woodwork and enlisted their metalsmith for the custom brass base. “The wood [between the television and the wall] is not very thick, so it still has the illusion of being flat against the wall to some extent,” she explains. Since plywood comes in 4 x 8-foot sheets, a single piece of wood wasn’t tall enough to suit her needs. “So to make sure we hid the seam, which would be a design ‘fail’ to see, we added the molding to cover it and to make it look like part of the overall piece. I think it worked very well and no one is the wiser — unless they’re reading this!”

Pendant Lighting Adds “Architecture” to a Living Space in Need of Detail

No soaring crown molding, built-in cabinetry or coffered ceiling to supply texture and interest in your space? No problem — it happens to Cheryl all the time. “We look at a room with four walls, a floor and a ceiling and often there is no architectural detail in the room — so we build it in,” she says. “This is a super critical aspect of what we do. And this does not always mean actual architecture, but what we are terming ‘architectural elements,’ and in this case adding the trio of pendants in this corner helped soften the room and gave an interesting focal point opposite the main focal point — the gorgeous water views.”

Art Deco-Style Sconces and Hardware Deliver Style in This Powder Room

The flourishes in this powder room demonstrate how well-chosen accessories (like the Art Deco-inspired lighting that flanks the mirror and the artistic vanity hardware) contribute character rather than clutter. “Hits of color and pattern allowed us to layer the warmer, comforting feeling that everyone wants to have in their interior space into the design, and standout lighting that was visually impactful but not weighty in terms of size or scale was important because this is a condo and the ceilings are only so high, and the rooms only so large,” Cheryl says. “There was a definite balance here, and it feels that way being in the space itself — it's beautifully rich and layered without feeling completely over the top or contrived in any way.”

Use Dried Blooms or Branches to Lend Movement to a Neutral Powder Room

Cheryl’s spur-of-the-moment decision to add a countertop arrangement to the guest powder room took it from serene to spectacular. Don’t feel like foraging or heading to the florist once a week? Go faux with a pro’s blessing. “Everything in the room is so white and ‘still’ — I wanted a bit of movement — and the spikiness of the florals (fake!) and saturated red of the vase provided just the right amount of contrast,” she says.

When Outfitting a Small Guest Bedroom, Focus on the Bedding Itself

Cheryl and her team pulled this guest space together by selecting an upholstered bed, then zeroing in on linens. “We were looking for a serene feel but with a bit of upscale coastal,” she explains. “The bedding in a small bedroom like this makes a huge statement, so we want to begin with this element as it ‘speaks’ so loudly in the room. After these elements were percolating we found the perfect wall covering” — a slightly shimmery wallpaper — and window fabric to continue with the softer focus on this room.” She introduced gentle contrast on the molding with Benjamin Moore’s Chelsea Gray.

Think Twice (and Save Money) Before Framing Your Paintings

Excellent news if you find yourself in love with a raw canvas: you can often skip the framing altogether. “I believe frames are only to be used when they add to the painting, not detract,” Cheryl says. “Most oil or acrylic paintings we are not going to frame unless there is a compelling reason for it. We typically frame when the frame itself is almost part of the art.”

Patterned Fabric Adds Sophisticated Dimension to a Headboard

Like the guest bedroom, the principal bedroom’s design started with the bed itself. “It is a custom headboard with a beautiful custom cut velvet on it,” Cheryl says. “Again we liked the anamorphic pattern: it is a nice mix when it is a small pattern and provides visual texture so the room is not bland. You will notice the strong, saturated tones again here in the Euro pillow fabric, but then the other fabrics are lighter in visual weight. We like this solid rich color against the duvet too. It is a bit unexpected!”

Stock Up on Bedroom Pillows But Have a Nighttime Storage Solution

Speaking of pillows, is there such a thing as too many? “Oh gosh, asking a designer if there is such a thing as too many pillows? Of course not!” Cheryl laughs. “We take our lead from the client. If they detest lots of pillows then we do not do them, but most of our clients are fabric lovers like we are and think the more the better! And we usually plan for a place to toss them so the room is still in order.”

Layer a Textural Blanket Beneath a Duvet to Introduce Unexpected Color

When it comes to cozy, picture-perfect bedding, “layering is the operative word,” Cheryl says. “We carry in our retail shop a line of comforters and bedding we really like for the extra pieces. Most of what we do for bedding is custom created, but for blankets and throws we utilize the line for that extra layer of bedding.” She walks the walk on this recommendation: this textural piece is in her own home, too.

“I would tell others who want to create a luxurious bed to find something they really love and use it as the most prevalent piece — and then bring in some unexpected color in the way of a blanket under the duvet,” she continues. “This is what I like to do for photos and in real life for clients: the covering below the duvet is usually the peek-a-boo color that enhances the rest of the bedding.”

Oversized Tile and Fixtures Can Pack a Lot of Style Into a Small Bathroom Space

“This is probably one of my all time favorite bathrooms,” says Cheryl. “The pendants are from Hubbardton Forge again, and they are the perfect choice for this bathroom. It is a small space so we needed to pack a big punch of style while still being functional. The pulls are beautiful jewelry for these doors and they are oversized, which fits the scale of this room.” Too much? Not nearly. “It is a mistake for people to think that small bathrooms have to be small in scale,” she explains. “The floor tiles are 24 x 24 inches, and the pulls are big, the doors are big, there are four pendants — and it all works.”

Make the Most of Every Inch of Your Main Bathroom

Cheryl added even more interest to the floor-to-ceiling bathroom tiles with a graceful abstract painting. “The painting is from one of our regional artists we work with in our boutique showroom,” she says. “We really enjoy finding emerging artists and placing the work in our clients’ homes. It is a very affordable way to begin collecting artwork that is meaningful to you.”

"What we try to achieve is a series of ‘moments’ for our client — so when they walk into their home they are transformed,” Cheryl explains. “Sounds silly, but it is our goal." Of the main bath she says "We really did a lot of changes in mood and experience in this small bath without changing the footprint. Even the small storage you see [beside the vanity] is ‘found’ space in between the metal studs. It just so happened we realized it was deeper than a standard wall and we capitalized on it.” It’s that attention to detail that makes a house a home.