Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: Twilight Inspires a Warm Contemporary Home in Florida
Natural textures, warm tones, architectural tricks and lighting design keep the cold out
This family had moved from Mexico and really needed its new house in Florida to feel like home. “While they wanted the house to look contemporary, they also needed it to feel warm,” says Ivonne Ronderos, principal interior designer at DKOR. First her design team completely transformed a 1990s Mediterranean spec house into a contemporary blank white slate. Then it made clever architectural and lighting design moves to address the large volumes of some of the spaces and bring them down to a comfortable human scale. Finally, it layered in natural materials, soft textures and warm hues to create an inviting new home.
The two-story living room extends more than 20 feet high. It used to be a covered outdoor terrace. Ronderos notes that by repurposing the terrace, they were able to keep the roofline unaltered while adding more indoor space.
Choosing the right light fixture is important when addressing such a high ceiling and large scale. The designers clustered a mix of Tom Dixon pendant globes that are silver on top and glass on the bottom.
“The concept for this home was twilight. We used colors like amber, taupe and navy, the colors you’d see here at twilight,” Ronderos says.
Wall paint: Snowbound by Sherwin-Williams
Choosing the right light fixture is important when addressing such a high ceiling and large scale. The designers clustered a mix of Tom Dixon pendant globes that are silver on top and glass on the bottom.
“The concept for this home was twilight. We used colors like amber, taupe and navy, the colors you’d see here at twilight,” Ronderos says.
Wall paint: Snowbound by Sherwin-Williams
One of the homeowners loves to add rustic touches and fell hard for this coffee table with the live-edge wood slice detail. The designers customized the table to glam it up, adding a mirror on the bottom and interesting objects inside its acrylic box. A bamboo silk rug adds a soft, elegant layer on the floor and helps define the seating area within the large room.
“At first the client was apprehensive about drapes, so we found a way to keep them clean-lined,” Ronderos says. “Now they are one of her favorite things in the house.” The pinch pleats are tucked up above the drop ceiling to keep a contemporary, linear look. The drapes are motorized and, when open, disappear behind recesses in the walls.
For the formal dining room, the designers were able to adapt the clients’ existing dining table, which had one of the wooden crisscross bases seen here. The company that makes them assured them that if they had another base made, a pair would be able to support a new glass top that accommodates up to 16 diners. They also had two banquettes made to match the clients’ existing leather chairs. A contemporary glass light fixture adds a warm glow.
The hallway to the left of the stairs leads to the craft room; the opening to the right connects to the breakfast room.
The hallway to the left of the stairs leads to the craft room; the opening to the right connects to the breakfast room.
In the powder room, a custom wallcovering — a water-resistant mural — was created from a watercolor painting. Note the way it wraps around the wall, accentuating the mirror’s recess and the thickness of the wall. These big moves stand up to the room’s high ceilings.
The flooring on the main level is large-format porcelain Italian tile that resembles concrete. “We are using these all the time with our clients these days,” Ronderos says. “They are durable and can handle a lot of foot traffic, they don’t absorb stains, they are easy to clean and they will last a long time.”
Wallcovering: Black Crow Studios
The flooring on the main level is large-format porcelain Italian tile that resembles concrete. “We are using these all the time with our clients these days,” Ronderos says. “They are durable and can handle a lot of foot traffic, they don’t absorb stains, they are easy to clean and they will last a long time.”
Wallcovering: Black Crow Studios
The kitchen, breakfast room and family room are open to one another. The designers combined wood and high-gloss cabinetry to break things up and add warmth. The countertops are Compac, an engineered quartz.
Tip: “When you combine wood and painted cabinets, use the same tonality — match warm woods with warmer colors like we did here, or cool woods with cooler hues,” Ronderos advises.
The cabinet on the left eases the transition from kitchen to family room, and the cabinetry in the family room is in a different wood to help delineate the spaces. “This family has more photo albums than you and everyone in your family combined,” Ronderos says. The team measured the large albums to determine the cabinet sizes and space between shelves. The open shelves have LED lighting.
Tip: “I always recommend placing the lights about three-quarters back into cubbies like these — that way you light up the entire cubby and not just the front or the back,” the designer says.
Sofa: Design Within Reach; rug: custom
Tip: “When you combine wood and painted cabinets, use the same tonality — match warm woods with warmer colors like we did here, or cool woods with cooler hues,” Ronderos advises.
The cabinet on the left eases the transition from kitchen to family room, and the cabinetry in the family room is in a different wood to help delineate the spaces. “This family has more photo albums than you and everyone in your family combined,” Ronderos says. The team measured the large albums to determine the cabinet sizes and space between shelves. The open shelves have LED lighting.
Tip: “I always recommend placing the lights about three-quarters back into cubbies like these — that way you light up the entire cubby and not just the front or the back,” the designer says.
Sofa: Design Within Reach; rug: custom
“The craft room has one of our favorite Ikea hacks to date,” Ronderos says. All of the crafting supplies are concealed behind kitchen cabinets from Ikea, which are paired with a custom wenge wood recess with LED lighting that adds an interesting architectural detail where creations can be displayed. It’s a good example of how these designers play with positive and negative space.
On the opposite side of the room, a striped wallpaper from Knoll wraps up and disappears underneath the drop ceiling. The wallpaper is vinyl and very durable. The desktop is Corian, also chosen for its durability.
On the opposite side of the room, a striped wallpaper from Knoll wraps up and disappears underneath the drop ceiling. The wallpaper is vinyl and very durable. The desktop is Corian, also chosen for its durability.
Here you can study some of the subtle and not-so-subtle architectural details at play. Thick walls, the drop ceiling and the doorways match the scale of the soaring space. Thick posts meet the drop ceiling, while wood on the second-floor ceiling extends underneath it. Note how thick the drop ceiling is — this helps it stand up to the height of the room.
Now it feels like a special place on its own. But it also feels connected to the two-story space to the left, via the wood ceiling that continues down the wall. The walnut planks came from North Carolina and are 12 to 14 inches wide. At the right you can see the recessed baseboard detail, which is 12 inches high and continues throughout the house. The floor is a porcelain tile that looks like wood. The pivot door leads to the master suite.
In the master bedroom, warm tones create a calm atmosphere. The drapes tuck away completely behind the wood slats.The windows have sheers as well as blackout drapes. The headboard wall is upholstered in leather in different widths, which adds a plush feeling to the room. The leather matches the base of the bed. The vanity top flips up to reveal a mirror.
In the master bathroom, a wood ceiling adds warmth to the space. Again, it wraps around and tucks under a drop ceiling. The tiles here are Italian porcelain, digitally printed to look like marble. “We wanted to get the biggest mirror we could fit in here,” Ronderos says. The mirror bounces the light around.
Bathtub: Kohler; shower fixtures: Hansgrohe; towel rack: Crate and Barrel
Bathtub: Kohler; shower fixtures: Hansgrohe; towel rack: Crate and Barrel
The teenage son’s room has a more rustic look. “Everyone wants to touch these walls — they look like wood planks but it’s wallpaper,” Ronderos says. One detail that helps keep things clean is the tucking of the roller shade behind a cornice — this way it doesn’t show at all when rolled up. The desk area is another Ikea hack, composed of cabinets in different shades with a Corian counter.
Wallpaper: Wallpaper Collective; leather chair: Crate and Barrel
Wallpaper: Wallpaper Collective; leather chair: Crate and Barrel
In the teenage daughter’s room, the team stuck to a strict color palette of pink, gray and white and then went wild with all kinds of textures like faux fur, knits, metallics and leather. “We wanted something girly that could serve her for the next years. They placed some favorite pieces of jewelry in shadowboxes and hung them on the wall between the windows.
Wallpaper: Black Crow Studios; shadowboxes: Anthropologie; Bubble chair: PB Teen
Wallpaper: Black Crow Studios; shadowboxes: Anthropologie; Bubble chair: PB Teen
The client had picked out the rowhouse shelves for her youngest daughter; the design team used them to bookend the Corian-topped desk. While a baby blue color was requested for the walls, the designers added more intense blues throughout the room via items like the pillows and rug. “She’s 11, so we wanted the room to be able to grow up with her,” Ronderos say.
Area rug: FLOR
Area rug: FLOR
In the youngest child’s bathroom, a mosaic tile full of twilight blues continues the motif of running up the wall and across ceiling. The team pushed out the plumbing wall in the shower, and the tile continues on the other side.
Fixtures: Kohler
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Fixtures: Kohler
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Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their 11- and 14-year-old daughters and 17-year-old son
Location: Aventura, Florida
Size: Four bedrooms, 6½ bathrooms
Designer: DKOR Interiors design team
Creating a welcoming foyer was first on the list. Before, the staircase was tucked away and the space seen here was the living room. Now the smashing new wood staircase is an architectural statement that makes a strong first impression. The landing provides a base that’s to scale within the space, while the rest of the staircase adds a thick wood zigzag of a line through the room. The handrail is black iron, something these designers have been favoring over colder-looking stainless steel of late.
“It was love at first light with those floor lamps,” designer Ivonne Ronderos says. “We knew we needed to do something there and didn’t want to do plants.” The sculptural lamps add warmth and color.
Oda floor lamps in glass: Sebastian Herkner for Pulpo