Talk about a challenge. When interior designer Annie Kordas, owner of Annie Kordas Interiors, was working on the first floor of this Grosse Pointe Park home, there was one particular space that challenged her more than any other. “This room stood out to me,” Kordas says of the home’s sitting room. “There was no focal point. It didn’t have a fireplace, and it was small with a lot of windows. What (could I) do with something like that?
“They wanted a traditional look that was still young and edgy, and they also had this huge art collection, inherited from their family. I thought it would be great to balance the large window with a gallery wall,” continues Kordas, whose first move was to place the couple’s large Chinoiserie cabinet on the main wall.
The next step, creating the gallery wall, was one of Kordas’ favorite tasks. “They had this insane art in their basement. I told them they were sitting on a gold mine!” The subject matter of the original artwork ranges from people and landscapes to hunting scenes. “Even though the subjects are varied, I united them with similar framing — a gold gilded look.”
Kordas left the drapery as it was, and added custom molding, sconces, new furniture, and picture lights. “It’s a tiny room and I wanted to make it pop,” she says. Pop it does — and the room now is the homeowners’ “adult space,” the designer explains. “It’s not for kids or dogs,” she says with a laugh. “They use it any time they’re entertaining.”
More information: anniekordasinteriors.com
To read more about Kordas’ work, refer to this issue’s feature section.
