1 of 6
Designer Lee Harmon Waters used decorative molding to add interest and balance.
2 of 6
The bedside tables are from Waste Not Want Not RVA. The bed is by Ballard Designs
3 of 6
Before: The visual weight of the furniture overpowered the space.
4 of 6
The custom cabinetry has Sietto glass pulls.
5 of 6
The redesign maximized the use of vertical space.
6 of 6
Before: The storage options in the niche area were inadequate.
When Lee Harmon Waters’ clients moved from the Midwest in 2020, they found a spacious home in Midlothian — but it was smaller than their previous house. This presented a storage challenge in their bedroom, where the wife’s love of books and the husband’s extensive workout wardrobe meant their closet was bursting at the seams.
In 2022, they approached Contented Interiors’ Waters, who had worked with them to decorate and furnish their first floor, about redesigning their bedroom and closets.
Waters says space wasn’t entirely the issue — although the couple did have some purging to do, the layout wasn’t working. They each had a walk-in closet, set along a hallway with a cutout niche.
“They had builder-grade wire shelves, and random furniture to try to hold everything that didn’t fit in the closets,” she says. “They had several bookcases, low dressers and workout clothes stashed in plastic crates.”
Custom cabinetry was critical, Waters says, so she turned to McGlade Fine Finish. Together, they designed floor-to-ceiling shelving, cabinetry and a laundry storage unit, as well as a tall dresser to fill the hallway niche.
“You have to maximize your vertical storage,” Waters says.
With the storage challenges addressed, Waters turned her attention to the bedroom’s design. Her clients are working parents with demanding jobs, so she wanted a calming and cozy environment that reflected their French-inspired aesthetic.
Waters used decorative molding to add visual interest and texture, painting it, the walls, baseboards and ceiling the same purple-gray to create a low-contrast look.
The molding also helped address the room’s lack of symmetry. Since they weren’t moving any walls — beyond removing the closet doors — or making dramatic changes to the existing structure, Waters created balance through drapes, trim and matching nightstands. She also exchanged an existing light fixture for a pair of symmetrically placed wall sconces.
Finally, as the closet redesign eliminated much of the need for dressers and storage in the bedroom, Waters kept the furniture simple and focused on finding a signature piece to showcase the wife’s library. She scoured several local Instagram accounts for vintage furniture until she found an antique secretary from Revival Consignment.
“It was in their house before I had even presented the design plan,” Waters says. “We were able to take all the samples upstairs and see how great they would look together.
“When you fall in love with something, you have to trust that you can make it work.”
