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The drapery fabric in the dining room is Stroheim Tarangine in Antelope, the mirror is by Arteriors, and the lamps are by Visual Comfort. The original Matisse artwork is from SH Modern Art.
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The freestanding tub in the primary bath is by Kohler. The wallpaper is York Wallcoverings Endless Summer.
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The custom TV surround in the living area was framed out then finished by a local plaster artist. The Fields cane back chairs are from Crate & Barrel, the rust chair is by Four Hands, and the Strada Ring Chandelier is by Kelly Wearstler for Visual Comfort.
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The custom headboard is by Blend Home. The original lithographs by Cassatt and Renoir are from SH Modern Art.
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The shower walls are clad in Nero Marquina Marble. The cabinet hardware is from the Belwith-Keeler Corsa collection; the flooring is from the TileBar Monroe collection.
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The kitchen appliances are SKS; the cabinetry and custom metal doors are by Wellborn Cabinet. The pendant lights and Cynara fixture in the pantry are by Visual Comfort.
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The chair in the office nook is by Four Hands; the Bird of Paradise wallpaper is from York Wallcoverings.
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In the primary bedroom, the custom bed is by Blend Home; the lamps are by Visual Comfort; the original painting is by Kathy Buist through SH Modern Art.
When the owner of Envy Homes approached Richmond-based decorator Alyssa Johansen about designing his new build on the outskirts of Orlando, Florida, she says he was looking to make the most of the suburban lot.
The property is set amid a community of townhomes, cottages and modern multistory homes with small lots and nearby neighbors. The home’s architecture creates privacy and fosters indoor-outdoor living with a rooftop lounge, outdoor kitchen and a central interior courtyard with a pool.
“When you walk into the house, it’s almost like you are in a different place,” says Johansen, who worked on the project for Builders Design. “You don’t realize that you’re in the middle of Orlando in a subdivision. You walk in, and you’re instantly in your own little bubble.”
Inside, Johansen aimed to accomplish the same sense of escape through a modern and sleek coastal design with art deco influences that add character. She integrated a neutral color palette of black, white and gold throughout the home. Wood tones, layered textures and warm lighting bring coziness to the space.
Johansen says the architectural design featured a rectilinear floor plan. To avoid the feeling of a large, empty box, she wanted to create “an unfolding of spaces” with eye-catching moments that lead to a pause between rooms.
As a result, several dramatic moments punctuate the home, beginning just inside the front door, where Johansen installed a 400-bottle wine cellar. The frameless, glass-wrapped cellar doubles as a stair railing from the foyer to the second story.
“It created a lot of impact right off the bat,” she says. “We were using the space to our advantage — not only for aesthetics but also for function — and it added so much to that foyer.”
Johansen says the cascading light feature in the dining room was a last-minute pivot resulting from challenges with the ceiling height and supply chain delays.
“The lights were all supposed to be one height, and I’m so glad it didn’t work out,” she says. “It was one of those moments of trusting your gut, and it worked out gorgeously.”
Decorative and inset lighting fixtures from Visual Comfort provide focal points throughout the home and are used to create softness. But it was just one way Johansen sought to balance the squared-off architecture and the sharp edges of the art deco features.
Working with SH Modern Art, an art dealer based in southwest Florida, Johansen filled the home with paintings and sculptures from contemporary and local artists to masters including Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri Matisse.
“The artwork forces you to use color,” she says. “It’s not the usual formula of picking black-and-white art for a black-and-white room. One artwork has some red in it, and there’s a beautiful, completely green piece in the upstairs hall. There’s no other color in the house that speaks to that art, but it works beautifully in the home.
“But that’s how we live in real life. You hang up the picture because it speaks to you, not because it perfectly matches your blue sofa.”
In an upstairs bedroom Johansen describes as a “jewel box,” a trio of lithographs from Renoir and Mary Cassatt hang above a wall-to-wall upholstered headboard. A wallpapered ceiling and cheetah-print linens further complement the room’s layered textures.
The cozy room is unexpectedly juxtaposed with an adjoining dramatic bathroom featuring a black vanity with gold hardware, gold lighting, a patterned floor tile and floor-to-ceiling black marble.
The juxtaposition is stark, but Johansen often looked for opportunities to coordinate unexpected layers and imperfect pairings. She says the eclectic nature helped the house feel homier and more comfortable and less like a brand-new build.
In the kitchen, Johansen chose three different finishes and hardware for the island, the back wall and the range hood. She added soft lighting and vintage platters in the all-black, modern pantry.
“They all relate to each other, they speak to each other, but they also give that feeling of comfort and nostalgia,” she says. “There can be an emphasis on making sure that everything matches perfectly, but sometimes the true beauty is when things don’t match exactly. There’s just a balance to it, of layering visually with textures and finishes. [It makes the home] feel more lived in.”
