Photographs by Alyssa Lee
Oceans Away
“I love just walking in and that feeling of openness, like you’re almost outside,” homeowner Nora O’Leary says. A modified transom stretches across the revamped opening into the lanai, ushering in natural light and connecting with new built-ins. Residential designer Sara Whicher carried the nickel gap from the walls onto the ceiling to create a casual, classic look.
As much as Doug and Nora O’Leary love their day-to-day life in the Twin Cities, a condo in Naples, Florida, has been their home away from home for nearly 30 years. It’s been the spot for family getaways and gatherings with Doug’s parents and walks on the beach with their three (now grown) kids.
It was almost a given, then, that Doug and Nora would become the next caretakers of the condo, which had been in the family and where his aunt had lived. The 1967 complex, with two-story buildings rather than modern high-rises and steps from the Gulf of Mexico, gives the couple a comforting sense of nostalgia. The O’Learys envisioned the condo becoming a retreat for their kids and for extended family visiting Doug’s mother. It just needed work to make it a place where sandy feet are welcome and the coconut cocktails are flowing. “We wanted to capture the beach vibe of the ’60s and the blue-green color palette of the Gulf with a bright, white, beachy, driftwood interior,” Doug says.
“The space isn’t large. We didn’t want anything too dark or heavy to drag it down or pull it in.”
—Andréa Dixon, designer
Enter Doug’s three-ring binder. As the couple prepared to renovate, Doug, a retired marketing executive, gathered pictures of his dream retro-beachy getaway, which included posters of 1960s movies such as Beach Blanket Bingo. The binder guided a Twin Cities–based design team that largely worked from afar. “By paging through the binder, everyone on the team was able to catch the look and feel we were after,” Doug says.
For residential designer Sara Whicher, that meant a better connection to the outdoors and cladding walls and ceilings with white nickel gap. Interior designers Jen Ziemer and Andréa Dixon had fun with tile that mimics fish scales and fabrics and wall coverings with turtle and seahorse patterns. Throughout, the team maximized the function of the 1,400-square-foot unit. The lone guest bedroom, for example, sleeps six, with bunks rising above queen beds—all smartly outfitted with built-in storage. “Any little space that’s open, we use it,” Whicher says.
While Doug left his mark with retro movie posters, Nora, who helms The Manhattan Toy Company, offset that with classic choices that lend sophistication. “We made it livable for everybody,” Dixon says.
“There’s something comforting about having wood on the walls and ceilings. It’s reminiscent of being on a porch and kind of makes you feel like you’re outside.”
—Sara Whicher, residential designer
That includes the younger generation of O’Learys. The condo proved to be the perfect getaway for the couple’s two daughters and their cousins to celebrate a 30th birthday.
“That was the whole purpose of this condo,” Nora says. “It’s a place that helps us all stay connected.”
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blue zones
Blue Zones
Kitchen cabinets with a whisper of blue (Farrow and Ball’s Borrowed Light) offer a change-up from more-expected white. “White was too sterile, especially with the ceiling, but we didn’t want it to scream blue,” designer Andréa Dixon says. “We wanted it calming and serene.” The backsplash tile (Sonoma Tilemakers) is a play on fish scales—or shells, depending on your perspective.
Casual Dining
Easy-to-clean bistro chairs from Serena and Lily (previous image) in rattan and handwoven resin, along with a mod resin chandelier by Oly, contribute to the dining area’s beachy vibe. “It’s a statement in the middle of that open area,” designer Jen Ziemer says. Linen drapes (from Katie Ridder) also relax the formality, thanks to their turtle motif—which playfully nods to the home’s seaside location and loggerhead sea turtles that nest on the beach—but they serve an important function as well, blocking light at night. (Homeowners along the beach are required to limit artificial light at night during the nesting season so hatchlings don’t stray toward it.)
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living room
Furniture Finesse
For easy living, slipcovers made from durable outdoor fabrics dress the sleeper sofa and chairs. The bleached wood cocktail table allows ottomans to tuck out of the way—or be pulled out for more seating. “We didn’t want the space to have much contrast, and we wanted it to reflect the outside,” Ziemer says. The Thibaut curtain fabric features a sand dollar design.
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Furniture Finesse
Furniture Finesse
A doorway was removed to make an open connection between the dining room and the lanai where a blue console table backs up to a love seat.
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Serene Scene
Serene Scene
The built-in closet in the main bedroom features doors that open and shut to hide the TV. “The idea came from trying to figure out how to put a TV in the room without it being a focal point,” Nora says. Drawers with cup pulls offer plenty of dresser-like storage.
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closet
Closet doors flanking the TV slide together to reveal clothes-hanging space on either side.
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Bunked In
Bunked In
Queen beds tuck under walk-up bunks, allowing comfortable six-person sleeping in the condo’s lone guest bedroom. Drawers pull out from under the treads of the bunk stairs; more storage is built into the bases of the queen beds. The vintage taxidermy came from a Naples store.
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Function First
Function First
The guest bath is designed so multiple people could use it at the same time. A Walker Zanger tiled wall with an old-school sink custom-painted deep blue brings function to a walkway that leads into the actual bath. Sconces, the porthole mirror, and whale-tail towel hooks add nautical whimsy without being theme-y. “We always keep it a little more sophisticated,” Dixon says.
Architecture: Sara Whicher, Chisel Architecture, 641 E. Lake St., Wayzata, 952-475-4930; chiselarch.com
Interior design: Jen Ziemer and Andréa Dixon, Fiddlehead Design Group, IMS, 275 Market St., Ste. 211, Mpls., 612-747-6431; fiddleheaddesigngroup.com
Cabinetry/Built-ins: Ingrained Wood Studios, 6026 Pillsbury Ave., Mpls., 612-940-2839; ingrainedwoodstudios.com
