When the owners of the circa 1921 bungalow in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia purchased the home, they knew it would need some updates. They spotted a lounge-style space that Nadia Subaran, principal and senior designer, and Kelly Emerson, senior designer, at Aidan Design, www.aidandesign.com, designed for another couple in a Washington, DC, home and decided to create a similar moody lounge in their own home.
The owners wanted to honor the historic elements in the home, but also desired to make the home fit within their art-filled lifestyles. They didn’t want to open spaces, but rather embrace what was there. They started by incorporating a speakeasy space just beyond the entry door. This intimate lounge area features architectural grills in the navy cabinetry that holds cocktail essentials.
Past the lounge is the updated kitchen with open shelving, new cabinetry and appliances, subway tiles, plenty of storage, and an island that overlooks a 2012 addition that provides clerestory windows and floor-to-ceiling doors in a tall great room. The spaces are naturally bright and sunny with Aidan Design incorporating additional new lighting.
An open staircase to the right leads up to the primary suite, which is the latest update to this 104-year-old bungalow. Aidan Design created a sanctuary in the bedroom, while updating and expanding the bathroom. Porcelain tiles installed vertically wrap the room from top to bottom, while abundant drawers in the vanity and sliding doors to the closet finish the space. Penny tiles dot the floor. One sink is in the vanity, while another is cleverly adjacent to the wall before the shower.
“Part of what I love about this project is the juxtaposition of light and airy to moody and intimate,” Subaran adds, especially between the first floor cocktail lounge and kitchen and living space, and then again in the bedroom and bathroom upstairs.
