Inspiration Balance in
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By Heather N Russell-Simmons Photography by Walt Roycraft
igh on a hill in Newport, Ky. with stunning views overlooking the Ohio River and Cincinnati skyline sits a 3,000 square foot, three-story condominium recently renovated by interior designer Tom Kordenbrock of Kordenbrock Interiors. Having worked closely with the homeowners on four previous properties, Kordenbrock was given the green light to design as he saw fit. “They told me to go for it!” Going for it began with gutting it. “Over the course of 10 months, we removed walls, added walls, redid the kitchen and baths and finished the basement,” Kordenbrock said. With such extensive work, unexpected delays were inevitable. “The valves didn’t arrive with the faucets, so that held up the tile work. The electrician was held up while the wood floors were being refinished. The door handles came in backwards,” the designer said with a sigh. However, the results were worth the wait. “The owners said this home changed their lives. It was everything they wanted,” Kordenbrock proudly exclaimed. “I’ve done so many things for this couple over the years that I can speak to their tastes.” “We’d discuss what they wanted and how they felt about things,” Kordenbrock said of working with his clients. Knowing their preferences as well as the art and furniture they owned and wanted to use, Kordenbrock pulled inspiration from fabrics, furniture, lamps, window treatments and wallpaper in his interior design studio. “I’d show them things at the studio and they’d say, ‘We love it, do it!’” Understanding their love of color was key to designing the home. Beginning with a large, colorful triptych, the designer then found a distinctive chair and ottoman with patterned swirls of soft mint green, ocean blue and raspberry red. These colors were intertwined throughout the main floor of the home; the high walls were painted soft mint green and the cross walls became ocean blue while raspberry red throw pillows added pops of color to the sofas and chairs. A raspberry red rug was placed under the dining table, blue cabinets were set in the kitchen. The blue floating sofa is precisely sized and placed in the great room with space on both sides to walk around without causing bottle neck. A green chair backed against the towering windows connects the floor with greens in the triptych and on the high walls.
The patterned chair and ottoman, in many ways the center of the home’s inspiration, is placed to be seen from anywhere and everywhere in the open area. Upstairs, a more spatial feeling to the loft was created by replacing the half railing with glass panels. To enhance the sense of height and airiness, Kordenbrock chose carpet with a tree pattern in soft gray. The door to the master bathroom upstairs was removed for more openness. “The jacuzzi, with silvered dimensional ceramic tile, was a priority in the master bath,” Kordenbrock explained. That same silvered dimensional ceramic tile trims the shower. Chalky white tile floors, deep plumb walls and a soft, subtle yellow ceiling complete the color scheme. “I’m not afraid of painting a ceiling something other than white,” said Kordenbrock. In this room, the sensational, circular chandelier from Hubbardton Forge, “Shows up prettier on yellow than it would on white.” Where the main floor was designed with greens, blues and touches of raspberry; and the upstairs features silver, deep plumbs and soft yellows in the bathroom, “The lower level was done with a completely feeling,” Kordenbrock said. Downstairs, the bathroom and laundry have barn doors with a dark brown wood stain for a warmer, more casual look. Faux wood flooring was used throughout the lower level with greys and beiges mixed into the wood grain to reference the tone of birch trees. One of the home’s more exceptional features is the custom-made iron work. Designed exclusively by Kordenbrock and crafted by Patrick Dalton of Elegant Iron Studios, the wavy, horizontally crisscrossing iron railings simulate the flowing river. “In the views from the home, you don’t see the river but you know the water is there,” Kordenbrock said of his intention. That design is carried through every floor of the home, from the stair railings to a mullion in the kitchen to the fire screen in the great room. “Everything is connected in this home,” Kordenbrock said of this design. “There is balance everywhere you look.”
34 • Summer/Fall 2020 • Kentucky Homes & Gardens
