Welcome to my Capitol Hill Condo Tour! It occurred to me recently that, while I’ve shared snippets here and there of our condo, I’ve never done a proper home tour. I don’t necessarily have the time or resources for a full photo shoot at the moment, but I can take y’all through, one room at a time.
For those may be new around here, we bought our condo almost three years ago now. We’re in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of DC, nestled right between Eastern Market and the U.S. Capitol. Our place is a cozy two bedroom/two bathroom unit in an 1880 Victorian rowhome. And, yes, it was a flip, but, don’t worry, decades ago it was cut into even more apartments than there are currently condo units (I know a lot of people have thoughts on rowhomes being turned into condos).
We bought for location not square footage, but we’ve made the most of an efficient 850 square feet. However, one of the most difficult spaces to figure out was our living area. We have tried so many iterations of our living and dining “rooms”, trying to make it feel like a home rather than a for-now space. You may remember that our dining table used to reside in the front bay window, our pièce de résistance, yet it was never functional there. Now, the table has found its spot closer to the kitchen and a sofa sits in the nook that used to be home to the bar cart (we’ll get into those details in the next post).
Meet Our Living Room
Interestingly, the arrangement we now have is actually how our unit was staged when we first saw it. At the time, we thought it made no sense. The TV is across from the dining room table on the only wall where it truly fits, yet, here’s the trick about small spaces: you can see everything from everywhere. The sofa doesn’t have to be directly across from the TV to still have a clear sightline.
We were apprehensive about bidding adieu to our sectional, but the Ikea Soderhamn sofa, which we hunted for during the height of the supply chain issues, is 40″ deep, which makes it perfectly loungey — even without a chaise. The coffee table is a carved trunk we found on Facebook Marketplace and, again, there were hesitations — this time over its height — yet it works. Turns out it’s very European to have a tall coffee table. I’ll take it.
Next to the sofa are two 1970s low-slung accent chairs from Adam’s grandmother. I love these chairs, but for the longest time, they didn’t have a home in our home. Now, sitting next to the sofa, they form the perfect gathering spot. Plus, we now have somewhere to entertain. Can’t you just imagine sitting here — two friends on the sofa, two on the chairs — kicking back with cocktails and conversation?
The chandelier is a holdover from when our dining room table was there and, for now, it’ll stay. Neither of us is tall, so it isn’t an issue, and it adds a bit of interest and height to the space.
I leaned into a moody color palette of black, gray, cognac, and tan, and I’ve kept accessories minimal and prints bold. A few select pieces on the wall, a sculpture from our trip to Mexico in 2021, and a carefully placed tray. That’s it. If we had a larger space or less eclectic pieces, I might be tempted to do more styling, but, instead, I prefer the emphasis on the vintage silhouettes and bold drapery.
Most of all, I’ve taken my design philosophy to heart here. If you love the pieces, they work together.
Sources:
Mexican Ceramic Jaguar [similar]
Painting [my own]
Colonial Williamsburg Lithographs [similar]
Plant Stand/Cocktail Table [similar]
Next Up on the Capitol Hill Condo Tour
My plan for this Capitol Hill Condo Tour is to walk through our condo as if you’re literally there. Which means next up is the dining area, followed by the kitchen, then our guest bathroom, skipping the guest bedroom (still not where I want it), touching on the gallery wall in the hallway, moving on to the master bedroom and bathroom, and, finally, ending with our back deck. One post at a time, you’ll see it all.
