Coming at you with another Multi-Family project reveal! Recently we shared our renovation of Block 24, which is a sister property to The Villas at Spring Creek. Owned by the same property owners and managed by the same property director, much like actual siblings, these two spaces look nothing alike!
If Block 24 is the cool, hip, younger sister that’s a little bit edgy and effortlessly cool, Spring Creek is the older, more sophisticated, well-traveled, comfortable in her own skin sibling.
Don’t stop scrolling just because you don’t happen to own an apartment building, thinking this isn’t relevant to you! I’m dropping easter egg tips in this post that are VERY relevant to home design, especially if you live in an open concept house!
THE STORY
Spring Creek came to us in need of a refresh of their large Clubhouse and Leasing Office. This building has been around for some time and was lovingly referred to as “Funeral Parlor Chic” in its design. The goal was to reach for a sophisticated, professional clientele, and certainly people who are actually alive. WE CAN DO BETTER.
The goal was to attract and retain great tenants. The Clubhouse needed to be appealing to entice people to use it as a gathering space, and the Leasing Office, being a potential renter’s first impression, needed to be attractive and professional. What we needed was a more clearly defined style, as the space was very aesthetically disjointed – one part beige and bland, another part neon electric. The clientele here are professionals, sophisticated, worldly, so we wanted to create a space that had a hint of international inspiration in a way that makes sense in North Texas. Let’s bring it all together.
[before photos of clubhouse and fitness center for contrast]
THE PLAN
The bones of this space and the layout were great, so we didn’t need to move any walls or reconfigure anything but furniture. It was in need of a refresh maintenance-wise. Our priorities:
Unify the Clubhouse and Leasing office by extending the same wood flooring throughout the two spaces for a cohesive first impression.
Refresh all the surfaces – paint, countertops, trim, backsplash to brighten things up.
Replace nearly all of the furniture. Reuse some furniture and art to stretch the budget.
Sounds simple, right?!
THE BEST LAID PLANS
The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, especially in construction. As if tackling this entire project through the Pandemic (supply chain issues, material and labor shortages, shipping delays) wasn’t enough, Texas had something else up her sleeve.
The construction portion of the project wrapped up the first week of February in 2021. If you’re from here, you might remember a little something called The Snowpocalypse. We had a small ice day around February 10th or so, but it was fairly localized and not too big of a deal. We were scheduled to install all of the furniture, art, window treatments, and finishing touches that day, but had to delay as the delivery trucks couldn’t get the trucks safely out of the dock.
Then it started snowing on Valentine’s Day, and kept snowing, and then the temperatures stayed around zero for nearly a week. In other parts of the world this is very normal, but it is distinctly abnormal for us. And then the pipes froze.
And then they BURST.
Water everywhere. Ruining our new wood floors. Our freshly painted walls and ceilings. Filling our light fixtures. Destroying the pool table.
You know that scene from A Christmas Story where the Bumpass’ dogs come in and destroy the kitchen and eat the Christmas turkey? It was GONE! ALL GONE! That’s how it felt. Our space, completed only one week, was in shambles.
The top priority was getting the affected resident’s apartments repaired and running. After that, the attention turned back to the Clubhouse and Leasing Office and getting them re-remodeled. The furniture sat in the warehouse for months until, blessedly, everything finally came together.
THE DESIGN
The inspiration for Spring Creek is multi-dimensional and doesn’t fit easily into a label. We wanted a space that looked layered, vaguely global but not replicating any particular location, a neutral base from which we could bring out rich, moody, earthy colors. A kind of effortless chic. Except with quite a bit of effort!
The trick with a shared public space is that you can’t layer on quite as much detail as you can at home. One, because of maintenance, two, because of pesky things like “objects walking away on their own when nobody is looking”, and practical things like codes and tripping hazards and whatnot. Each item had to be carefully chosen and we couldn’t have much extra fluff.
If you’re wanting to bring this style home, a few simple additions like throw blankets and pillows, plants, and books can add to the relaxed sophisticated vibe.
The layout remained by and large the same. You can see how these spaces are separate, but also are visually (and actually) connected by the entryway. The once electric neon fitness center is also visible from the clubhouse, so rather than it feeling disjointed, we wanted all of these spaces to tell the same story. And that story is “this place is beautiful, come live here.”
Starting off with the Clubhouse, the large lounge area is the first thing you see as you step through the doors. The large brick wall with arches and the fireplace remained the same, as it’s a great focal point and feature for the space. We added two large sofas and a pair of chairs to be able to handle a large group of people. We reused a few existing pieces of furniture as a game table as well.
TIP – the color palette for this room springs straight from this vintage look rug (which is actually not vintage, but a super durable polyester rug). We needed a HUGE rug for this space, and getting a patterned rug at this size was outside of our budget. To make the rug large enough, we layered it on top of a durable natural fiber rug that was much more affordable. That gave us the size we needed, but at a much smaller price tag, AND it adds to the layered look we were after. Win-win.
This space before had blinds on the windows, which felt dated and blocked the view to the amazing pool beyond. We took those down as they weren’t really necessary for light control, and privacy is a non-issue here. Instead we did a dramatic blue/green curtain that we ran floor to ceiling, accentuating the height of the space and bringing in some drama.
The biggest change honestly came from brightening up the walls. Just a simple switch to a soft, warm white from tan completely changed the entire space.
In the pool table area, we replaced the light fixture, updated the furniture, and added a bench for extra out-of-the-way seating. You don’t want too much fuss in a pool table area, lest it all get jabbed with a cue and break! Our original light fixture from before the pipes burst (#neverforget) was no longer available, so we made a swap for this gold number, which we actually love!
In the Business Center, we wanted to do something a bit more dramatic and bold. This space gets great natural lighting, so we opted for a moody wall, a great focal point from the pool table area. This space used to be a media room long ago; where built in is now was once was a huge tube TV. We added doors to the built ins with a brass mesh to camouflage the printer. Much prettier! If this were a home I would absolutely have styled that central round table with some books, a candle, some wooden beads, but for a shared space just the large vase with branches was enough.
All the fitness center needed was a fresh coat of paint. No more neon – this space now fits in with the rest of the Clubhouse.
Back in the kitchen area, the cabinets remained for budgetary reasons. We refreshed the countertops and added a hand painted tile look basksplash, plus accessories.
To the leasing office! Before, this is where the Funeral Parlor vibes were the strongest. We carried the same wood floor into the office area, replacing the dated gold carpet that had once been here. The color palette is consistent between the two spaces, helping them to feel connected and intentional. Vibrant blue and rusty brick tones are carried into both spaces.
TIP - This is VERY applicable if you have an open concept home! Having connecting elements, like a unified flooring and main wall color, is a great place to start, but don’t stop there. Let there be one overall color palette for your whole house, but amplify it in different rooms in different ways. The vintage style rug in the Leasing Office has the same colors as the rug and the brick in the Clubhouse, helping those two spaces make sense together. But rather than repeat bold blue chairs in the office (yawn, we did that already) we went for a green that feels natural and is sprinkled everywhere in art, accessories, and greenery. Using the same couple of metal finishes in each space in different ways (mirror frame, light fixtures, furniture legs, hardware) are subtle ways to connect the spaces as well without everything feeling too matchy-matchy.
There was a sea of empty space that wasn’t being utilized, so we added a 3rd leasing desk, relocated the Closing Table, and added a central lounge area. Each leasing desk and chairs are the same, so as to not overwhelm the space with too many differing elements. That lets the large scale wall on the back wall shine, bringing in color and personality.
Thanks for coming along on our latest project tour! This was our last multi-family tour for a bit. We’ll be back to our regularly scheduled home design tours soon. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to have them delivered straight to your inbox!
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