Curating Comfort: K Tyler discusses interior design at Westerly

Interior design drives the experience of apartment living. When the Westerly’s first residents enter the building, they’ll be greeted by a stunningly seamless blend of materials, colors, shapes and patterns. Each piece, from the smallest light fixture to the largest gathering table, has been meticulously selected and customized. The cumulative effect is an immediately palpable sense of both place and comfort; you know exactly where you are, and you’re quite happy to be there.

To find out how they’re able to create those sensations we sat down with K Tyler of Morgante Wilson, who lead the Westerly’s interior design team:

Q: How does the building’s interior design interact with the building’s architecture?

A: The building is a beacon of strength with its striking compilation of metal and glass and brick. We wanted to internalize that edgy city character by expressing the exterior palette in the interiors. So you’ll see large expanses of metal framed glass, hand troweled concrete walls, and end grain walnut floors to name a few. The overall design speaks one unified language echoing the vibe of this unique Chicago neighborhood.

Q: How does the design speak to the idea of comfort?

A: Our goal in all of our multi-family designs are to make the amenity spaces feel like an extension of the residents’ individual apartments and making those spaces feel like home. The biggest testament to our work is when we see residents pollinating all of the different seating and co-working vignettes within the amenities spaces and really utilizing them comfortably and frequently. We do our best to provide beautiful, yet comfortable residential ambiance to the common areas in a way that is inviting to the residents and allows them to co-occupy the shared spaces with proper social distance.

Q: What was your inspiration for the design of the building?

A: With such a strong urban influence in the building’s architecture and industrial building materials, we were compelled to counterbalance the edge of all the metal, glass and concrete by infusing it with natural materials and colors – “bringing the outdoors in” so to speak. With an alluring palette of emerald and navy accents, sculptural warm wood furnishings and lush greenery throughout. We call it “The Oasis on Aberdeen”.

Q: Are there any particularly interesting parts of this design that you’re excited about?

A: One of the signature interior design elements in all of our Fifield projects has been the creation of a stunning feature wall by our favorite handpainted wallpaper art firms, Porter Teleo. At The Westerly, we have an beautiful modernized landscape watercolor mural as the backdrop to an amazing sculptural reception desk composed of dozens of individually custom cut wood panels creating an anthropomorphic objet d’art worthy of its eclectic zip code.

Q: Any design advice for apartment dwellers? What’s the most important thing to get right and what do you see done incorrectly most often?

A: With the current residential trends toward smaller apartment sizes, it’s paramount to make sure the location of the building you choose to rent in is convenient to shopping, transit and entertainment. The neighborhood factors are crucial. Also make sure to look beyond the four walls of the apartment that you choose to reside in and also put careful consideration toward the amenities spaces of that building and what they offer and how they feel as part of decision making process.