City & Shore Magazine

Billy Baldwin, one of America’s greatest decorators, said it best: “Comfort is perhaps the ultimate luxury.â€

For some of us, comfort translates into a large sectional sofa with a durable coffee table that allows us to prop up our feet. Others desire a large window seat for napping or a padded headboard for reading and watching television. Small details, such as a dressing table or a drink table, are also comfort triggers.

It is rare to see comfortable rooms in the glossy design magazines, but here are some we discovered from South Florida designers and architects.

A comfortable room doesn’t appear over decorated or like a stage set. This condo in Manalapan defines comfort. It combines ideas from William Wietsma, Michael Franck and snowbird clients from Washington, D.C.

The two-bedroom, 1,600-square-foot condo was gutted to the bare walls and transformed into a three bedroom space with a large great room. Hallways were eliminated.

“The window seat is the central theme,†says Wietsma whose company did the architecture and construction. “Anyone can crawl up there and take a nap, read a book, look at the ocean or watch TV.â€

In fact, the window seat is so comfortable that Franck admitted he took a nap on it the day of the photo shoot. He says it was designed extra deep so it could serve nap and play time.

Franck, who helped layout the space and select light fixtures and tile, says the wife and her friend were responsible for the decorating. They selected fabrics of worn linen and worn velvet to create a casual elegance.

“It was all about creating something unique,†Franck says. “They wanted a family home that was well done but not so perfect that the kids wouldn’t be comfortable. They want good things but they have to live in it. It is OK to spill Kool-Aid on linen and just wipe it off.â€