1 of 2
Magan Lorenz
2 of 2
Megan Lorenz
Whether it’s large or small, St. Louis designer Jacob Laws approaches every space with the same care and signature style. “I fall in love with all of my projects,” he says.
This 1,300-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath condo in the Central West End’s Park East Tower is the fourth unit Laws has designed for the same owners, a couple who sublet the luxury condos fully furnished. David Moore, a friend of Laws’, was living in a different unit Laws had designed in the same building.
“When I heard that Jacob was designing a new unit, I wanted to see it,” Moore says. “And when I saw it, I wanted to move in.”
Megan Lorenz
The renovation, completed in July, was slightly more challenging than that of the other units Laws had worked on.
“Some things were working against me spatially—like the original living area, which was long and narrow—so I needed the look to be relatively clean and simple. In that way, the negatives weren’t so obvious,” he says.
Having clients who knew his work made designing the condo a lot easier. The couple left all decisions, including furniture and fabric selections, to Laws, who understood that his clients were subletting in a relatively exclusive building and proceeded accordingly.
When considering a smaller space, Laws works to maximize every inch. “I think it gives you a little more opportunity to be more impactful, because you have limitations,” he says. “It lends itself to curating as opposed to decorating.”
For this condo, Laws used a monochrome aesthetic. The kitchen was completely renovated. He took the builder-grade finishes and customized everything. The original elliptical island, for instance, jutted out into the living room, taking up valuable space and making it difficult to move around and place furniture. Laws pushed the island back about 3 feet and shortened it by about a foot so it felt connected to the rest of the kitchen. “It doesn’t seem like much, but it made all the difference in the world,” he says.
Laws nixed one wall of cabinetry in favor of white open shelving set against honed black granite. On the south-facing wall, he installed a dove-gray hanging cabinet above an antique églomisé mirror backsplash to bounce the light off the opposing living room windows. To complete the look, Laws enlisted Architectural Elements to wrap the island in oxidized brass framed with black bronze corners. The black Michael can fixtures are from Laws’ Jacob Laws Collection, for which he won the 2018 Fashion Group’s International Rising Star Award.
1 of 2
Megan Lorenz
2 of 2
Megan Lorenz
In the living and dining area, Laws’ sleek furniture selections are paired with statement-making accessories. A pair of tall black wall sconces from Arteriors is both a style and a space-saving choice. “The ceilings are cement, so we couldn’t hang another fixture, and there really wasn’t room for end tables on either side of the sofa for lamps or floor outlets,” Laws says. “I liked that those sconces are linear.”
A curved sofa in sharkskin-toned velvet floats in the room. Its shape creates movement, therefore avoiding a segmented and choppy appearance. The sofa, one of Moore’s favorite pieces, is especially suited to entertaining.
“I love the curve and the length,” Moore says. Laws paired the sofa with a kidney-shaped coffee table with hairpin legs, also by Arteriors, that mirrors the curves of the sofa. Beneath it all, unfinished white oak floors keep the space feeling light.
Megan Lorenz
Behind the sofa, in the dining area, Laws topped a vintage 1970s Pierre Cardin walnut-and-brass table base with glass. He paired it with four black swivel chairs salvaged from the old Playboy Club in St. Louis—always a conversation starter. An aerodynamic hanging fixture by Apparatus completes the room’s modern vibe.
In the master bedroom, Laws created a dramatic palette combining Sherwin-Williams’ Still Water (a deep gray-blue), obsidian wool sisal carpet, and raw-silk Abyss draperies by Robert Allen. “It’s a sexy space,” he says.
Megan Lorenz
The dark hues are balanced by the ivory bouclé of the tufted Bernhardt Maxime wing bed and a light-taupe velvet Vero settee from West Elm. A pair of handmade Brutalist ceramic lamps from Arteriors top the cantilevered nightstands Laws found at Cool Stuff Period. “When I bought the nightstands, I didn’t know where I was going to use them. I just fell in love because they were early 1970s,” he says.
In the master bath, the sexy vibe continues with floor-to-ceiling charcoal-gray ceramic tile by Daltile that frames a 600-pound cast-concrete tub by Native Trails, a floor sample that he purchased for himself before deciding “this tub needs to live in this space.”
It may be a rental, but, thanks to Laws’ inspired design, this condo has a luxuriously custom aesthetic.
“I love the way it makes you feel when you walk in,” says Moore. “There’s an elegance to it that elevates my mood as I start my day or wind down my evening.”
