Years ago, Scott and Mary Love lived in Briarwood but toyed with the idea of a lock-and-leave lifestyle. They occasionally looked at real estate listings, and when a condo became available at The Houstonian high-rise, it seemed perfect.

The seller was an interior designer and the condo was finished and furnished impeccably. They bought it, furniture and all, and lived there happily for six years. After awhile though, they realized the fit was a bit snug, and they waited for something a little larger to go on the market so they could stay in the building.

Four floors down, a condo that was more than 400 square feet larger hit the market. Its owner had lived there since the 1990s, and little had been changed since the building went up in the 1980s.

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A section of one window was sheetrocked to turn it into wall space for the TV.

Because the condo's ceilings aren't high, interior designer devised interesting tray and cove ceiling treatments in several rooms. 

An installation of art by Houston-based Paul Fleming resides on a wall behind the living room sofa. Fleming's work includes dozens of resin-filled vessels plugged into walls in carefully thought out patterns. 

Mary Scott likes neutrals, while her husband, Scott, likes color. The kitchen compromise includes plenty of neutrals in wood and porcelain finishes and a big pop of color — Benjamin Moore's "Aegean Teal" — on the island.

More "Aegean Teal" paint was added to new built-in cabinets on both ends of the dining space. Before. the dining room was separated by a wall with a pass-through.

The primary bedroom is filled with light from the floor to ceiling windows, and the couple gets a bit of color in new artwork and a rug with a blue geometric pattern. 

Closets are getting major boutique treatments, and the primary bedroom closet has nice, glass-front cabinets and a big island that replaces dressers.

Marble tile designed by Kelly Wearstler covers the floor in the primary bathroom.

The freestanding tub gets showstopper treatment in the primary bath, sitting on Kelly Wearstler marble tile, with a crystal candelier overhead and mother-of-pearl tile running vertically on the wall behind it.

The primary bath has room for two sinks on a wall-mount cabinet, plus a makeup vanity for Mary Love.

Navy blue grasscloth wallpaper covers a feature wall in the guest bedroom.

When there's not enough room for large nightstands, pendants can hang over smaller pieces of furniture.

The guest bathroom shower has pretty tile installed with contrasting dark navy blue grout.

What could be a third bedroom is used as a home office and TV room by Mary and Scott Love.

The other side of the home office/TV room has a comfy sofa and chair.

A wall of beautiful marble tile dresses up the powder bathroom.

Interior designer Courtney Blair added personality to the front hall/entry by laying the wood/tile flooring herringbone style, using grasscloth wallpaper and adding an interesting ceiling treatment.

Interior designer Courtney Blair and Mary Love found this blue tinted acrylic console at Longoria Collection in Uptown Park. 

Removing a wall that separated the kitchen and dining room made the whole space more usable.

Before: the main living area was carpeted and had a TV installed on an interior wall, forcing furniture to face inward instead of taking advantage of the high-rise view. 

Before:The guest bath had dated finishes.

Before: The kitchen had plenty of brown wood, black tile and even was where the owners had to keep their washer and dryer.

Before: the primary bath had busy tile and a small shower. 

Before: This photo shows a long view of the living room and space that was separated with pocket doors to create a study and TV room.

Before: The condos bedrooms were carpeted.

The Loves saw it all as an opportunity to buy a bigger place, gut it and make it their own. They removed interior walls to make everything more open and even removed some sheetrock that had been installed to create more wall space and block some of the light that comes in from their corner unit's tall windows. Carpeting came out, replaced by Ann Sacks porcelain tile that looks like wood flooring.

To understand what they could and couldn't do in a high-rise, they leaned on their contractor, Patrick Price of PE Price Builders, who'd worked on other units in The Houstonian. Courtney Blair of Tokerud+Co. Interior Design helped with all of the finishes, tile, flooring, lighting and furniture, since they sold their old unit fully furnished.

Nothing in the condo looks the same, but perhaps the biggest change came in the kitchen, a small room with wood-grain, Shaker-style cabinets, black stone counters and tan backsplash tile. The room's island was barely big enough for a counter stool or two, and the washer and dryer hid behind a couple of tall doors on one side. It was the darkest room in the entire place.

One wall in the kitchen had a pass-through window that allowed them to get food into the dining room. Getting rid of the unnecessary walls allowed the Loves to open up the space and make it all feel larger, gaining workspace and function.

Blair encouraged a tone-on-tone palette in the kitchen to satisfy Mary, with a pop of color — Benjamin Moore's "Aegean Teal" — on the island for Scott, a partner at the Clark, Love and Hutson law firm. Contemporary-style cabinets in a light wood veneer look great against counters and wall slabs of porcelain designed with the gray-gold veining of statuario marble.

Mary said that they had marble counters in the past and she was disappointed in their durability. She cooks and spends a lot of time in the kitchen and found herself worrying about spilled drinks and food stains.

"We spend most of our time in the kitchen and living room, so I want the kitchen to look good but still be functional," Mary said. "I don’t want to be afraid that I’m staining the counter, and this porcelain is very strong."

The dining area next to the kitchen has newfound function, with built-in cabinets — painted "Aegean Teal" to match the island — on each end. They both provide extra storage, but one end also serves as a bar, with shelves for barware and a wine refrigerator.

The condo doesn't have terribly high ceilings, so Blair opted to focus on canned lights in interesting tray and cove ceiling treatments, keeping limited chandeliers to the TV room and the dining room, where a chandelier spreads across a new live-edge table surrounded by upholstered chairs.

The living room has a sofa that was custom made to fit the space, with a pair of dark blue-gray swivel chairs and decorative pillows that bring in texture, pattern and color. One section of wall was sheetrocked in so they'd have a place to put the TV while focusing the furniture toward the view outside, rather than having furniture face inward, as prior owners had done.

Behind the sofa is a Paul Fleming art installation that adds a bit of shimmer to the room. Houston-based Fleming's artworks are a collection of dozens of resin-filled vessels that are thoughtfully arranged on walls. 

Other art bought for the condo came from Thornwood Gallery, a gallery owned by a friend of the Loves. Mary said that with so little wall space in the condo, they had to be selective about what they purchased.

Throughout the condo, Blair and Price installed pockets in the ceiling for automated shades. Those shades do heavy lifting keeping sun and heat out, and then they virtually disappear, tucking up into their boxes, when not in use. 

Blair said that in condos with floor-to-ceiling windows, automated shades are necessary. While they've gotten quieter and better and have come down in price, they're still a major expense when you need a lot of them in a high-rise.

Leading into the living room is the home's entry, a foyer that gained personality with a pair of beautiful doors, laying the wood/tile flooring in a herringbone pattern, grasscloth wallpaper and two pieces of art, one of which hangs over a blue-tinted acrylic console that Blair found at the Longoria Collection in Uptown Park. The wallpaper, in fact, was hung in distinct panels so that two of them could serve as doors to closets that visitors will barely notice.

A translucent acrylic console adds visual interest without taking up too much space. Another acrylic table in the living room keeps that smallish space from feeling too full.

Just beyond the entry and living room is a space that could be a third bedroom, but the Loves use it as a TV room and study, with a pocket door to close it off when privacy is needed. One corner got a new built-in desk and cabinets, where either Mary or Scott can get work done. One of those walls has a big open space, where they installed a TV, easily viewable from the sofa and chair across the room.

The primary bedroom is filled with light neutrals, but a rug with a blue geometric pattern and a large piece of art with small pops of color were enough to satisfy Scott's love of color.

Because the room is on the small side, they had to go with smaller nightstands, and to make their surfaces more usable, Blair hung pendants over them, rather than relying on space-hogging table lamps.

The primary bathroom got a complete makeover, shifting the location of the toilet and shower to have a larger shower. A small platform serves as a pedestal for a freestanding bathtub that looks even prettier sitting on marble tile in a geometric pattern, designed by Kelly Wearstler for Ann Sacks. Above the tub is a pretty chandelier, and a vertical strip of mother-of-pearl tile (also from Ann Sacks) runs in a path up the back wall.

In addition to two sinks in a wall-mount cabinet, there was also room for a makeup vanity for Mary.

The guest bedroom also had limited space, so Blair added major style with navy blue grasscloth wallpaper to the niche that the bed is tucked into. The space is completed with a blue velvet headboard, plus a pair of small, wall-mount nightstands with pendants hanging overhead.

The Loves upgraded their closet in a major way, with an island that serves as a dresser and glass-front cabinets that hold clothes, shoes, hats and other items.

The condo's powder bathroom got a sweet makeover, with more Ann Sacks glass and marble tile and a vanity that stands on a base of chrome and acrylic.

Mary shopped with Blair as they picked out tile, fabric and furniture and often was given a few choices for making final decisions, such as the pendants in the bedrooms.

She appreciated the patience it takes to bring new ideas to an older building, crediting Blair with offering great ideas and Price with finding ways to put them into practice.

"We love it," Mary said. "It’s a bigger space than our old unit and we utilize … every single room. I like the fact that it’s elegant and pretty, but it’s still homey to me."

Diane Cowen has worked at the Houston Chronicle since 2000 and currently its architecture and home design writer. Prior to working for the Chronicle, she worked at the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune and at the Shelbyville (Ind.) News. She is a graduate of Purdue University and is the author of a cookbook, "Sunday Dinners: Food, Family and Faith from our Favorite Pastors."

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