Marvel at Modern Monochrome in this Naples Condo

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Shades of blue and other nautical tonalities seem to be de rigueur inside Gulf Coast properties, especially those near water, but when The Ronto Group tasked Minka McDonald and Lucy Warren of Jinx McDonald Interior Designs with giving life to a condominium at the Eleven Eleven Central complex in Downtown Naples, the color discussion never veered too far off from black and white.

“In these parts, the coastal trend has been really hot for a while, and a lot of clients come to us for that look,” says McDonald. “But this was actually a break from that. These clients wanted bold, so we made it a strong point to not use blue.”

Since McDonald’s mother founded the Naples design firm, where she’s now president, more than 20 years ago, the studio has become known for high-end residences that are comfortable, livable, and functional, with casual elegance always front of mind. The younger McDonald continues that tradition, albeit with unmistakable millennial sensibilities. When it came to developing a mood board for the 2,500-square-foot residence, the team focused on descriptors such as elevated, sophisticated, organic, warm, young, and current. “On Instagram, we called it our hip little hottie,” says McDonald. “It was great fun.”

As palette was so crucial to the project, setting the proper backdrop was paramount. This was done with blond oak flooring that proffers a warmth and two rather specific shades of Sherwin-Williams paint: Crushed Ice (an off-white with gray undertones) for the walls, and a crisp Extra White for the trims and ceiling.

Bold statements were incorporated whenever possible, such as in the living room with a Sherwin-Williams’ Tricorn Black chevron pattern wall treatment that anchors an abstract art canvas and an eye-level oak shelf.

When making their furniture selections, McDonald and Warren opted for pieces mostly framed in black, but featuring wood caning, soft linen, or lustrous marble. Anchoring the center of the living room is a black-trimmed antique mirrored coffee table from International Design Source the designers had been eyeing for a while. Light fixtures with generous silhouettes were chosen for impact. And greenery throughout the apartment makes the transition from room to room seamless.

Because the condo was envisioned for a young homeowner, some rules were bent. An area meant to be a den or home office was instead made into a game room filled with off-the-cuff furnishings. “It’s right off the living and dining rooms, so we wanted to create a hangout that expanded the conversation space,” says Warren. “Because of it, the whole condo reads more as a larger, open plan.”

In the kitchen and bathrooms, the palette remains honest to the rest of the residence, with unexpected accents like oversized subway tiles and wall sconces that are decorative and functional. The bedrooms ease off the dark agenda with more white and gray tones, but colors beyond that remain in check. Strong and bold is what The Ronto Group wanted, and strong and bold is what they got.   

“This was a very fun project for us,” says Warren. “We are fairly colorful designers, but this allowed us to show our depth in an entirely different way.”

Story Credits:

Interior Design by Minka McDonald & Lucy Warren, Jinx McDonald Interior Designs, Naples, FL

Text by Riki Altman-Yee

Photography by Blaine Johnathan, Naples, FL

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