Tour a Chapel Hill condo transformed by interior designer Janie Molster into a cozy and colorful home base for family, friends and Tar Heel fans.
Written By Bek Mitchell-Kidd
Interior Design Janie Molster
Photography Gordon Gregory
Interior designer Janie Molster transformed a college-town condo into a home base for family, friends and Tar Heel fans.
The new-build condo is located in the heart of Chapel Hill, N.C., a quintessential southern university town. Janie describes the location as a “large colonnaded building surrounded by grassy quads and a bustling downtown hipster scene: coffee shops, restaurants, bars and music venues.”
Encompassing approximately 1,400 square feet with two bedrooms and two full baths, the condo is perfect for short stays and home games.
Janie explains, “Four of our five children attended the University of North Carolina (like me), so we are a large group of die-hard Tar Heels. Even my Virginia-born and bred husband finally started wearing Carolina blue after our second child enrolled.”
Making accommodation reservations for an energetic family of seven for game days and school-parent events was becoming a challenge. Janie serendipitously noticed a condo “open house” sign during a weekend visit; it was love at first sight.
With a celebratory bottle of champagne after closing on the condo, Janie and her husband stayed to watch the sunset, sitting on the bare floor. “It was amazing and quite sunny, so I knew I wanted to bathe the walls in a cool color for contrast,” says Janie. The dark teal wall color she selected set the tone for the remainder of the condo.
Janie skipped placing a formal dining table in the space, instead opting for additional seating opportunities and increasing functionality. She selected two long Lee Industries chaises, positioning them in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
Janie notes, “It’s a wonderfully sunny spot, and diffusing all that sun led to the moody walls. The gauzy sheer Fabricut curtains are a homerun. I love my views and all the crazy happenings at the popular nightspot on the opposite corner, but occasionally I like to put up a little screen without completely limiting my view. I have privacy when needed, but it’s not a blackout. It’s the best sunset in town.”
A pair of slipcovered chairs from Verellen join the Century Furniture coffee table. The gilded wallpaper is from Thibaut.
“Trying to fit a lot of seating in a small space was a challenge. But comfort has always been key for my family. I have four sons and a daughter, and the boys gave me a graduate course on comfort. All furnishings are nap-ready, lounge-approved,” says Janie.
Visitors can tell they’re in for an eclectic treat beginning in the foyer. Janie turned the wallpaper from Orla Kiely sideways to play up the narrow horizontal corridor.
The large console and gilded mirror from Carvers’ Guild are intentionally oversized. “Fewer, larger furnishings in small spaces can make the space feel bigger,” recommends Janie.
In the primary bedroom, Janie scratched an itch, pairing a patent leather headboard from TCS Designs Inc. with Fabricut satin curtains.
Janie explains, “It’s all done in gray and white, which helps dial down the overall glamour, but I wanted to arrive and feel like I was checking into a chic hotel.”
The bubbly light fixture from Vita Copenhagen floats above “center stage,” while the side tables from Phillips Scott and lamps from Cyan flank the can’t-resist-diving-in bed. Callisto Home pillows are nestled on the Peacock Alley bedding, along with a fur throw from Fabulous Furs.
The color continues in the guest bedroom, and is an ode to one of Janie’s favorite colors, red. “I found the Otomi tapestries hanging behind the beds in San Miguel and built the room around them. Remember, for designers, our homes are often laboratories, and this one is no exception,” says Janie.
The custom mirror through Janie Molster Designs and curtain fabric from Osborne & Little anchor the room, while the Jonathan Adler lamps provide balance against the wallpaper from Scion through Style Library.
Jamie reflects, “One of my friends calls it our ‘game-day condo,’ but it’s really been so much more. Having a little pied-à-terre in the heart of campus reignited me about UNC and all the things I love about Chapel Hill. I’ve become more active in volunteer work at the university and take advantage of the vibrant music and art scene in the broader community.”
Meet Janie Molster
A long-standing favorite of the Southeast corridor, Janie Molster is known for interior design work that defies easy categorization. As a lover of the old, an interpreter of the new—combined with her deft hand at creating a signature mix—Janie’s interiors are both captivating and welcoming. Her broad range of projects are frequently featured in design platforms including House Beautiful, Veranda, Traditional Home, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and Peachy the Magazine. Janie Molster Designs was showcased in the 2022 Kips Bay Decorator Show House in Palm Beach. In the last three consecutive years, Janie has been a finalist in the prestigious Andrew Martin Awards as one of the top 100 designers in the world.