Rogers wins in small apartment design challenge

Photo courtesy of Laura Rogers
Alumna Laura Rogers incorporated turquoise and neutral tones into the award-winning design of her studio apartment.

By: Amanda Tower

Published: Friday, July 13, 2007

Living comfortably in a space smaller than 300 square feet is unfathomable to many people, but Savannah College of Art and Design alumna Laura Rogers (B.F.A., interior design, 2005) arranged her Santa Monica, Calif., apartment to make the space not only comfortable but also visually appealing.

Her work paid off: The apartment was selected as the second-place winner in the Southwest division of Apartment Therapy’s 2007 Smallest Coolest Apartment contest. At a party for the winners in May at the Beverly Hills Design Within Reach showroom, Rogers was presented a with $1,500 store credit at Design Within Reach and several design books.

Apartment Therapy asserts that a small space or budget is neither limiting nor fatal to creating an inspiring home, and showcases solutions for small spaces. The annual contest requires the entry to be the designer’s primary residence, be smaller than 650 square feet and have been designed by the entrant. More than 160 entries were submitted, and finalists were chosen from each of four sections of the United States — Northwest, Southwest, Midwest and East.

“She did a great job making the apartment feel bigger than it is and managed to create nice individual spaces,” said Michael Sainato, contest judge and art director for Design Within Reach. “It’s extremely ‘tight’ and well-thought-out. It’s the first place I saw and by far my favorite.”

Rogers moved into her apartment in December 2006 and began her search for ideas for designing small spaces. She painted the back feature wall in her studio apartment turquoise and used the color to tie in accessories she already had, including throw pillows and window treatments. She used a neutral latte shade on the remaining walls to balance the bright colors and anchored the bedroom with black furniture.

After discovering Apart­ment Therapy and seeing last year’s contest winners, she was inspired to enter her apartment design in the 2007 contest.

Rogers recently joined Cheryl Rowley Design in Beverly Hills, Calif., as an interior designer, and she will be designing interiors for hotels, resorts, restaurants and luxury condominiums.

“With every selection, there are presentations and a series of drawings and paperwork to go with it,” she said. “I use the technical skills and knowledge of programs that I learned at SCAD on a daily basis.”

Her first assignment at Cheryl Rowley Design is to supervise and assist in the installation of the Hotel Palomar in Los Angeles and the Hotel Monaco in Alexandria, Va., both scheduled to open in the fall.

“I like to incorporate something native or traditional to the location or culture in my work and often use that as my inspiration or concept,” she said. “Whether literal or abstract, it helps to tie the project to its surroundings.”

The summer before her senior year at SCAD, Rogers interned with Choice Hotels International, which inspired her to pursue hospitality design. Shortly before graduation, she was hired as a junior designer at Hirsch Bedner Associates in Atlanta, and after a year was transferred to the Santa Monica office, where she worked before joining Cheryl Rowley Design.

At Hirsch Bedner, Rogers developed designs for the Intercontinental Resort and Spa in Houizhou, China, scheduled to open in the fall.

“It was so exciting to learn about the Chinese culture and incorporate that into the design,” she said. “The hotel is a combination of traditional Chinese style and a contemporary resort feel. The experience was challenging because I helped to coordinate my team in Los Angeles, my project manager in Shanghai and the production team in India, and try to keep everyone on the same page.”

Other hotel projects she has worked on include the Intercontinental Hotel at West End Summit in Nashville, Tenn., The Cove Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas, and The Resort at Singer Island, Fla.

Rogers said she hopes to become a Leadership in Energy and Environment Design-certified professional and a National Council for Interior Design Certification-qualified designer and work on innovative hospitality projects that are also environmentally conscious.

“My goal for the near future is to see a project from the first meeting to its grand opening,” said Rogers. “I have worked on many projects but have not yet experienced seeing my own work installed. I think that satisfaction and learning experience is incredibly valuable to a designer.”


Tower is a publications editor.