Three years in the past, Shawn Chopra and Anne Morgan opened Good Neighbor, a Baltimore cafe and retail area that celebrates native artisans. “Baltimore has an incredible group of creatives, designers, and woodworkers,” Shawn says. “We actually wished to discover a house to showcase their merchandise, make it interactive, and immerse individuals into their furnishings, books, and ceramics within the disguise of a espresso store.”
Guesthouse, the brand new boutique lodge within the two flooring above Good Neighbor, is an extension of this mission. A keep in one of many seven suites provides visitors the chance to stay with the merchandise that Shawn curates—and purchase them, too. Almost each object within the foyer, bedrooms, and bogs is shopable. “All these gadgets are for discovery,” says Shawn. “Folks can actually check every thing out.”
Along with highlighting Baltimore’s inventive neighborhood, Guesthouse additionally options Scandinavian manufacturers that aren’t usually present in Maryland and honors Shawn and Anne’s Indian and Egyptian heritages. These close-by and far-flung influences mingle to create a up to date minimalist aesthetic that’s infused with heat and character.
Right here, 9 design concepts to steal:
Images by Justin Timothy Temple.
1. Design with nostalgia in thoughts.
Above: The standout function of the foyer is the sculptural reception desk, which was knowledgeable by Shawn and Anne’s nostalgia for his or her favourite locations. “We’re clearly tremendous impressed by every thing that’s occurring in Egypt, but additionally by the pyramids,” explains Shawn. “We designed the foyer bar to create this crisscross pyramid impact utilizing a Baltimore native brick within the shade of sand. It additionally reminds us of breeze blocks in my grandmother’s home in India. So we took a giant second within the area and combined all three of our worlds.”
2. Set up an announcement sink.
Above: One other hanging foyer ingredient? The lengthy concrete sink by LukeWorks that’s accessible for visitors to make use of whereas attempting the Le Labo physique care and perfume merchandise. Shawn selected concrete as a nod to his hometown of Chandigarh, India, which was famously designed in Brutalist model by the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier.
Above: The sink is the principle attraction within the powder room, too. Its intricate basin is modeled after stepwells in India.
3. Swap white oak for Douglas fir.
Above: As an alternative of common white oak, Shawn opted for Douglas fir flooring all through Guesthouse. “We stock Danish manufacturers, and Douglas fir is admittedly massive in Denmark,” he says. “It’s also native to Maryland and has been reclaimed from quite a lot of Baltimore row properties. We work with an area firm referred to as Brick + Board that restores flooring. They’d tons of Douglas fir as a result of white oak is tremendous in proper now. Utilizing this reclaimed wooden that also has some nail holes in it brings character to the constructing. We did a mild whitewash on it to modernize it a bit.”
