At The Rowan in Oviedo, Florida, Beasley & Henley Interior Design turned a transitional space into a place worth lingering, with a sweeping custom banquette, layers of texture, and sculptural lighting from Robert Abbey.
Some spaces are designed to get you from one place to another. You walk through, perhaps glance at the artwork, and keep going.
At The Rowan, an apartment community in Oviedo, Florida, Beasley & Henley Interior Design saw an opportunity to do something different.
The team behind the space: Stephanie Henley and Troy Beasley of Beasley & Henley Interior Design.
The space connecting the leasing area to the residences had an expansive curved wall, generous proportions, and a practical purpose: keeping people moving. The designers wanted to give residents a reason to stop.
Their solution? Make the curve impossible to ignore.
A Curve Worth Following
Rather than straighten out the architecture with conventional furniture arrangements, Beasley & Henley leaned into it.
A custom, channel-tufted banquette follows the wall's sweeping arc, creating a generous seating area without interrupting the natural flow between the leasing area and residences.
But in a large interior room, the team also needed to bring the architecture down to a more comfortable, human scale. That called for more than a dramatic piece of furniture.
The designers layered textured wallcovering, artwork, mirrors, metallic accents, and lighting along the curve, giving the eye plenty to discover without losing the sense of movement.
Take a closer look at how the banquette, wallcovering, and lighting move together along the curve. Video courtesy of Beasley & Henley.
Lighting That Plays Along
A curved wall presents an interesting challenge for lighting. The changing angles affect everything from spacing to sightlines, and a row of traditional fixtures can look rigid against the architecture.
For Beasley & Henley, the answer was the Robert Abbey Rico Espinet Racer Double Shade Wall Sconce. They chose it for the architectural design and scale of the fixture as well as the flexibility of the lamping.
With sweeping Modern Brass arms and adjustable Matte Black shades, the Racer has a sense of movement all its own.
“They have a grace and fluidity that complements the curve of the banquette as well as the fluid movements of the wallcovering,” the designers say.
At 48 inches wide, each sconce has enough presence to hold its own against the wall’s expansive proportions. And the designers made the most of the fixture's sculptural form: the outer pair rises vertically while the inner pair sweeps toward the center, giving four identical fixtures different orientations along the curve.
Modern Brass arms and adjustable Matte Black shades give the Racer its sense of movement, with each fixture angled to suit its place on the wall.
Placement required just as much consideration. The designers aimed to space the sconces evenly along the curve and position them well above standing height, keeping the fixtures clear of the people moving through the space.
Warm brass introduces contrast against the cooler gray and taupe palette, while the black shades connect with darker details elsewhere in the room.
The result is lighting that feels like part of the architecture rather than something added after the fact.
Not Your Typical Gallery Wall
The wall presented another challenge: what to do with the spaces between the sconces.
A traditional arrangement of framed artwork wouldn't have worked particularly well along the tighter portions of the curve.
Instead, Beasley & Henley mixed smaller framed pieces with convex mirrors and dimensional brass accents, creating an arrangement that could move more freely across the wall.
As the designers explain, “smaller more dimensional pieces with fluid positioning” were better suited to the tight radius.
Behind it all, Maya Romanoff's Levante wallcovering adds another layer of movement. Its flowing, organic pattern plays off the architecture and the sconces without simply repeating their shapes.
“This project is all about textures and layering,” the designers say.
That thinking extends to the custom banquette. With a bold blue stone feature wall across the room, Beasley & Henley selected neutral performance fabrics from Pollack and Romo that would complement the surrounding design rather than compete with it. The textured upholstery brings softness and durability to a seating area designed for everyday use.
Teal velvet and leather-trimmed pillows pick up colors from the blue stone wall above the coffee bar, connecting the banquette to the rest of the room.
The palette is restrained, but the textures keep it interesting.
Custom channel-tufted banquette in Pollack and Romo performance fabrics · Robert Abbey Rico Espinet Racer Double Shade Wall Sconce in Modern Brass with Matte Black shades · Maya Romanoff Levante Wallcovering · Uttermost Aitana Metal Wall Decor in Antique Brass · Anthropologie Round Convex Mirror · Wendover Art Group Sunset at the Lake 1 and Sunset at the Lake 2
From Somewhere in Between to Somewhere to Be
Ask Beasley & Henley what they hope residents experience in this space, and the answer has little to do with any individual fixture, fabric, or finish.
They want people to feel that this was their destination, and not a space to simply move from one place to another. Asked what took the most work to get right, the designers pointed to something less obvious than the curved architecture: Bringing all the layers together to work in harmony with each other.
It’s a simple idea, but a useful one for anyone designing a space that doesn’t have an obvious purpose beyond circulation:
Not every awkward corner needs to disappear. Not every transitional space needs to be treated as background. Sometimes, the best design opportunity is the part of the floor plan everyone else is tempted to overlook.
As the Beasley & Henley team puts it: “Challenge yourself to turn the awkward spaces into the focal point.”
Explore the Lighting
Discover the Rico Espinet Racer Double Shade Wall Sconce and explore Robert Abbey’s full collection of decorative lighting. Design professionals can also apply to join our Trade Program for exclusive designer pricing, personalized support, and access to our full range of customizable lighting.
