Most companies book their executives a hotel room. This one bought them a condominium instead.
When a company purchased a condo in Mansfield, Texas as a bonus for their Chief Operating Officer who had just been promoted to Chief Executive Officer, the request was refreshingly simple. He was in town several nights a week for meetings at their headquarters, and they were done with hotels. They wanted him to have somewhere that actually felt like home. That’s what turnkey interior design is for, and it’s one of our favorite kinds of projects at Landry Designs, because it starts with nothing at all.
And we do mean nothing. When we walked in, the condo had floors, walls, windows and a very good echo. Everything else was up to us.
What Turnkey Interior Design Means in Practice
“Turnkey” gets thrown around loosely, so here’s exactly what it meant on this project.
We selected and installed the furniture, window treatments, rugs, artwork and accessories, and then we kept going. Cookware, dishes and glassware, linens and towels, cleaning supplies, paper goods, office supplies, a toolbox, and a stepstool. We stocked the cabinets and organized the drawers, right down to the dish soap.
The goal was encapsulated into one sentence: He should be able to arrive with a suitcase—and nothing else.
If you’ve ever moved into a new place and realized at 9:00 PM that you own a beautiful sofa but not one single spatula, you already understand the problem we were solving. It’s the part we take off your plate.
Our client wanted the space to feel comfortable, functional and masculine for their new CEO, without feeling heavy or dark. We met with one of the company’s founders to present the design, and she told us more than once how much fun she was having along the way. That’s always a good sign.
A Family Room Built for the End of a Long Day
The family room started as a long empty rectangle with four tall windows and hard flooring. Lovely light. Absolutely nowhere to sit.
We anchored the space with a soft bouclé sectional and a pair of unique cream and wood armchairs, then layered in a low concrete-look cocktail table and a large patterned rug to warm the floor and quiet the room’s echo. Slate-gray drapery softens the windows without giving up the light, and emerald green accent pillows and plants keep the neutral palette from going flat.
And yes, that’s a black leather recliner in the corner. Not every design photo shoot would include one. We did because, after a full day of meetings, a recliner is exactly what a busy CEO wants, and if we have to choose, we’ll take a room that works over a room that photographs. And, to be honest, we think that it photographs beautifully anyway.
A Kitchen Stocked for Someone Who Cooks
The kitchen already had good bones: white cabinetry, a tile backsplash and a granite bar. What it didn’t have was any reason to linger.
Three upholstered wood barstools turned the bar into somewhere to eat breakfast, take a call, or set down a bag of groceries. Greenery, a bowl of citrus and a little sculptural wall art gave the room some life. These are the kinds of details you might only notice when the spaces are bare and uninviting.
The part you can’t see in the photograph is the part he uses most. Behind those cabinet doors sit pots, pans, baking sheets, knives, mixing bowls, a full set of dishes, and enough glassware to have people over. That’s the real difference between a furnished condo and a finished one.
Turning a Spare Bedroom Into a Working Office
A spare bedroom became the home office, which is usually the smartest square footage decision anyone makes in a condo. If you’re weighing a guest room against an office, that’s the trade we’d recommend.
We chose a substantial carved wood desk with real presence, paired it with a comfortable leather task chair, then added a blue velvet accent chair and a patterned side table so the room isn’t purely transactional. A large abstract canvas gives the wall some weight, and a patterned cornice combined with 2″ wood blinds handles the afternoon glare that would otherwise land straight on your screen.
It’s a working office rather than a decorative one, and it came stocked with the supplies to prove it.
Two Bedrooms, Two Different Moods
The primary bedroom is where the palette relaxes. A deep olive upholstered bed, layered bedding, a chunky knit throw and a pair of gold X-benches at the foot of the bed create an inviting space at the end of the day. Textured wall panels and a soft abstract landscape keep the room calm rather than corporate.
The guest room is brighter and a little more playful, with peacock blue bedding, an upholstered headboard, and a large piece of bird artwork that gives it a personality of its own. Both rooms were made up with mattresses, linens, pillows, and towels waiting in the closets.
Bathrooms With a Point of View
Bathrooms are easy to leave until last and easy to leave bare. We did neither.
The guest bath got a navy shower curtain, a trio of teal glass wall pieces, an orchid and a tray of all the things a guest forgets to pack. The primary bath leans warmer, with a pair of framed agave prints and a grouping of copper and wood vessels above the vanity. Both were stocked with towels, bath mats and supplies before we handed over a single key.
Big Reveal Day
Big Reveal Day is our favorite day on any project, and this one delivered. If you’ve never seen one, it’s the day a house stops being a project and starts being somewhere to live.
“The Big Reveal Day was great fun because every room looked very thoughtfully designed and just comfortable.”
The client company’s co-founder
Why This Project Stayed With Us
We’ve furnished a lot of beautiful spaces in the fourteen consecutive years we’ve been voted best interior designer in our area. This one felt different, and it took us a minute to work out why.
A company bought a home for an employee. Not a stipend, not a hotel rate, not a per diem. A home, thoughtfully furnished, right down to whether he’d have a stepstool the first time he needed one. That kind of decision says a great deal about the people who made it and the culture they’ve built.
We were a small part of that story. We were very glad to be in it.
Thinking About a Turnkey Project of Your Own?
Turnkey interior design isn’t only for corporate residences. We do this for second homes, relocations, downsizing clients, lake houses, and anyone across Dallas-Fort Worth who’d rather skip six consecutive weekends in furniture showrooms. If you’re curious what the process looks like from the inside, our full-service experience walks through it step by step, and our recent Cedar Hill transformation shows how it plays out in a family home.
At Landry Designs we handle the design, the sourcing, the ordering, the delivery coordination, and the installation, and then we hand you the keys. Book your complimentary consultation and tell us what you have in mind.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does turnkey interior design include?
Turnkey interior design means a space arrives complete and ready to live in. At Landry Designs that covers furniture, window treatments, rugs, artwork and accessories, plus the housewares most projects leave out: cookware, dishes, linens, towels, cleaning supplies and office supplies. We design, source, order, coordinate delivery and install.
Is turnkey interior design only for corporate residences?
No. Corporate residences are one use for it, but Landry Designs also handles turnkey projects for primary homes, second homes, relocations, lake houses and clients who are downsizing. The common thread is someone who wants the finished result without spending weekends in furniture showrooms or coordinating a dozen vendors themselves.
Does a turnkey project include renovation or construction?
No. Landry Designs is an interior design and decorating firm, so turnkey here means furnishing, sourcing, styling and installation—not building. Where a client already has a contractor, we specify the selections that contractor installs, including tile, lighting, paint colors, countertops and cabinet hardware. We do not perform construction, demolition or structural work.
What areas does Landry Designs serve for turnkey projects?
Landry Designs works throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, including Fort Worth, Arlington, Mansfield, Southlake, Keller, Cedar Hill, Burleson, Grand Prairie and Midlothian, and travels nationwide for larger projects. The Mansfield corporate residence in this case study sits inside that core service area.
How much does turnkey interior design cost?
Cost depends almost entirely on scope and the furnishings selected, so there is no single figure. Landry Designs works across a wide range of budgets and sets a realistic range with you during a complimentary consultation, before anything is ordered. A full condo costs more than a single room, and both are planned the same way.
What is Big Reveal Day?
Big Reveal Day is the installation day at the end of a Landry Designs project. The team delivers, places and styles everything at once, stocks the cabinets and closets, and the client walks into the finished space for the first time. On this Mansfield project it was the last step before we handed over the keys.
Project team: Kim Gardner, Designer. Larissa Baggs, Design Assistant.