When Liz Potarazu, interior designer and owner of LP & Co Design, set out to add a 530-square-foot gym and wellness space to the 11,000-square-foot, seven-bedroom home in Potomac that she shares with her three small kids and husband, Krishna Potarazu of JMI Equity, she says the main thing she didn’t want to do was play it safe.
“I went back and forth endlessly on the overall vibe of the space, especially the art and finishes,” says Potarazu. “Ultimately, I chose bold, joyful elements: bright neon artwork, green millwork, and geometric green tile. I’m so glad I didn’t default to a neutral palette. Those colorful, playful choices are what make the space feel uniquely mine. They make me happy every time I walk in.”
The space is a buildout of an unfinished storage room in the basement, and while Liz wanted to ensure the space felt warm, inviting, and motivating, the couple was equally concerned about practicality, and ensuring the space could function for both workouts and broader wellness amenities—particularly as part of a morning routine before a busy day of family and work.
In the gym area, a dark green accent wall with custom wood paneling is the backdrop to a host of equipment, including a Tonal machine, Pilates reformer, Peloton bike, pull-up bar, and free weights, plus room for stretching and yoga. The flooring, which gives the appearance of hardwood, is made of shock-absorbing rubber with a vinyl layer on top, and the ambient sconce lighting was chosen with early-morning workouts in mind. The adjacent wellness room has a sauna and a cold plunge, which sits against a dark green tile accent wall with a geometric design, and in view of a cheeky, motivating sign that says “Do Epic Shit.”
The overall style is in keeping with the main living spaces throughout the rest of the home, which also feature bold color that they say modernizes the home’s more traditional design elements, like intricate molding and wood paneling.
Though Liz says she was able to leverage industry trade relationships and resources to “maximize the investment,” a comparable renovation at retail price would have likely reached around $200,000, including the construction, finishes, millwork, lighting, furnishings, equipment, and wellness amenities.
These days, Liz says she’s using the space even more than she expected. “I worried that the novelty might wear off and that I’d eventually get bored with it, but the opposite has happened,” she says. “There are rarely more than two or three days when I don’t use the space in some way. I genuinely look forward to spending time there. It feels less like a home gym and more like a personal retreat.”
Amy leads Washingtonian Weddings and writes Style Setters for Washingtonian. Prior to joining Washingtonian in March 2016, she was the editor of Capitol File magazine in DC and before that, editor of What’s Up? Weddings in Annapolis.
