Waterfront Home Interior Design on the Venetian Islands, Miami Beach

HR Residence

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Waterfront Home Interior Design on the Venetian Islands, Miami Beach

HR Residence

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A waterfront home on the Venetian Islands is transformed from within, with oak millwork and natural stone providing a new setting for the owners’ art collection.

  • Venetian Islands / Miami Beach, Florida

HR Residence is a waterfront home on the Venetian Islands in Miami Beach, 5,399 square feet across three levels including the garage, with four bedrooms, set along Biscayne Bay between downtown Miami and South Beach. Nar Design Studio led the project as a partial interior renovation, full interior design, and complete furnishing package for a couple and their sons, a family that hosts often. Two premises guided every decision: the water views through the glazing that rises the full height of the living room, and the client’s art collection, including a canvas by Roberto Burle Marx. The result is waterfront home interior design in Miami Beach resolved within an existing house, where the architecture was kept and the interiors were remade.

Nar Design Studio managed the work from concept through completion: space planning, material and finish selection, custom millwork and furniture design, a kitchen renovation of cabinetry, countertops, island, and backsplash, lighting design, furniture curation and procurement, construction and fabrication coordination, art placement, styling, and installation. The travertine floors, staircase, and glazing stayed. The house was delivered as a single full-service interior design project, with architects Nicholas Gennari and Roberto Racy holding one design vision from the entry console to the last accessory on the family room shelves.

Across the social rooms, Shinnoki Desert Oak veneer gives the house its continuity, running through wall panels, cabinetry, and window surrounds. Its pale grain sits with the travertine, bronze accents, textured wallcoverings, and upholstery in sand, olive, and ochre. Stronger color comes from the art and from the planting beyond the glass.

The entry was planned around one work of art. A canvas by Roberto Burle Marx, in blues and greens, hung elsewhere in the house; Nar Design Studio moved it to the threshold of the living room and designed the entry to hold it. A single slab of Taj Mahal quartzite floats beneath the painting as a console, long and low so the stone reads as one piece and the canvas carries the wall. From here the hallway leads to the staircase on the right and straight ahead into the living room, where the glazing frames the bay and the palms along the dock.

Abstract painting in blues, greens, and greys in a thin wood frame, signed R. Burle Marx 1987 at lower right, above a floating grey veined stone console holding a black tray of beaded objects, two smoked glass vases, and a monstera leaf.
The entry was planned around this canvas by Roberto Burle Marx, which hung elsewhere in the house before Nar Design Studio moved it to the threshold of the living room. The console beneath it is a single slab of Taj Mahal quartzite, kept long and low so the painting carries the wall.
Entry hall with a tall dark wood pivot door standing open to palms outside, a large abstract painting in blues and greens on a linen textured wall, and a floating pale stone console with a beaded tray, two dark glass vases, and a monstera leaf.
From the front door the sequence is immediate: the Burle Marx canvas, the floating quartzite console beneath it, then the living room and the water beyond. Nar Design Studio kept the walls in a quiet linen textured wallcovering so nothing competes with the painting.
View along an entry hall past an abstract painting and a stone console toward a living room with a pale sofa and an olive armchair, tall glazing showing boats moored on the water and palm trees, and white lacquered storage with open shelves at right.
The hallway leads to the staircase on the right and straight ahead into the living room, where the glazing frames the bay and the dock. The entry console and the art collection open the sequence; the water closes it.
Living room with a curved white chaise on slim metal legs, a pale sofa with taupe cushions, two olive suede armchairs, a rough edged stone coffee table with a dark vase and yellow orchids, a round black metal table with an In Vogue book, and wide glazing onto palms, a dock, and boats on the water.
Every piece in the living room is low and rounded so the water stays in view from any seat. The coffee table in Moka Cream marble, designed by Nar Design Studio and fabricated by Citco, is nested with a round Pierre table by Flou.
Vertical view through a living room corner of tall glazing showing palm trees, a dock, boats, and water beyond a pool edge, with a black ring pendant above, a pale sofa, a stone coffee table with a dark vase and yellow orchids, a round black metal table with a Vogue book, and an olive suede armchair in the foreground.
The corner glazing gives the living room two horizons, water on one side and garden on the other. Nar Design Studio treated the room as a viewing platform and kept every surface between the seats and the glass pale and low.
Living room corner with clerestory windows and full height glazing onto palms, boats, and water, a curved white chaise on metal legs, a pale sofa with taupe cushions, two olive suede armchairs, and a stone coffee table with a dark vase and yellow orchids beside a round black metal table.
The glazing was existing; the interior was remade around it. Sheer roller shades, a pale rug, and upholstery in sand and olive keep the light bouncing and the horizon line uninterrupted.
Living room with a pale sofa and taupe cushions, a rough edged stone coffee table with a dark vase and yellow orchids, a round black metal table with an In Vogue book, two olive suede armchairs, the edge of a grey chaise at left, a black ring pendant above, and clerestory and full height glazing onto a hedge and palms.
The seating is placed asymmetrically on purpose: the sofa against the garden glazing, the Le Club armchairs toward the dining room, the Eda-Mame chaise toward the water. The balance is diagonal, which keeps circulation through the room open.
Pale sofa with taupe suede cushions in front of glazing onto a dense green hedge, an outdoor kitchen with a grill, and pink barstools, with a rough edged stone coffee table holding a dark vase and yellow orchids, and a round black metal table with an In Vogue book.
On the garden side of the living room the view is a wall of green rather than water. The Horizonte sofa by Minotti, the custom stone coffee table, and the nested Pierre table sit low to keep that green in the frame.
Living room with three olive suede armchairs, a curved white chaise, a pale sofa, a rough edged stone coffee table with yellow orchids, a gold toned disc artwork on an oak panel wall at left, tall oak paneling above the opening to a dining table and a family room beyond, and boats on the water through the glass at right.
The oak panels that climb the tall wall of the living room continue through the opening into the kitchen and dining room, the move that makes the social rooms read as one. The Le Club armchairs by Poliform in olive suede sit at the pivot of the diagonal plan.
View from a living room past two olive suede armchairs to a stone island with pale green stools, a glass fronted china cabinet, lit shelves with ceramic figurines, a large square gold toned artwork of clustered discs on oak paneling, and a dining table with taupe chairs through an opening.
One wall, three rooms. The Desert Oak paneling ties the kitchen, the living room, and the dining room together, and the square artwork from the collection gives the wall a single bright focus.
Vertical view of a black ring chandelier with fine hanging cords above an olive suede armchair, a rough edged stone coffee table with a magazine, a bowl of yellow orchids, and a tall grey vase, with a gold toned disc artwork on oak paneling and a glass china cabinet with lit shelves beyond.
The Array chandelier by Vibia is two dark circular frames joined by fine cords, so it fills the height of the room without blocking the view through it. The Le Club armchair and the Moka Cream marble coffee table anchor the floor beneath it.
Vertical view of a grey stone counter with a pale green leather stool, a tall glass fronted china cabinet with bronze frames displaying glassware and cups, narrow lit shelves with ceramic figurines and small vases, and a square gold toned artwork of clustered discs on an oak panel wall.
A china cabinet in reflected bronze glass and a column of lit shelves sit between the kitchen and the living room, so tableware and small objects become part of the same visual composition as the art and furniture.
Kitchen with floor to ceiling pale oak cabinetry, a grey veined stone island with a matching backsplash and a bowl of citrus, pale green leather counter stools on bronze legs, black cylindrical pendants, a glass fronted china cabinet with bronze frames, and lit shelves holding ceramic figurines.
Nar Design Studio kept the kitchen layout and appliance positions and made the cabinets wider and taller for more storage. The Taj Mahal quartzite island extends into a floating counter with five Beetle stools by Tonin Casa, a threshold between kitchen and living room that absorbs the overflow of a dinner for ten.
Dining table with taupe leather armchairs beneath a mirrored tubular pendant, with a family room beyond holding a dark ochre sectional sofa, a navy wingback lounge chair, and two framed monochrome portrait drawings on a lit leather niche.
The dining room and family room read as one continuous social space. From the table the eye travels past the Miles pendant to the Westside sofa, the navy Grande Papilio chair, and the leather clad niche that holds two drawings from the collection, each zone distinct but none of them closed off.
Long dining table with a pale top and ten taupe leather armchairs beneath a three section glass pendant, a striped color artwork above a low grey sideboard with black vases, and a glimpse of a kitchen island and pale cabinetry through the opening at left.
Two chairs at each end were the reason the Kona table was customized wider than standard. The composition is symmetrical on purpose: the Miles pendant centered over the table, the kinetic artwork centered over the built in console, and the kitchen kept in view through the oak framed opening.
Dining room with a pale stone top table on a dark base, taupe leather armchairs, a linear pendant of mirrored glass tubes, and a striped artwork in orange, blue, and violet above a low sideboard, with dense tropical planting through the windows.
The dining room seats ten around a Kona table customized wider than standard, its Dekton Nacre top over an espresso wood base. Sophie chairs by Poliform in taupe leather, a bronze console built into the wall, and a Miles pendant by Lasvit frame a kinetic work from the client's collection, while the planting outside supplies the room's strongest green.
Corner of a dining room with taupe leather armchairs at a pale topped table, wood veneer wall panels framing a window onto palm trunks and broad tropical leaves, and a dark sideboard with a black vase and greenery.
Desert Oak veneer wraps the dining room walls and the window surround, so the garden reads as a framed picture within the millwork. Nar Design Studio kept the palette to oak, taupe leather, and pale stone and let the planting supply the color.

The living room is the center of the house and the route to every other social space, and the design challenge of the project sits here: give the connected social rooms distinct purposes while keeping circulation and the long view to the water intact. Nar Design Studio organized the room on a diagonal, the glazed side on one axis and the dining and family rooms on the other, with the furniture placed asymmetrically to balance the two. An Eda-Mame chaise by Piero Lissoni for B&B Italia holds the corner by the glass, facing a Horizonte sofa by Marcio Kogan for Minotti and Le Club armchairs by Jean-Marie Massaud for Poliform in olive suede. At the center, a coffee table in Moka Cream marble, designed by the studio and fabricated by Citco, sits low with a rough split edge, a round Pierre table by Flou nested against it. Above, the Array chandelier by Vibia, fine cords between two dark circular frames, fills the volume while staying transparent to the view.

The kitchen connects to the living room through its material: the Desert Oak panels that climb the tall wall continue into the cabinetry so the two spaces read as one. Nar Design Studio kept the layout and appliance positions and made the cabinets wider and taller for more storage. A vertical bronze shelving unit stands beside a china cabinet in reflected bronze glass, and the Taj Mahal quartzite island extends into a floating counter with five counter stools, a threshold between living room and kitchen that absorbs the overflow of the dining room when the family hosts.

The dining room seats ten. Nar Design Studio customized the dining table wider than standard so two chairs sit at each end, its top in Dekton Nacre, a surface with a fine lime texture, over an espresso wood base. Sophie chairs by Poliform in taupe leather surround it, a bronze console is built into the wall behind, and a Miles pendant by Yabu Pushelberg for Lasvit runs the length of the table in bronze mirrored glass, beneath a colorful striped kinetic artwork from the collection.

The family room is two connected zones. In the first, an ochre Westside sofa by Poliform faces a Grande Papilio lounge chair by Naoto Fukasawa in navy, around white marble coffee tables. Nar Design Studio designed the media wall as wood shelves with bronze details over a low bronze cabinet, lit from beneath, and the niche opposite in Aspect leather wallcovering by Arte, with a shallow bronze shelf for two monochrome portrait drawings. In the second zone, a round Clay table by Marc Krusin for Desalto sits against the glass to the deck as a multipurpose table, its handmade texture the most direct expression of the project’s natural inspiration, with green leather armchairs, a dark bronze rounded sideboard, and a Koinè pendant by Luceplan beneath a deep blue wave artwork from the collection.

Family room with a dark ochre sectional sofa, a navy wingback lounge chair, two white marble topped coffee tables on black bases, a media wall of wood shelves with plants and books around a television, and a round dining table by glass doors opening to boats on the water.
The family room is two connected zones: the lounge with the Westside sofa and Grande Papilio chair, and the multipurpose Clay table set against the glass to the deck. Nar Design Studio designed the media wall as wood shelves with bronze details over a low bronze cabinet, lit from beneath.
Straight view of a wood paneled media wall with a television, floating lit shelves with books and teal glass, and a low grey cabinet, in front of two white marble topped coffee tables on black bases holding glass vessels with monstera leaves and a Dior Couture book, with a navy wingback chair at right and a pool visible through the window.
Low, rounded coffee tables in white marble keep the sightline to the media wall open and put the emphasis on texture: stone, oak, glass, and the navy fabric of the Grande Papilio chair.
Wall mounted television on pale oak paneling with three floating shelves with integrated lighting behind them holding books, teal glass vessels, trailing plants, and a turntable on a low grey cabinet, a navy wingback chair in the foreground, and water and boats visible through the window at left.
The media wall continues the Desert Oak veneer of the social rooms. Integrated lighting behind the shelves and along the cabinet top turns storage into a lit composition, with room for records, books, and the family's own objects.
Two framed monochrome portrait drawings resting on a shallow bronze shelf inside a niche lined with tan leather panels lit from above, a slender black floor lamp arching over a dark ochre sofa with brown and grey cushions, and a book titled O Universo de Francisco Brennand on a low wood side table.
The niche is wrapped in Aspect leather wallcovering by Arte, with a shallow bronze shelf that lets the two drawings lean rather than hang. A Sampei floor lamp by Davide Groppi adds a second layer of light to the concealed strip above.
Detail of pale oak floating shelves with integrated lighting behind them holding books titled Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Lanvin, and Chanel The Vocabulary of Style, two teal glass vessels, trailing green plants, a framed landscape photo, and a turntable on a low grey cabinet, with a navy wingback chair in the foreground.
Lighting is built into the millwork rather than added to it. Integrated lighting behind the shelves washes the oak wall, so the books, glass, and plants read as a still life after dark.
Close view of a dark ochre woven fabric sofa with brown leather and grey suede cushions, a round black metal side table on a black marble cylinder base, and the edge of a white marble coffee table holding a magnifying glass and an open book.
Texture does the work in the family room: the linen weave of the Westside sofa, leather and suede cushions, the black marble base of the Jey side table by Lapalma, and the veined white marble of the coffee table.
Lounge with a round pale table on a conical base, leather armchairs, a wide flat white pendant, a dark bronze rounded sideboard with green glass bottles and books titled Mykonos Muse and Aspen Style, a blue wave patterned artwork in a wood frame, and glazing onto a terrace, palms, and boats on the water.
The second zone of the family room is a multipurpose table set against the glass to the deck. The Clay table by Marc Krusin for Desalto, a Koinè pendant by Luceplan, leather armchairs, and a rounded bronze sideboard sit beneath a deep blue wave artwork from the collection.
Bedroom with a low bed and a sage green bench, a wall mounted television, a built in desk with a grey leather chair between grey lacquered cabinets beneath an oak framed window onto a hedge, a colorful painting of houses and palms, glass cylinder pendants, and glass doors onto greenery at left.
Storage, a place to work, and the television share one wall so the bed wall stays calm. The oak framed window sits inside the cabinet run, and the painting from the collection brings the only saturated color into the room.
Bedroom with a low upholstered bed and pale linens, a sage green bench, a pale oak panel above a backlit sand textured wallcovering behind the low upholstered headboard, two glass cylinder pendants, grey lacquered nightstands, a built in desk with a grey leather chair beneath an oak framed window onto a hedge, and a colorful painting of houses and palms.
Upstairs the palette lightens to Shinnoki Ivory Oak. A high oak panel spans the wall above the bed with concealed light washing down over a sand textured wallcovering, and a custom cabinet in warm grey lacquer runs along the adjacent wall beneath the window, integrating a wood desk with a pebble inspired profile.
Straight view of a low bed with pale grey herringbone bedding and white pillows against a sand textured wallcovering lit from above by a strip of light beneath a pale oak panel, a glass cylinder pendant on each side, grey lacquered nightstands, and a green flower in a small vase.
The Yume bed by Jean-Marie Massaud for Poliform, with its low upholstered headboard, sits against a sand textured wallcovering beneath the oak panel. The line of concealed light between wood and wallcovering is the only ornament the composition needs.
Vertical detail of a bed with pale grey bedding and a sage green bench at its foot, a clear glass cylinder pendant hanging beside a backlit sand textured wallcovering beneath oak paneling, and a grey lacquered nightstand holding a black notebook and a small vase with a green flower.
Glass cylinder pendants replace table lamps, keeping the nightstands clear. The wide grey nightstands match the warm grey lacquer of the desk cabinet on the adjacent wall, and the sage bench at the foot of the bed adds the room's one soft color.
Vertical view of a pale wood desk with an open book and reading glasses, a grey leather chair, a grey lacquered cabinet with a Genesis book and a white vase of eucalyptus, a colorful painting of houses, palms, and a figure flying a kite, and an oak framed window onto banana leaves and a palm trunk.
The desk is a rounded wood top with a pebble inspired profile, integrated with the grey lacquer cabinetry on either side. Light comes from the window during the day and from a concealed strip beneath the wall panel at night.
Close view of a pale wood desk with a rounded edge holding an open book and reading glasses, a grey leather chair, white lacquered drawers at left, a textured wallcovering behind lit warmly from beneath, and a wood floor.
The rounded edge of the desk, the warm wash of concealed light behind it, and the textured wallcovering above are the kind of small decisions that make a built in feel like furniture.
Home gym with a black Life Fitness treadmill, a Cybex Bravo cable machine, a blue balance trainer and dumbbells on wood look flooring, and a wall of alternating backlit textured panels and smoked mirrors reflecting a corridor beyond.
The alternating rhythm of mirror and lit panel makes a lower level room feel taller and brighter than it is. The leaf textured wallcovering and wood look floor keep the material language of the house running through the gym.
Home gym corner with a recessed shelving niche lined in ribbed camel fabric and lit from beneath, holding baskets, towels, green bottles, and a trailing plant, white double doors, an adjustable bench, dumbbells, boxing gloves on a mat, and a smoked mirror wall with backlit panels.
The shelving niche is lined with camel fabric panels that soften the acoustics of a room full of hard surfaces. Concealed lighting under each shelf turns storage for towels and water into part of the composition.
Home gym with a treadmill and an elliptical labeled Life Fitness, a rack of black dumbbells, a blue balance trainer, a Cybex Bravo cable machine, smoked mirror panels alternating with backlit textured wall panels, and windows onto a green hedge.
Nar Design Studio designed every element of the gym: wood look vinyl flooring, Bounty wallcovering by Arte on backlit panels, and smoked mirrors placed to bounce the garden light back into the room.

Upstairs, the primary bedroom is calm and grounded. A high panel of Shinnoki Ivory Oak spans the wall above the bed, with concealed light washing down over a sand textured wallcovering behind the low headboard of a Yume bed by Jean-Marie Massaud for Poliform, flanked by two glass pendants and wide grey nightstands. Along the adjacent wall, beneath the window, a custom cabinet in warm grey lacquer integrates a wood desk with a pebble inspired profile, so storage and a place to work read as one composition.

On the lower level, set half a floor below the main living floor, Nar Design Studio designed every element of the gym: wood look vinyl flooring, Bounty wallcovering by Arte, smoked mirrors placed to reflect the garden light back into the room, and lit shelving with camel fabric panels that soften the acoustics.

HR Residence demonstrates how waterfront home interior design in Miami Beach can be resolved without rebuilding the house: keeping the architecture, replanning the social spaces, and letting millwork, stone, and art carry the change. Where the studio’s CS Residence in La Gorce was designed from the ground up, HR Residence shows what full interior design achieves within an existing structure, joining PS Apartment at Five Park Miami Beach and SK Residence in Surfside in the studio’s work along the water in Miami Beach.

Learn more about Nar Design Studio, the Miami luxury interior design firm founded by Nicholas Gennari and Roberto Racy.

Project Details

Location: Venetian Islands / Miami Beach, Florida

Market: Luxury Waterfront Residential

Project Type: Partial Interior Renovation + Full Interior Design + Furnishing

Residence Type: Single Family Waterfront Home

Levels: Three: a lower level half a floor below the main floor with the garage and gym, the ground floor, and the upper floor

Area: 5,399 ft² / 502 m²

Completion: 2026

Scope: Space Planning, Interior Design, Material and Finish Selection, Custom Millwork Design, Custom Furniture Design, Kitchen Renovation, Lighting Design, Home Gym Design, Furnishing Procurement, Construction and Fabrication Coordination, Art Placement, Styling, Final Installation

Designers: Nicholas Gennari and Roberto Racy

Interior Design Firm: Nar Design Studio

Photography: Gabriel Volpi

Design Approach: View led planning, art and architecture dialogue, millwork continuity between rooms, natural and textured materiality, full interior design within existing architecture

Style: Warm Contemporary Waterfront

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
A WATERFRONT HOME REMADE FROM WITHIN

HR Residence reflects Nar Design Studio’s conviction that a home does not need to be rebuilt to be transformed. The architecture of this house did not need to change: the glazing, the floors, the proportions of the rooms. What it needed was a plan that put the view, the art, and the family’s way of living first, and a material language precise enough to carry that plan from room to room: the oak millwork running from living room to kitchen, bronze repeating in shelving, lighting, and furniture, and stone where weight and permanence matter.

For a family home of this kind, luxury depends on how the spaces work together: the living room stays open because it is the route to everything else, low furnishings preserve the sightlines to the water, and the island counter absorbs the overflow of a dinner for ten. Full interior design, from planning and millwork to procurement and installation, is what makes that coherence possible.

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