A Calm Edgewater Condo with a Room That Adapts Beautifully
Set along the Hudson River in Edgewater, New Jersey, this condominium was conceived as a quiet escape. Designed by Satomi Yoshida-Katz, Founder and Principal of YZDA, for international clients with demanding professional lives, the home balances city skyline views with a noticeably calmer interior experience.
YZDA describes the space as “a serene refuge for the homeowners, offering a calming counterpoint to the pace of their demanding professional lives and the energy of nearby Manhattan.” That idea comes through immediately. The residence feels warm, restrained, and peaceful without slipping into austerity.
Throughout the home, Satomi drew on a Japandi sensibility, “blending the quiet minimalism of Japanese design with the warmth and softness of Scandinavian style.” A neutral palette of beige, taupe, and white keeps the atmosphere tranquil, while wide-plank European white oak floors add continuity from room to room. The effect is polished, but still easy to live with.
That balance was central to the project from the start. As Satomi explains, “A key challenge was creating a home that felt restorative and deeply calming while still reflecting the sophistication of its waterfront setting and the clients’ international lifestyle.” The design also needed to “balance openness and connection with a sense of intimacy and retreat.” It is a familiar tension in contemporary interiors: how to make a space feel open without making it feel exposed. Here, the answer is restraint with purpose.
One of the clearest examples is a room built around Resource Furniture’s Penelope Desk wall bed. Closed, it reads as a clean built-in wall with an integrated desk. When opened, it becomes a fully realized bedroom. The shift between the two feels natural and perfectly dual purpose.
As a workspace, the room remains open and composed, with a generous work surface and millwork that gives the wall a settled, architectural presence. Open shelving introduces a more personal note without disturbing the visual calm. When the bed is lowered, the room takes on a soft, inviting atmosphere. The palette holds, the visual language stays intact, and the bedroom feels intentional rather than improvised.
This is where multifunctional design is at its best: not as a gimmick, but as a way of making daily life easier. The Penelope Desk allows the room to support work and rest without either mode feeling secondary.
The material story throughout the residence reinforces that same calm. YZDA focused on natural, tactile, and visually quiet materials, including natural wood cabinetry, hand-grazed porcelain, and Japanese ceramic tile. In the kitchen, those surfaces were chosen for their subtle artistry and ability to ground the space in simplicity and craftsmanship.
There is personality here, too, but it is handled with care. Artwork and collected objects from the Caribbean were integrated to add personal meaning without disrupting the home’s restraint. Even the aroma system is described as discreetly integrated, part of a larger sensory experience.
Resource Furniture fits naturally into a project like this because the best multifunctional pieces do more than save space. They help a home feel more capable and expansive. In this room, the Penelope Desk adds flexibility without adding visual weight. It enhances what the space can do while preserving the ease that defines the rest of the residence.
It also speaks to a larger alignment between YZDA and Resource Furniture. In a previous Miami project at Armani/Casa Residences, the studio used transforming solutions to create a children’s room that could shift between sleep, study, play, and guest use. Different setting, different mood, but a similar point of view: rooms can do more without feeling overworked.
Satomi explains, “Every element was selected with care to emphasize simplicity, craftsmanship, and harmony with the natural surroundings.” That care is what gives the home its quiet confidence. Nothing feels exaggerated, yet every decision appears to be doing something useful.
The result is a room, and a residence, that supports the realities of daily life while holding onto a sense of calm.
To experience Resource Furniture’s multifunctional collection in person, book a showroom or virtual consultation and explore solutions designed around the way you live.
Photography: Daniel Wang | D. Wang Photo
