Downsized space, heightened style

AN INTERIOR DESIGNER REINVENTS THE IDEA OF HOME FOR HIS DREAM CLIENTS.

- ELIZABETH EDWARDS

For over three decades, Bill and Susie Janis have been well-known in the Traverse City area for their philanthropy and Susie’s many volunteer endeavors. While Bill is (and has been for nearly 50 years) the owner and president of Century, Inc., a Traverse City-based manufacturing company, Susie is a past recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the Traverse City Chamber of Commerce. For decades, the couple lived in a spacious home on Old Mission Peninsula. Although close to Traverse City, it also had a vineyard and water frontage on West Grand Traverse Bay. But most of all, it had room for all the lovely furnishings and art pieces the couple has collected throughout their 44-year marriage. It was the kind of place you’d want to live in forever.

As they watched many of their friends downsizing and moving into downtown Traverse City condominiums to be within walking distance of restaurants, shops, churches and cultural events, the Janises strongly began considering a move downtown themselves. The couple looked at several units and eventually purchased a 2,200-square-foot condo in Washington Place to replace their Old Mission home. “As hard as it was to leave our spacious home, we felt that it was the best decision for us in our retirement years,” Susie says.

As the couple decided to remain at their Florida home during the stay-at-home order earlier this year, they turned to their longtime interior designer, Shane Inman of The Inman Company, to orchestrate this significant downsize, as well as the move. All told, the move, says Inman, “took two months and a full crew working around the clock donating, selling and organizing their possessions.”

“Had it not been for Shane we know we would still be packing,” Susie says with a laugh.