The Art Deco ‘Speakeasy’ a Designer Created in Her Detroit Condo

Palatable palette: Plush blush-pink banquettes seem to say, “Come sit here,” and mix well with a wonderful color scheme of rich navy blues, hushed greens, and more. “When I think of art deco, I think of pale greens, pinks, and a calypso feel like Cuba [or] Havana,” Damle says. The ceiling’s wallpaper, in fact, is a calypso-style floral print in bright colors from Graham & Brown. It has pink-painted wood trim, created by Damle’s father. “That pink color was my father’s idea; it felt like a risk but paid off. You see it through the space in the pillows, the banquettes, the frames on the wall.” As for paint, the designer chose Naval by Sherwin-Williams to add richness to the walls, while Sherwin-Williams’s Moscow Midnight creates a mysterious feel for the back cabinetry. // Photography by Sally Matak

The proverbial apple certainly didn’t fall far from the tree for interior designer Tiffany Damle, who runs Detroit-based Tiffany Jane Interiors.

Her mother is an interior designer, and her father is a carpenter who “was always refurbishing old buildings in the city [Chicago],” says Damle, who grew up in a Windy City suburb.

When Damle and her husband, James, who works for Tennessee-based CKE Restaurants, moved to Detroit from Nashville in 2019, they purchased a 4,500-square-foot historical home in the Boston-Edison district.

“The house became my obsession to restore and to keep it intact with its era,” Damle says. “It brought sanity through COVID.”

Damle’s father, John Noojin, built the couple a bar in a previous home, and they sadly couldn’t take it with them. “As I get older, the things he’s created for me are few and far between. So he built us a new 8-foot bar for our speakeasy that’s like a piece of furniture. I can break it down, if we have to move, and take it with me.” It features fluted columns and board-and-batten paneling along with a classic bar rail. // Photography by Sally Matak

Eventually, she and her husband realized the home was too large for them and their dog and two cats. “I was cleaning all the time, and we wanted to scale down,” Damle recalls. They also pined for a more walkable neighborhood downtown.

So, in 2023, they purchased a 2,500-square-foot condominium in the City Modern development in Brush Park. “We were able to choose our finishes during the 13-month building phase,” Damle recalls.

The two love that they can walk everywhere amid historic Victorian homes, small eateries and bars, and charming markets. “We only have and need one car now!” Damle adds. “It’s a simpler way of living — cathartic and liberating.”

One enters the speakeasy through a doorway draped with a heavy velvet curtain (created by Damle’s friend and fellow designer Annette Yeager). “At that point, you’re transported to a different era,” Damle says. // Photography by Sally Matak

Also freeing is the couple’s 200-square-foot speakeasy, located on the fourth floor of the home. “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if there was a place in our home that felt like a respite, like you’ve left the home and gone to a new location?’” Whether they’re drinking bubbly Champagne, a lemony bee’s knees, or a limey gin Rickey, it’s always relaxing at their special oasis that’s wildly reminiscent of the Prohibition era. “We created a feeling,” the jazz-loving designer says.

The speakeasy leads to two terraces from which city views beckon. “The terraces are what inspired us to buy the condo, as the skyline is stunning,” Damle says. “You can see the RenCen, the Penobscot Building, and all the stadiums. When we open the door wall, the whole room comes alive.” // Photography by Sally Matak

This story originally appeared in the November 2025 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Click here to get our digital edition.

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