2010 DC Design House-Before and After

I have been meaning to share my before and after photos for the guest bedroom I completed at this years DC Design House in Chevy Chase, Maryland. My friend, Grant Gibson, reminded me in one of his comments that I needed to do it so here you go!

This is the guest bedroom in the before state. My vision was to create a quiet, serene, and enveloping space that was all about luxurious textures and restful colors. To achieve this I had all of the walls lined in a gorgeous new fabric from Manuel Canovas and finished in a pale cream and blue small tape trim from Samuel and Sons. But I wanted to give the room a little bit of edgy sexiness so I designed a custom cow hide rug, which was beautifully executed by the one and only Kyle Bunting in Texas. For those of you who are not familiar with his work I strongly encourage you to look at his incredible web site. Amazing what he can do with hide.

My palette for the room above.

Here is the same view of where the bed was during construction. I had all of the existing moldings removed and had them replaced with appropriately scaled ones. In addition I added recessed lighting to highlight the furniture and art. Adding wall sconces to the room provided a warm ambient glow to the room. Note how I taped out the chest and mirror that I had selected for the room for scale.

Another photo taken during construction. I had started to tape out the grouping of art that I had designed for the room.

The center door leads to another bedroom/ study. The rounded arch made no sense architecturally so I had it removed. So the visitors would not be tempted to use the door I turned the recessed area into a niche where I placed a lacquered pedestal and a Ming Dynasty carved wooden scholar.

One of the biggest challenges I faced was how to arrange the furniture. The room had four doors and a large window so the only wall left for the bed was in the corner where the bed had been previously placed. I knew that I wanted to make the David Iatesta bed the focal point of the room so I decided to curtain over the center window and leaving the side windows open. By doing so I created a soft backdrop for the bed. I used the same Manuel Canovas fabric for the curtains, which seamlessly blend into the walls creating a cocoon like softness to the bedroom.

The finished room above with the David Iatesta bed, Rose Tarlow side tables and lamps and two custom slipper chairs I designed, which are upholstered in a Larsen silk velvet. The custom blanket was made with a pale striped alpaca fabric from my good friend Sandra Jordan. Her collection of alpaca fabrics is extraordinary.

The before view looking east.

After, showing the bed in better detail. The painting in the background was painted for my room by John Matthew Moore. It is a interpretation of a landscape painting by Claude Lorraine in my favorite colors of warm grays and blues.

The finished room looking west. Note the Kyle Bunting cow hide rug. It really made the room!

A vignette with the bed reflected in Michael Smith's "Duke" mirror from the Jasper line. The parquetry commode is German circa 1780. French Empire marble clock and a Cambodian head with African metal currency mounted on stands.

Another vignette highlighting the lamp, Pembroke table and stool. All from the Rose Tarlow collection.

Detail photo showing the carved wooden Ming Dynasty scholar. Note his peacful expression and graceful pose. It was one of my favorite pieces in the room. The framed postcards are of marble busts of Roman Emperors, which I found on Ebay. They are from the British Museum.

I am so appreciative of everyone who helped make the room possible!