A couple building a custom, Nantucket-style home in McLean tapped Kristin Peake to tackle the interiors. The designer envisioned elegant but casual spaces with a sense of longevity—and her design for the dining room perfectly exemplifies this vision.
Peake worked with architect Mark Sullenberger and builder Patrick Latessa to create millwork that would convey the sensibility of an older home. “We specified the moldings and trim and applied the paint with an aged-brushstroke, striaed look,” she says. “It added an Old World, nostalgic element.” Because the owner wanted an uncluttered look, the team constructed a hidden closet by the fireplace for storage in place of a built-in china cabinet.
The highlight of the room is a custom wall stencil by Washington, DC-based Swatchroom depicting delicate branches entwined in an intricate, wispy pattern. Peake had the inspired idea of faux painting panels on the walls, which impart depth to the surfaces while adding to the room’s older-home look. She explains that the walls were otherwise left unadorned to allow “the murals to be the art.”
A palette of beige and gray enhances lightly distressed furniture in a worn patina that looks “vintage rather than country,” says Peake. The table, by Lorts, is paired with shaped Napoleon chairs sporting pewter nail-head trim; host chairs are done in a textured fabric by Lillian August. Linen draperies with an embroidered pattern by Lee Jofa soften the windows and a custom chandelier in antique glass by Dana Creath Designs adds interest above the table.
Architecture: Mark R. Sullenberger, AIA, Custom Design Concepts, McLean, Virginia. Interior Design: Kristin Peake, Kristin Peake Interiors, LLC, Rockville, Maryland. Builder: Patrick Latessa, The Galileo Group, McLean, Virginia. Photography: Geoffrey Hodgdon.
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