Home & Design
Bathroom - Sink
Bathroom - Sink

The onyx sink is by Stone Forest and the bronzed faucets are by Brizo.

Interior Design Services - Design
Interior Design Services - Design

A vanity is sheathed in exotic Pau Ferro wood offset with a mother-of-pearl wallcovering.

Going Glam

A powder room by Marlene Weiss Alexander ramps up the drama quotient

Going Glam When designing the interiors of an expansive new Rockville home, Marlene Weiss Alexander devised an outside-the-box plan for its powder room. “Every inch of this powder room is custom, even the lighting,” she says.

The designer and homeowner share a penchant for an organic aesthetic dressed up with a touch of glamour, so Alexander aimed to capture this spirit in her design. “It should feel glamorous but not overdone,” she explains.

The room’s focal point is a massive, 10-inch-thick ledge clad in eye-catching Pau Ferro wood that serves as a floating vanity top. “I wanted something extremely exotic because I knew it was going to be the star,” says Alexander, who had the lumber supplier make four trips to the house with slabs before she found one with the grain she desired.

A panel of mother-of-pearl wallcovering by Innovations creates a dramatic backdrop to the vanity, while stained cherry columns and a mirror with a smoked-bronze finish wrap around it for added effect. A pair of rock-crystal pendants by Wired Lighting, an oversized onyx sink by Stone Forest and Brizo wall faucets add sparkle and texture. Art and accessories—including a painting from Renaissance Fine Art and a B&B Italia vase—finish the space. 

“I love powder rooms because they’re like jewel boxes. They can be dramatic and you won’t get sick of them because you can close the door,” says Alexander. “Though this is one powder room where I’d want to keep the door open.” 

INTERIOR DESIGN: MARLENE WEISS ALEXANDER, Weiss-Alexander Design Group LLC, Washington, DC. ARCHITECTURE: GERI YANTIS, Sutton Yantis Associates Architects, Vienna, Virginia. BUILDER: NATELLI HOMES, LLC, Gaithersburg, Maryland. PHOTOGRAPHY: GEOFFREY HODGDON.


For two more amazing custom baths, see 

Tropical Touch

Elegant Vibe

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HOME&DESIGN, published bi-monthly by Homestyles Media Inc., is the premier magazine of architecture and fine interiors for the Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia region.

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