Double the Fun
Safari Dreams—An orange zebra-print rug by Alliyah was the starting point for Breeze Giannasio of California-based Breeze Giannasio Interiors as she planned a nursery in her clients’ DC row house. “Our goal was to create a dynamic but sophisticated space that wasn’t overly ‘gendered’ since the baby’s gender was unknown,” she explains. Giannasio covered the glider in Duralee leopard fabric. Bright animal prints from art.com—and a friendly giraffe—preside over the crib. “The room is playful but not overdesigned, so it can change as the child grows,” she notes.
Double the Fun—Alexandria-based Nancy Twomey of Finnian’s Moon Interiors set out to design a room with staying power for her Falls Church clients’ three-year-old twins, a girl and a boy. The neutral walls in Sherwin Williams’ Alpaca Gray “have a grounding effect on the otherwise bright palette,” she says. A valance in Country Swedish fabric plays off headboards with easy-to-update lime-green slipcovers; Matouk coverlets add blue accents. As Twomey posits, “There is deliberately no theme or fad to the room that they will shortly grow out of.” © James R. Salomon
All Aboard—Although her three-year-old Bethesda client inherited his big brother’s furniture, Laura Fox of Laura Fox Interior Design wanted to make his room feel like new. “This young man is a huge Thomas the Tank Engine fan,” says the Kensington-based designer. She painted a wall with racing stripes in Benjamin Moore’s Hale Navy, Gentleman’s Gray and Nile Green; railroad crossing signs—one part of a Pottery Barn Kids lamp and one found on Etsy—hit the mark. Should the boy’s train phase pass, Fox reasons, “swapping out the lamp, sign and toys can take the room to its resident’s next stage.”
Ground Control—A 10-year-old boy had a simple request for the bedroom Kristin Peake of Kristin Peake Interiors was creating for him in his family’s McLean home: “Space, space and more outer space,” relates the Rockville designer. A photo turned into wallpaper views Earth from the cosmos, while Restoration Hardware’s Orbit Spitfire chair (above, right) conjures the space age. A custom teepee houses an extra bed for sleepovers. “We may have an aeronautical engineer or future astronaut,” Peake comments. “But the wallpaper and teepee can come down to create a teen bedroom with good bones in place.”
Pretty in Pink—Parents-to-be who moved to Alexandria after living in an oceanfront home in Australia wanted their baby girl’s nursery to have a beachy vibe. They hired New York designer Paola Salinas of PS Interiors Group to create a bright, happy space in the mother’s favorite shade of pink. Salinas started with flamingo wallpaper from Cole & Son. A shaggy rug and Pottery Barn Kids chandelier lend feminine touches. “This room simply adapts,” Salinas reflects. “All the furnishings except for the crib will be age-appropriate for a little girl.”