“The family wanted a large primary suite with privacy from a new open-concept kitchen and living area,” explains partner and project manager Drew Marks. “Working with architect Kim Beasley, we determined that a side addition would best provide that separation.” The addition includes a new two-car garage and mudroom; a craft room now occupies the basement space, replacing a one-car garage.
On the main floor, the original kitchen and an adjacent playroom were combined to create the new kitchen, featuring an oversized island, hand-painted terracotta backsplash tile, custom cabinets and a custom hood trimmed in brass. A soaking tub and patterned floor tile distinguish the owners’ bath.
To convey a sense of arrival, the design team created an arched transom and sidelites around the front door; they also widened the stair in the foyer, adding a custom handrail and balusters. Garage doors and a front door of rich mahogany lend a cohesive look to the façade, which conjures a classic feel with white-painted brick and black shutters.
BEFORE
They tapped Bowers Design Build to create a streamlined, two-story rear addition oriented towards the leafy yard; it contains an upper-level sunroom and a lower-level space for lounging, anchored by a ledgerstone fireplace.
“The new addition sets a modern tone for the rest of the renewed home,” says principal Wilma Bowers. “We replaced sun decks with a conditioned volume that opens to the wooded property and brings the outdoors in.” Wrapped in durable machiche wood with a concrete-look paneled chimney, the new structure spills out to a deck that leads to a patio below.
The design team reconfigured the interiors in contemporary style to accommodate an open-plan kitchen/family room; a library with floating walnut shelving; a two-sided gas fireplace clad in limestone; and a new, steel-and-white-oak floating stair (top, right). They added modern curb appeal to the front of the house with expansive Kolbe windows and a sleek front door.
BEFORE
With young kids who love to play in the backyard, “they wanted a better indoor-outdoor connection for their family that would improve their work/life balance,” says Bob Gallagher of Sun Design, who was hired for the job.
The plan added on a gabled rear porch, accessible from the kitchen, dining and living areas through double glass doors. Stone floors and a vaulted fir ceiling are a welcoming backdrop for lounging and dining areas as well as a kitchen with bar-height seating, resin cabinets by NatureKast, quartz counters and a TV. A stone fire pit nestles in a far corner of the yard.
The owners also wished to enhance the curb appeal of their home, which occupies a corner lot. The side garage was reconfigured with carriage lights and a standing-seam metal overhang. A driveway paved in bluestone and concrete conveys a clean, crisp look.
On stately Logan Circle in Northwest DC, venerable Victorian homes fan out from a verdant, tree-canopied center. Today, almost all of these historic dwellings have been converted into condos—so when a couple came across one of the few single-family homes left on the circle while house hunting, they jumped at it. “It was striking, with much of the architecture and charm intact,” recounts the wife, a lawyer. “We felt we had the chance to save it. And it was an opportunity to actually live on the circle and have that beautiful park for a front yard.”
Not surprisingly, the unrenovated, eight-bedroom house was crying out for an update. She and her husband, who is in finance, had consulted with AllenBuilt Inc., during the house search; when they purchased the home, principal John Allen recommended architect Colleen Healey for the task of protecting its 1883 bones while adding 21st-century comforts and functionality. “It was a collaborative effort,” Allen recalls. “Colleen and I felt that the house will be there long after our clients move on; we couldn’t tear out for ego what has been there for 100 years. And the clients were very much on board with that.”
Prior to the renovation, the home’s three-story front section comprised an entry hall, living and dining rooms on the first floor, the owners’ suite and two spare bedrooms on the second floor and two more bedrooms on the third. A two-story dogleg in back housed the kitchen, sitting area and a hallway leading to the back door, with two bedrooms upstairs. Because this portion had been poorly renovated in the past, says Healey, “I knew any manipulation to the original home was going to happen in the dogleg.”
Most of the work in the main-floor front rooms entailed cleaning up existing elements such as the chestnut millwork, stained-glass windows, carved-pine staircase and heart pine floor. “The wife wanted to salvage every door and doorknob,” Healey relates. “That’s something people think is going to cost less but doesn’t. They really took preserving the property to heart.” Upstairs, the design team enlarged the owners’ suite by appropriating the neighboring bedrooms for a new bath and closet. Reconfiguring the third floor created a home office and a spare bedroom and bath.
Healey overhauled the two-story dogleg to make way for an open kitchen/sitting area on the ground floor. A load-bearing brick wall that bisected the room became a two-sided gas fireplace, shared with the sitting area. Healey retained just enough of the hallway wall to install an inner door of glass and metal eight feet from the back entrance, forming a mudroom. The dogleg’s second story now contains a bathroom, guest room, laundry and nursery (the couple have since welcomed a baby). Accessed via the third-floor rooms, a rooftop deck with a hot tub crowns the structure.
The couple specified a modern kitchen, so Healey designed minimalist cabinetry out of ash—it contrasts with the backdrop of restored chestnut millwork and new heart pine flooring. The cabinets are configured in a U shape that preserves three carved, floor-to-ceiling windows that the owners love. “Every other scheme needed walls we didn’t have,” the architect notes. “The U created the cabinet and counter space they wanted.” A wall of exposed brick and black-framed, steel-look sliders along the back imparts an industrial vibe. Ten-foot-deep archways connect the front of the house with the kitchen; one conceals the powder room while the other holds a shallow wall of pantry cupboards.
A major goal was to bring in natural light. Healey replaced a stained-glass skylight over the stairs with clear glass that illuminates the front rooms on three stories. In the dogleg, the architect got more creative: She installed three skylights in the roof deck to illuminate the second floor, then “peeled back” a section of the second-floor floorboards directly below “to wash light down the brick wall on the first floor,” she explains. “We left the joists in place; you can see the 138-year-old post-and-pin construction that connected them.” A sleek glass-and-metal railing on the second floor surrounds the open section of flooring for safety; the skylights are delineated by a curving, sculptural framework of plaster that creates a ribbon effect. “Instead of blocks coming down between the skylights, they act as bellies to bounce the light down,” Healey says.
The home’s furnishings lean contemporary, mingling items belonging to the clients with mid-century pieces and minimalist lighting, all selected by Healey. The result is a modern sensibility that unites the old and new spaces and creates a striking juxtaposition with the home’s architecture.
While the husband numbers the roof deck among his favorite features of the finished home, the wife is partial to the lower level, which has been transformed with heated, poured-concrete floors and now contains a home theater, workout room, guest room and her favorite space—a “basement lounge” facing the circle, complete with a chic bar and beverage sink against a background of raw, exposed brick and ceiling joists. Components of the bar were repurposed during the renovation—from floor joists that top the island to the sink’s spigot, which once served the claw-foot tub in the owners’ bath. Says the wife: “I’m collecting original pieces of the house that we moved while looking for that balance between preservation and function."
Renovation Architecture & Interior Design: Colleen Gove Healey, AIA, NCARB, Colleen Healey Architecture, Washington, DC. Contractor: John Allen, principal; Rigoberto Perez, project manager, AllenBuilt Inc., Bethesda, Maryland.
RESOURCES
GENERAL
Windows: loewen.com through thesanderscompany.com. Skylights: veluxusa.com.
LIVING ROOM
Sofa, Barcelona Chair, Coffee Table: dwr.com. Corner Chair: Vintage. Ceiling Fixture: franceandson.com. Rug – chilewich.com
DINING ROOM
Table: ikea.com. Chairs: dwr.com. Ceiling Fixture: rollandhill.com. Fireplace Paint: Graphite by benjaminmoore.com.
HALLWAY
Ib Kofod-Larsen Rocking Chair: 1stdibs.com.
KITCHEN
Cabinetry: virginiamountainwoodworks.com. Countertop & Backsplash Source & Fabrication: Quartzite through marblesystems.com. Metal Shelving Over Range: akmetalfab.com. Island Pendants: illumininc.com. Counter Stools: About a Stool 33 through us.hay.com.
SITTING AREA
Rug, Jey Occasional Table, Saarinen Side Table & Crosshatch Chair and Settee: dwr.com. Doors to Mudroom: akmetalfab.com. Fireplace: Custom by healeyarchitecture.com.
BASEMENT
Cabinetry & Island Countertop: custom. Fabrication: allenbuiltinc.com. Main Countertops: Granite through usmarbleandgranite.com. Stools: About a Stool 33 through us.hay.com. Woven Chair & Occasional Table: cb2.com.
OWNERS’ BEDROOM
Built-Ins: custom. Fabrication: allenbuiltinc.com. Bed: crateandbarrel.com. Crate and Barrel. Bedside Pendants: illumininc.com. Overhead Fixture: Owners’ collection.
OWNERS’ BATH
Vanity: kitchenndbathstudios.com. Countertop: Carrara marble through usmarbleandgranite.com. Mirror: Custom. Shower, Floor & Wall Tile: marble through architessa.com. Shower Enclosure: starfiredirect.com. Ceiling Fixture: cb2.com.
GUEST BATH
Shower Enclosure: akmetalfab.com. Shower Fixtures: deltafaucet.com, finnishdesignshop.com. Floor Tile: architessa.com. Vanity: kitchenandbathstudios.com. Countertop: Granite through usmarbleandgranite.com. Mirror: crateandbarrel.com. Light over Mirror: roomoandboard.com.
Light Fixture: anthropologie.com. Small Table & Chair and Pouf: roomandboard.com. Art on Wall: katezarembacompany.com. Rug: crateandbarrel.com. Eames Elephant: dwr.com.
Nestor Santa-Cruz does not like to move. After many years in a 1960s-era apartment near Washington National Cathedral, it was finding another unit in the same building about four years ago that finally persuaded him. “It’s on the fifth floor, so the view is great,” he says. “I can see the Cathedral from my bedroom and in the winter, the Washington Monument is visible in the distance.”
The compact one-bedroom, one-bath abode admits quantities of light through sliding-glass doors leading out to a 30-foot-long balcony. The small kitchen is an afterthought for the designer, who doesn’t cook. The living area offers plenty of space for his pride and joy: an extensive library of books on architecture, design, gardening, fashion and more. “I travel a lot so my place in DC is about cocooning, being with my books,” observes the designer. “My home is a personal choice.”
It shows the dichotomies in my taste. There are layers of minimalism and maximalism, of modernism and traditionalism, of seriousness and casualness. And layers of my travel and experiences. When I design for clients, I channel whichever of these layers I think will work for them.
How did decorating your apartment differ from the way you work on client projects?
When I work with a client, my process is thoughtful and disciplined, responding to particular needs. For myself, the process was free and natural. I barely had a floor plan—just to make sure the sofa would fit.
What changes did you make when you moved in?
I polished the existing wood floors and painted the walls Benjamin Moore’s Antique White. I like this hue because it’s creamy and warm; there’s no yellow or pink undercast, which many off-whites have. The drapes match the wall color.
Why did you opt to go with a neutral backdrop?
When you have disparate collections spanning different periods, something has to give. I thought, “Let’s create some calm and breathing space.” Also, it’s a classic design technique to make a small space feel larger.
How would you characterize the style of your home?
It’s eclectic, reflecting the myriad things I’m interested in. I carefully blend periods and styles in furniture, accessories and art.
How do you make eclecticism work?
You have to find a connecting language. For me, the rule of thumb is proportion, scale and a balance of light and heaviness. I think architecturally; though I’m a designer, I was trained as an architect so it comes naturally.
How much of your furniture was purchased for this apartment?
About 60 percent, including anything mid-century Scandinavian. I already had a lot of Bauhaus and French antiques, but many modern pieces are based on classics, so they all connect. My sofa, the Mayor sofa by Arne Jacobsen, is a modern abstraction of a French settee. It’s not very deep so it works well in my small apartment.
How do you enliven a mundane building envelope?
If you don’t have strong architecture, good decoration can make the transformation. But decoration will not help truly ugly architectural features. I like my 1960s building better than a new loft. It’s plain—easier to work with.
You incorporated a lot of art into a small space. What was your method?
My art is hung salon-style, which means freeform—so my walls accommodate many pieces. The term comes from a 19th-century way of adding to your collections over time. With clients, I tend to be more disciplined.
Talk about your art collection.
I collect the art I like; I don’t buy pieces with a spot in mind for them. Most are works on paper from the 1920s to 1940s, mainly design-related. The two walls in the dining room are about space and interiors. The bedroom is about fashion. When you group thematically, art makes sense.
How are your books organized?
By theme, which makes them easy to find. In the living area, they are stacked; I find it easier to read the titles that way and they look beautiful. Also, to get to one book I have to remove others—and that allows me to reconnect with those books as well. There is a sense of discovering old friends who represent my life in design.
Share your thoughts on your book collection. How does it enhance your work?
I feel I basically live in a library. I have one of the best collections of design books in the city; many are inscribed to me, and I have as many in storage as in my apartment. My design work is referential and my books help me educate my clients. I am lucky: My hobby is also my vocation.
ASK NESTOR
How do you maintain an uncluttered look?
It’s about editing. As Coco Chanel said, “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.” Less is more.
What is your current favorite furniture period?
Art furniture is my latest thing: unique pieces by contemporary artists that create precedent. It’s a new layer I’m bringing to my work.
What trends do you avoid?
All of them. I think DC is too much a trend-following place. Having said that, trends can work for a special moment if you can change them out easily. The trend should not be the whole narrative.
Favorite local haunts for furniture?
Furniture from Scandinavia for mid-century; David Bell Antiques for eclectic; Marston Luce for continental; DWR, Maxalto, B&B Italia for modern. CB2 does a good job with modernism at affordable prices.
Designed by Archirivolto for Calligaris, the Oleandro chair makes a sleek addition to any dining room. A metal frame supports the padded seat and backrest—pictured with a matte-bronze finish on legs and back. Also available as a stool at Calligaris locations in Cady’s Alley and Tysons Galleria. calligaris.com
INSPIRED BY HISTORY
For centuries, Rabelo boats in Porto, Portugal, transported cargo on the Douro River. They now carry tourists—and were the inspiration for Portuguese furniture maker Wewood’s latest sofa. Rabelo echoes its namesake’s wide, solid silhouette, with a wooden base at each end; foam padding is covered in fabric or leather. wewood.eu
NAP TIME
Blu Dot’s streamlined Hands Down Sofa offers ample room to stretch out. A wood frame supports single-seat and coordinating loose-back cushions, all filled with a combination of foam core and feather and down. Six neutral upholstery options include velvet, linen and cotton; available at Blu Dot in Georgetown. bludot.com
SLENDER SILHOUETTE
Designed with tight spaces in mind, the handcrafted Island Stool by Thos. Moser is distinguished by four tapered legs, rounded stretchers and a sculpted seat that showcases the wood grain in each piece. Available in solid cherry or walnut at Thos. Moser’s Georgetown showroom. thosmoser.com
LIMITED EDITION
First designed by Vico Magistretti in 1959, the iconic Carimate armchair has been retooled by Fritz Hansen to honor Magistretti’s 100th birthday. The limited-edition chairs utilize long-lasting, GMO-free woven flax in place of the original straw seat and a sustainable beechwood frame. Red and black lacquer harken back to the original. fritzhansen.com
FLOATING ON AIR
Created by Daniele Lago for his eponymous Italian brand, the Air Bed appears to float on four legs of clear, tempered glass. An optional backrest, shelving or drawers may be attached to the frame. Available in king and queen sizes through Theodores in Upper Georgetown. theodores.com
SPACE SAVER
Resource Furniture’s Giralot Mini is a compact, space-saving storage system. Stacked units, which rotate 180 degrees around a wall-mounted column, can stow away anything from toiletries to office supplies, apparel and shoes. Available in oak, walnut or lacquer at Resource Furniture in Cady’s Alley. resourcefurniture.com
INDUSTRIAL CHIC
Vintage meets industrial chic in Moroso’s Overdyed Collection, a collaboration with Diesel Living featuring painted-steel rods with ash or birch plywood seats and backrests. The collection of tables and chairs now includes the Overdyed Padded line, which dresses up the chairs with padding; a dining chair is pictured. moroso.com
JAPANESE STYLE
In 1974, Gianfranco Frattini designed the Kyoto Table, inspired by the clean-lined simplicity of Japanese furniture. Last year, Poltrona Frau paid tribute to the craftsmanship of this table with an updated version made of beechwood with Canaletto walnut inlay. Available at Poltrona Frau in Georgetown. poltronafrau.com
THE ART OF WHIMSY
Portuguese multi-media artist Joana Vasconcelos imparts bold color and exuberance to her Bombom collection of seating and accessories for Roche Bobois. Brightly hued with black stripes, the curvaceous sofas boast movable backs; complementary rugs and pillows depict the artist’s drawings and designs. Available at Roche Bobois in Friendship Heights and Tysons. roche-bobois.com
A sustainably crafted update on a venerable piece, the Duna 02 Eco chair was designed by Lievore Altherr Molina for Italian furniture maker Arper. A smooth, black shell made of 80-percent post-industrial recycled plastic forms the comfortable seat, which sits atop contrasting light-wood legs. arper.com
After two decades in their modest Palisades abode, homeowners watching a 40-foot-tall house take shape next door decided they were ready to renovate. In addition to better curb appeal, their wish list included expanded interiors with an enlarged and updated kitchen, a new owners’ suite and an open floor plan.
“It was quickly evident that the best way to achieve these goals would be an addition to the front of the house,” relates architect Bruce Wentworth, who spearheaded the project.
The Wentworth team whitewashed the existing brick, while the new portions of the exterior were clad in textured stucco. A recessed entry provides protection from the elements.
Inside, the dining room’s location was shifted forward to the front of the house. This created more space for the kitchen, which has been enlarged in chic, transitional style and centers on a furniture-like island topped with engineered stone. The kitchen flows into the family room at the back of the house.
They turned to interior designer Laura Fox to help them transform its drab, traditional interiors. “They wanted an updated, modern oasis with lots of texture, neutrals and contrast,” Fox says.
She and her team worked with SugarOak Homes on an extensive renovation that imparted a crisp, contemporary feel to the residence. In addition to the major tasks of redoing the kitchen and overhauling the basement, they refinished the floors, installed large-format stone-look tile in the foyer, removed wainscot and replaced trim and baseboards with a more contemporary profile. In the family room, Fox traded out sliders that overpowered the skylights for large, black-framed glass panels—the center one opens to the deck— that seamlessly dovetail with the frames of the skylights. “We wanted to keep the framing as open as possible while being functional and modern,” Fox notes. “This property backs up to forest, so the views are lovely.” Lillian August chairs and an Arteriors coffee table complete the revamped space.
“There’s never been a museum showcasing the fun and power and beauty of words and language,” notes founder and CEO Ann Friedman, a philanthropist and former reading instructor who is married to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. “Words are the overlooked and under-appreciated artifacts of our lives. Planet Word will change all that.” The project was funded in part by AT&T, which evolved out of Bell’s long-ago invention.
Conceived in Renaissance Revival style by Adolf Cluss in 1869, the five-story, 50,000-square-foot structure is designated a National Historic Landmark. To make way for the museum, architects at Beyer Blinder Belle restored the building, preserving two grand staircases, some classrooms and the original frescoes that adorned the walls. They also renovated the fourth floor to create event space. Interiors were repurposed by Local Projects, an exhibit-design firm, to establish 10 immersive, voice-activated learning galleries that ingeniously employ technology. A 22-foot-tall talking word wall shares the story of language; a karaoke lounge teaches songwriting; and teleprompters in an acoustically sealed room help budding orators deliver historic speeches. In the courtyard entrance, a “Speaking Willow Tree,” sculpted in metal by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, plays hundreds of languages on 364 speakers hung from its branches and delivered via 3.6 miles of ethernet cable.
While Planet Word opened briefly in October 2020, its doors have since closed due to the pandemic. For updates on reopening plans, visit planetwordmuseum.org.
According to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), indoor air is five times more polluted than the air outside, making a whole-house ventilation system critical. The following insights from experts at Aprilaire, a maker of humidifiers and purifiers, and Sterling, Virginia-based Falcon Heating & Air Conditioning will help you create a safe living environment.
MoistureShield’s latest contribution to decking is Meridian, a capped, wood-plastic composite material that applies the company’s patented Solid Core moisture protection to a surface that looks and feels like wood. Deck panels come in a range of sizes and three color options: Citadel, Shoreside (pictured above) and Mariner. moistureshield.com
ON DECK
Composite decking by Fiberon is a durable, high-performance surface designed not to splinter, crack or decay. Good Life, one of the company’s five lines of decking, features the Escapes Collection—a perfect complement to your backyard, characterized by strong wood-grain patterns and fade-resistant, multi-tonal colors that resemble exotic hardwoods. Pictured above: Bungalow. fiberondecking.com
GOING GREEN
EP Henry has debuted Solidia, an eco-friendly technology that produces cement with lower CO2 emissions. Part of the Permeable Paver Collection, the Solidia ECO line of interlocking concrete pavers reduces runoff by allowing rainwater to filter down and re-enter the ground. Pictured above: Eco Bristol Stone in the Tucson colorway. ephenry.com
The rugged look of hand-laid, dry-stack stone is duplicated in Eldorado Stone’s Stacked Stone veneers, part of the Modern Collection. Comprising small stones in an easy-to-install panel system, Stacked Stone is available in a range of sizes and hues (Silver Lining is pictured above). Appropriate for indoor and outdoor use. eldoradostone.com
This was certainly the case for Amalie Weber and Michael Frantzinger, who finally tired of squeezing themselves and two boys into their beloved downtown DC apartment and decided to make a move. They gravitated to the Palisades neighborhood where the kids, then five and seven, were already enrolled in school. “It was as close to the suburbs as I was willing to get,” laughs Weber.
The couple, both attorneys, are modernists at heart—so Northwest DC’s traditional enclaves required an adjustment. What’s more, leaving behind light-filled contemporary living spaces didn’t make the transition any easier. “We were looking mostly for that ‘it’ factor,” reveals Weber. “Also, a lot of houses here are enormous, and I didn’t want that.” Eventually, they found a 4,250-square-foot brick 1940s Colonial that fit their needs—with a beautiful backyard that induced them to overlook the home’s traditional architecture.
Though the interiors were immaculate, they felt stodgy and dated. One of the couple’s favorite local haunts, the Line DC hotel in Adams Morgan, inspired a vision for what the house could be. “The hotel is in a former church so it’s a very traditional space, but they took it in a timeless-modern direction,” Weber says. “We didn’t want antiques and felt full-on modern would look jarring, so we decided to thread the needle—and I knew I couldn’t do it myself.”
Enter designer Breeze Giannasio, a longtime friend of Weber’s who had recently relocated to California (though she continues to work in the DC area). Giannasio helped outfit the couple’s previous abode and Weber never considered hiring anyone else. “Breeze sees a space and knows immediately what it’s missing and what it could be,” she enthuses. “She’s right every single time.”
While in town for an installation, Giannasio toured the Palisades property, then executed plans that she put in motion from her Malibu office. “We looked for streamlined ways to bring their sensibilities into the home while paying tribute to its classical bones and not changing anything structural,” she notes. “You see it a lot with urban infill in Europe where, for instance, Rococo paneling might be juxtaposed with something highly contemporary. This elevates both traditional and modern vernaculars, which act as foils to each other. We did a baby-steps version of that here.”
The designer began by painting walls, trim and architectural details in Benjamin Moore’s Chantilly Lace—a transformative move that covered over a hodgepodge of wall colors. Against this fresh, bright backdrop, she introduced blacks, creams and natural hues through textiles, modern furniture and art. “Half the time that palette is how Amalie dresses,” Giannasio observes. “She’s very chic and I wanted the space to be a reflection of her.”
Visitors enter directly into the dining room—which presented the project’s first hurdle. “It needed to read like a dining room but also like the entry,” Weber relates. “I had no idea how to do that.” In their previous dwelling, the couple had enjoyed hosting as many as 12 for dinner; to enable that scale of entertaining here, Giannasio selected a round, light-stained ash table from Italy that doubles as an entry-hall table but can expand to seat 12. Cherner dining chairs set a Mid-Century Modern tone. A motif of circles softens the room’s squared-off angles: An oversized round mirror from RH Modern hangs above a rectangular bench while a Tech Lighting fixture over the round table integrates lines and circles with delicate flair.
Rounded contours crop up again in the adjacent living room, where the family cuddles up on a curved, circa-1970s sofa to watch a TV that can be concealed behind artwork. The sofa shares space with curved, leather-clad chairs and a circular coffee table atop a cream-colored geometric tribal rug. Ivory drapes contrast with darker grass-cloth shades.
Just off the living room, the sunroom overlooks the back garden. An existing wood-paneled ceiling was resealed for added luster, and the room’s strong architectural features are emphasized by the white paint; a coat on the existing shutters made them feel new. “We really wanted to forge a connection to the garden with the furniture and palette,” explains Giannasio. “We went with organic materials like the sisal rug and woven poufs. And plants make it feel kind of magical.” She purchased furniture with family in mind; the kid-friendly poufs from CB2 are the perfect height for games around the coffee table.
Giannasio deftly combined art and decorative items from the couple’s travels with the graphic, black-and-white artwork that imparts continuity throughout. Ornate wood panels from Pakistan, used in the family’s former apartment to hide a Murphy bed, have been repurposed as doors between the living room and sunroom, while Indonesian carvings decorate Weber’s home office. In the owners’ suite upstairs, photography collected over the years hangs above an RH bed.
For Giannasio, the project’s main challenge lay in implementing the plans long distance: She only saw the house once after her initial tour, and that was during installation. “One of the benefits of a restrained palette is that it’s forgiving; that’s what made it possible to make choices remotely,” she comments. “It was so gratifying to see it come together.”
Interior Design: Breeze Giannasio, Breeze Giannasio Interiors, Malibu, California.
RESOURCES
DINING ROOM
Table: bauline.it. Cherner Chairs & Bench: dwr.com. Small Cabinet by Stair: westelm.com. Chandelier: techlighting.com through circalighting.com. Wall Art: Mid-Post Series through celadonart.com.
LIVING ROOM
Sofa: vladimirkagan.com through 1stdibs.com. Sofa Fabric: donghia.com. Chairs: customfurniturela.com. Rug: jaipur.com. Coffee Table: cb2.com. Graphic Art: celadonart.com. Drapes: rh.com. Shades: theshadestore.com. Fireplace Screen & Sconces flanking Fireplace: arteriors.com.
SUNROOM
Sofa: dwr.com. Chairs & Side Tables: noirfurniturela.com. Rug: meridastudio.com. Table Lamps: anthropologie.com. Door Panels to Sunroom: Owners’ collection. Throw Pillows: fschumacher.com, target.com. Poufs: cb2.com.
Bedstead, Bedding, Drapes & Lights: rh.com. Rug: usa.armadillo-co.com. Corner Chair: rscollection.com. Shades: theshadestore.com. Bamboo Chair & Pictures over Bed: Owners’ collection. Small Round Nightstands: cb2.com.
Dream Kitchens - Moment of ZenPatrick Sutton conjures serenity and uncluttered elegance in a 1920s Baltimore abode.
A pied à terre at the Watergate is reimagined as a chic center for entertaining.
Janie Molster fashions an airy, exuberant kitchen in her 1905 Richmond farmhouse.
Vintage style and fresh flair merge in the redo of a builder-grade kitchen.
An expansive makeover marries clean lines, functionality and transitional style.
“A lot of kitchens from around that time were designed with odd angles everywhere,” relates designer Hedy Shashaani, who spearheaded the project. “Nowadays, we eliminate those angles. The goal here was to straighten as many of them as possible while creating better functionality.”
The original kitchen centered on an angled island dominated by a range and hood; it aligned with an angled wall housing a walk-in pantry. A peninsula separated the kitchen from an eating/sitting area. Shashaani’s plan straightened the pantry wall, enlarging and repositioning the island. A new professional range is a focal point on the cabinetry wall, while the expanded island boasts a prep sink and abundant workspace. A second island with a waterfall countertop and room for six stools replaced the peninsula. A desk area opposite the cabinet wall is now a coffee bar.
Shashaani and South Carolina-based designer Ariel Spuzzillo helped create a transitional aesthetic with a masculine edge. White-painted cabinetry and white Caesarstone countertops are offset by glazed, dark-stained maple that crops up on the islands, clads the hood and houses a wine fridge flanked by refrigerator and freezer columns. In contrast to dark-wood flooring, a white, porcelain-tile “rug” now delineates the space.
Kitchen Design: Hedy Shashaani, CKD, Jack Rosen Custom Kitchens, Inc., Rockville, Maryland. Interior Design: Ariel Spuzzillo, GDC Home, Charleston, South Carolina. Contractor: D.H. Veirs Contracting, Kensington, Maryland.
CABINETRY: cabico.com through jackrosen.com. COUNTERTOPS: caesarstoneus.com through fernandosmarbleshop.com. APPLIANCES: subzero-wolf.com, bosch.com through buyadu.com. BACKSPLASH: Ceramic subway tile through architecturalceramics.com. FAUCETS: deltafaucet.com through fergusonshowrooms.com. COUNTER STOOLS: leeindustries.com.
ISLAND PENDANTS: circalighting.com.
They enlisted kitchen designer Tanya Smith-Shiflett of Unique Kitchens and interior designer Alison Giese to spearhead a renovation that would create better functionality and light with a fresh, vintage-chic aesthetic.
The designers retained the existing kitchen’s footprint with its central island and L-shaped plan, enlarging a window and shifting its location to admit more light. The refrigerator, which dominated one wall, was relocated away from the L, allowing the range—which had been crammed in beside the fridge—to take center stage. The range hood is clad in lime-washed white plaster for a textured, airy effect.
The transitional-style cabinetry is part of Giese’s AGI Collection. Smith-Shiflett and Giese collaborated on its design, and it was custom-built for the space by Smith-Shiflett’s husband and business partner, David Shiflett. A bright, turquoise-painted island plays off the white cabinetry. The island is topped with quartz in a marble look while peripheral countertops in dark quartz resembling soapstone add further contrast. “The clients wanted a café-style kitchen,” Smith-Shiflett notes. “We used a four-by-four glazed subway tile on the walls and inside the upper cabinets to create that bistro look.”
An updated lighting plan incorporates multiple ceiling fixtures in aged brass and frosted glass, which contribute to the vintage appeal. An antique bistro table in the breakfast nook completes the space.
Kitchen Design: Tanya Smith-Shiflett, Unique Kitchens & Baths, Great Falls, Virginia; Alison Giese, Alison Giese Interiors, San Antonio, Texas. Contractor: Unique Kitchens & Baths.
Cabinetry: AGI Cabinet Collection through uniquekitchensandbaths.net. Countertops: silestoneusa.com through uniquekitchensandbaths.net. Backsplash: tilebar.com through uniquekitchensandbaths.net. Faucet & Sink: kohler.com. Lighting: etsy.com. Kitchen Table: luckettstore.com.
When designer Janie Molster and her husband moved into their vintage Richmond farmhouse 20 years ago, they soon built an addition with bedrooms to accommodate their five children. It wasn’t until about seven years ago that Molster decided the kitchen—then located in the home’s center—would be more logical at the back of the house.
Molster conceived a larger, updated kitchen—a welcome change from the previous one last remodeled in the ’80s. “The kitchen is a workhorse space—not just for show,” explains the designer, who opted to forgo a typical center island in favor of an antique dining table. “The table was a fabulous idea,” she enthuses. “It is a magnet for our large family. I sacrificed a bit of storage, but am never alone in the kitchen.”
The space is an expression of Molster’s distinctive oeuvre. “My aesthetic reflects my love of color and mixing genres and styles,” she notes. “I eschew anything predictable.” She combined clean-lined white cabinetry with Carrara marble countertops and an aqua back-painted, tempered-glass backsplash, while horizontally patterned grass cloth in rainbow hues clads the paneled fridge and walls. A meandering decorative motif adorns the floor, designed by Molster and painted by Richmond-based H.J. Holtz & Son. A brass-and-glass light fixture over the table adds a touch of glam.
Kitchen Design & Contracting: Janie Molster, Janie Molster Designs, Richmond, Virginia.
UPPER CABINETRY: Custom through janiemolster.com. LOWER CABINETRY: ikea.com. COUNTERTOPS: bbggranite.com. BACKSPLASH: morethanglass.com. APPLIANCES: subzero-wolf.com, mieleusa.com through janiemolster.com. REFRIGERATOR: subzero-wolf.com through kdwhome.com. WALLPAPER: thibautdesign.com. CHANDELIER: Through janiemolster.com. TABLE & CHAIRS: Antique.
