In a recent kitchen renovation collaboration, we incorporated the following details…
(the kitchen is still under construction in these pictures, so please pardon the dust)

Cool backsplash tiles…opera glass tiles in taupe,olive and white surrounded by olive porcelain tile…

Creative and unusual foot details on the island…

A two-sided glass fronted cabinet…

A built-in message board that has been fabricated from cork and covered with commercial panel fabric…

And finally, architecturally interesting cabinet and drawer pulls…

DETAILS MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

One of the things I love as a Maryland Interior Designer is creating designs for custom furniture. I am excited about this wormy chestnut stained piece I designed to house TV components for a client in Chevy Chase, MD. The goal was to create a piece that would hold all the “stuff” needed for entertainment without looking like an entertainment cabinet. The best part is that this cabinet is going in a home filled with warmth and charm.

After several rough drawings, this is the final concept drawing …

And thanks to my favorite cabinet shop, SCB Woodworking, here are some pictures of the final product…

“House Calls” is a weekly feature in The Washington Post (online and print edition) that highlights a homeowner with a design challenged room. Each room is given to a local area interior designer to come up with a design plan for that room.

Please look for us on the 20th! Thank you.

There were only two requests: The husband wanted a souped-up shower with body sprays to match the experience of a luxury hotel where they had recently stayed; and his wife wanted to keep her hair dryer plugged in through the drawer, so she wouldn’t have to plug it an unplug it all the time when she took it out.
Here’s what I had to work with – and they (rightly) didn’t want to keep any of it:

BEFORE: Vanity

BEFORE: Bathtub

BEFORE: Shower

When I studied the layout and thought about how it could be improved, I realized that the space was big enough to include a sitting area, because the clients wanted only a shower and no tub. Even after expanding the shower, there would be room for a custom chest and at least one comfy, upholstered chair.
Here’s the original layout:

And here’s how I’ve reconfigured the space:

After ripping out the tub and expanding the shower, I’ve sketched in a built-in floating chest on the tiled wall to the right of the entry. That still leaves plenty of room for some seating, with a glass divider between this area and the shower.

The intent here is to make the space look like an extension of the bedroom that happens to have a shower and vanity in it, not a bathroom that happens to have a chair in it. The scheme also fits with what luxury hotels are doing, melding bathing and living areas, which the husband was so enamored with.

The wall tile will be gray, and we’ll be using gray, white, and black-toned marble and stone throughout, as you can see below:

The floating chest will be a deep mahogany, which will match the cabinetry of the vanity directly across.
I’m thinking about a red carpet from C.G. Coe & Son (where I get all my carpet), because the couple wants the space to have an Oriental flavor. And then I’ll be on the lookout for a black chair of some sort, in a gorgeous indoor/outdoor fabric that is becoming so much easier to get these days. If anyone has any ideas, let me know!

As for the shower, I’m ordering this amazing Grohtherm thermostatic shower system that allows you to set the precise water temperature:

I’m adding several body sprays on the walls, in addition to a hand-held shower head, for the full shower experience the husband is looking for.

And across the way, I’ve designed a vanity with a hole in the upper drawer for the hair-dryer cord, and an interior outlet where it can stay plugged in and out of sight.

I’m also using one mirror across the wall behind the vanity, but framing it so it looks like three:

The crowning glory over the vanity will be this striking black-and-white glass Serengeti pendant from Tech

Serengeti Pendant

For the vanity, I’ve chosen sink fixtures from Grohe’s Somerset collection, which will sit on top of White Fantasy marble:

Grohe Somerset Faucet

We’ve already started demolition, and I expect the project to be finished within the month. The master bedroom, where I’ve previously helped this couple, is very tailored in grays, beiges, whites, and navy, so I want to carry the same understated, tailored look into the bath.

I will post again when the project is complete.

Jennifer Sergent, formerly of Washington Spaces Magazine, has started a blog called DC by Design, and in her blog, she wrote about one of her favorite contemporary pieces that was used in one of my projects.

The piece by Hickory Chair marries the traditional idea of a secretary to the contemporary realm in styling and finish. The secretary I used just happened to be stripped of the factory finish and custom colored by a local artist. You can view what Jennifer has to say about this piece by clicking on the Hallings Secretary below… Scroll to the bottom to see how I used this piece in a recent project.

It is a pleasure to share with you the evolution of a wonderful new home in Bethesda, Maryland that is reminiscent of the Arts and Crafts movement where I was hired to fill the empty room; their family room. Not only was this couple moving from a small townhome in Washington, D.C. but their family size would shortly increase by one; so we had to “put the move on” the project.

As always, I asked what feeling this couple wanted to evoke and was told that they loved the warmth of Nantucket and wanted that “look”; warm, welcoming, and sophisticated. The “bones” of this 18 x 21’ family room are great, boasting 10 foot ceilings and a lovely fireplace flanked by custom cabinetry. The photos below portray the room at the beginning of the planning stage.

Fireplace and cabinets in the Family Room.

View of the Family Room looking out to the deck and yard.

Nothing from the old space would convey; so I set off to do enough floor plan drawings in AutoCAD of different room configurations so that they would be able to make informed choices. The floor plan that was chosen is shown below.

The floor plan that was chosen - this plan allows seating for six and room to move around.

Next, we met with my favorite choice for fine rugs in Bethesda, Maryland and decided on several that would be brought to the home to see in the client’s own day and night light. The final selection which set the stage for the rest of the textile choices is a gorgeous hand woven rug from India in cream, gold, silver sage brown and a berry tone as shown below.

Close up of hand-woven rug from India.

Another step toward designing the room was the process of pre-selecting sofa and chair frames in the Washington, D.C. Design Center on which the client needed to sit before purchasing. Their sofa and chair selections are shown below in neutral fabrics.

The sofa the couple selected is not only good looking, it is also very comfortable.

The chosen chairs are good looking from the front and back. Perfect choice when the back of the chair will be seen.

Next, the clients were ready for textiles for their sofa and chairs; selecting fabrics is such a fun part of the job and gives the room a lot of its personality. The very wooded lot in Bethesda, Maryland on which this home sits demands that fabrics are presented on site, for lighting purposes as well as to see how close we are getting to bringing the room the New England charm that was requested.

For the sofa, a mottled Duralee chenille was chosen for its 2 color practicality as well as the wonderful way it blends with the Highland Court diamond pattern for the spool chairs. Both are shown below.

Sofa fabric shown on top and chair fabric on the bottom.

The pillow fabric selected from Hickory chair reminds one of pieces of coral and just rounds out the entire design.

While visiting the Washington Design Center one day, I came across an excellent cocktail table “find” for these clients. The table has a bamboo planked top and is virtually indestructible. The Asian influenced design makes a wonderful and striking addition to the room.

The table is great looking and can withstand the activity a family room endures.

The sofa and chairs have arrived at their home and look wonderful (not to mention are VERY comfortable) in their family room. We are now in the process selecting an additional chair and ottoman, window treatments, and side tables for the room.

I’ll blog more when we get closer to the final unveiling of the room.

Well, after my purchase, I saw an article in The Washington Post about the sisters who started Georgetown Cupcake. The sisters will be appearing on a TLC show detailing the inner workings of the cupcake business that may be called, “Cupcake Sisters” (they are still working on the title). I’ve made a few phone calls and my goal is to get the producers of the show to use this cupcake artwork on the show. Why would we not want to share the smiles?! And the cupcakes!

I recently worked on a sunroom addition for a long-standing client in Bethesda, MD. The project required the services of a home remodeling company so I brought in D.G. Liu Contractor, Inc. The project is featured in their weekly newsletter (click on the first picture to view the newsletter).

Two other project pictures are shown above (click on the pictures to see them larger). The room features colors that you would see outdoors; browns and blue/greens – the rug (from C.G. Coe and Sons) set the stage for the room and its color palette. Two comfortable chairs provide seating for reading, drinking coffee, and watching tv. A bench provides extra seating when necessary.

This project was a true group effort between Danziger Design, D.G.Liu, and the homeowners, Mr. and Mrs. Toll. Communication was essential for this project to run smoothly and for the final outcome to be exactly what the clients were hoping for.