Name: Anne-Marie, Vytas & 1 year old daughter, Maddie
Location: Friendship Heights/Chevy Chase, DC
Years lived in: Rented 3 years
Refined and loungeable are two styles rarely used in conjunction, but stepping into Vytas and Anne-Marie's home you can't help but sense both an acute attention to detail and a respect for relaxation. Their furniture is grand and substantial and their decorative pieces certainly make themselves known, but the overall feeling is romantically unpretentious and thoroughly inviting — like a fine, aged wine paired with comfort food.
Anne-Marie & Vytas's Sophisticated Comfort
House Tour
One of the most impressive elements of the 1 bedroom apartment is its balance. The warm, inviting palette in the entryway, living room, and kitchen is complimented by the soothing grays and crisp whites of the adjoining bedroom. Heavy, regal furnishings like the large round dining table and media armoire are balanced by the laid back slip-covered sofa and IKEA bookcases. Anne-Marie painted them white to match the molding, making them look more like built-ins than mass produced storage. All of the artwork in the living room ties into the gorgeous, colorful oriental rug, and gold accents are sprinkled subtly throughout the home for a unified look.
The young couple's love of ease and order continued even after welcoming their new daughter into their one bedroom home — not an easy or a common feat. Often, having a baby translates into opening the floodgates of bulky plastic toys and mountains of baby gear, but Anne-Marie and Vytas have — quite masterfully— managed to maintain a clutter-free, kid-friendly environment by keeping toys simple, well-made, and limited in number.
Apartment Therapy Survey
Our Style: A mix of French eclectic and beach cottage
Inspiration: I love design magazines and blogs and they are a constant source of ingenious ideas. But underlying all that, much of what I do in my own home is affected by my grandfather. He was an artist and loved beautiful things. He lived in an old Federal-style farmhouse in upstate New York and inherited an old house in Nantucket and he was constantly working on them both — stripping, sanding, staining, painting. Almost every memory I have of him over the past twenty years is of him restoring something, leisurely and meticulously. He had cans of antique nails in his studio so if he needed to repair an old piece he could do it right. He painted furniture beautifully, in the early American Dutch style, all of which are now family heirlooms. He instilled in me a love of place, and an appreciation for the beauty and value of elbow grease and patience. Every time I embark on a project in my home (which always involves elbow grease and paint) I am inspired by the way he worked and the beautiful things he created.
Favorite Element: The light (our living room has 5 windows) and the architectural elements like detailed molding and French doors into the kitchen.
Biggest Challenge: It’s a small living space for our family. When we realized we’d be staying here for a while after our daughter was born, I was on a mission to make the space seem more bright and spacious. One big change was painting the wall of bookcases in our living room white (they were a dark brown wood). That made the whole room breath more. I also added the white stenciling to our yellow entryway — that brightened up the space a lot and made that space feel more like its own room and less like a hallway.
What friends Say: That it feels inviting. And NEAT! My husband and I both hate clutter. When we got married one of the first pieces we bought was a computer armoire for our living room where we could hide our computer (which doubles as our TV), printer, papers and other mess. It is wonderful to close the doors and make everything disappear
Biggest Embarrassment: My biggest embarrassment is my bathroom. I painted it 4 times trying to get the right color, only to end up with cream walls — which I love. The apartment’s biggest embarrassment is the kitchen, which has plastic cupboards that look like they were installed in the 80’s. I couldn’t do anything about them so I just ignored them and picked a paint color I love for the walls.
Proudest DIY: The wall lamps mounted between the windows over our dining table. We had no light source on that side of the room and our options were eating in the semi-gloom or turning on the garish overhead fixture. There wasn’t any place to put a table lamp and no room for a floor lamp. The wall lamps are the perfect combination of practical and cozy. They come with cords and plug into the wall so they were a hassle free installation.
Biggest Indulgence: We only buy things we really love. It usually means more expensive and a longer wait but over time it means a home that’s just right. We waited two years to buy our bed but I appreciate it every night.
Best Advice: When you’re painting wood — furniture, trim, floors — always use oil base paint. It doesn’t chip or scratch the way acrylic base paint does.
Dream Source: John Rosselli in Georgetown. It’s an education just walking into the shop. Everything is a wonderful combination of unique and beautiful, with a touch of whimsy.
Resources
Hardware: Bird hooks through Anthropologie
Furniture: Craigslist
Lighting: Sonneman Wall Lights through Bellacore Lighting, Crystal table lamp through Restoration Hardware
Window Treatments: Bamboo shades through Pearl River
Beds: Ethan Allen
Artwork: Panteek Prints, clocks through ebay
Paint: Living Room wall paint is Farrow & Ball “Farrows Cream”, Hallway is Farrow & Ball “Yellow Ground”, Bedroom is Farrow & Ball “French Gray” and Kitchen is Duron “Candleglow”
Thanks Anne-Marie and Vytas!
(Images: Leah Moss)
And check our archives of past house tours HERE.
We've had an amazing response to our Apartment Therapy House Tour Submission Form. While we will work with homeowners of our favorite homes to feature full tours, we will also share the best as House Calls — short, quick tours of readers' homes. Submit your home here.
Tags
House Tours, DC, Farrow & Ball, Chevy Chase, Traditional StyleRelated Links
- Caryn's Raw & Romantic Fairytale Loft
House Call - DC House Tour: Barb's Condo, Collections and Rotating Gallery
Washington DC - House Tour: Laura's Traditional, "No Place Like Home"
Washington, DC - April: Most Popular House Tours
Best of 2008 - House Tour: Stefan's Inspired & Eclectic Studio
Washington, DC
Share
Comments (27)
Daily Email
Top Tours
- Michael & David's Modern Classic
- Hunter's Dramatic DIY
- Elizabeth & Kevin's Eclectic & Very Narrow Rowhome
- Supon's Vibrant Kalorama Oasis
- Rhoda's Southern Hospitality
Top Posts
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Wow, very nice! It looks very comfortable and luxurious, so I was surprised and heartened to see that some of your stuff is from Ikea and Craigslist. DC house tours are on a roll lately!
view Jenny in DC's profile
For the most part, I really love this space. I just have to poo-poo the framed art in the upper-right photo -- it doesn't look like the strong orange/red mats have anything to do with the prints. And, even if that color is pulled from the art itself, it's so loud that it really takes away from the art.
view fabframes's profile
Beautiful. :)
view Nephthys's profile
I really like the red matted artwork in the living room. It's very inspirational!
http://www.tangiedecor.blogspot.com
view LTangie's profile
Gorgeous. So bright, airy, relaxed and inviting. I love the colours, the furniture choices and the serenity of it all. Your home must just make you happy to be there.
view judy in TO's profile
Very tight and controlled, relieved nicely by the buttery yellows.
But (and this is probably more my own design naivete than anything else) this didn't feel 'French cottage' or beach' to me. More like cerebral Midwestern with lots of a certain kind of Asian.
view FigurativeSketches's profile
Your home feels spacious for the size due to well edited furnishings, but also cozy. I think the orange mats work because they related to the 2 pieces below. Just my thoughts...I would take out one asian piece in the living room and throw in something unexpected.
view jacasi's profile
Do you recall what yellow you used in the hall? Yellow is so hard to get right, especially in an interior room. I've been searching for the perfect yellow for our hall for ages but I can't seem to pick one!
view Auburn's profile
Warm, cozy, stylish. Waiting to buy pieces that are just right is sage advice. Q.: Did you buy or create the stencil in your hallway. Would love to use it in my own entryway.
view missmaryc's profile
Lovely and quite formal for a young couple--I like the pallette you chose, although I'm not seeing French eclectic. Perhaps French colonial?
view jen_g's profile
I love this home - I so enjoy seeing beautiful furnishings that will last a lifetime.
I find the knot motif on the wall in the entry particularly apealing - I wonder if those are decals or a stencil?
view bepsf's profile
In answer to some of the comments about the stencil in the entryway, it's from Sunny's Goodtime Paints. She has a lot of great ones.
http://www.sunnys-paint.com/stencils/
The yellow color in the hallway is Farrow & Ball "Yellow Ground"
Thanks for the comments, it's great to get a fresh take on a space I'm so used to!
view AnneMarie M's profile
You guys are really an inspiration for us renters. I'm a bit mad at my Ikea apartment right now...
view carmenlu's profile
And not a scrap of Mid Century Modernism in the entire house. It's like a breath of fresh air.
Favourite elements include the pictures in oversized white mats and frameless frames, and the glass lamp, both in the bedroom.
view Blandwagon's profile
I love what you did with your space! I've been looking everywhere for a nice sofa slipcover, and wondered where you got yours from. Thanks!
view snailsped's profile
This is a beautiful home! It looks elegant but comfortable. I love the use of yellow!
view vbp's profile
I love love love your stenciling- you've completely inspired me to do that on my yellow entryway, thanks!! Just one question- you painted the white on top of the yellow? How many coats did it take? Any advice?
view auburny's profile
This space shines. I love the motif of art pieces hung one above the other your kitchen, bedroom, above the couch.
view gerundgirl's profile
I love it! It's warm, sophistciated, but it looks like you coud just walk in and hang out.
view ligaea's profile
Given that my husband and I are welcoming a new addition to our condo this winter, this is a timely and inspirational post to read. Agree completely on the clutter and as I work to make our home more inviting and workable for our growing household, I will keep this in mind. Also, I'm going to employ the fabulous stenciling tip in our home!!! Love it!!!!
I recently had an interior designer friend come over to give me some pointers and she suggested visually dividing the spaces into their own vignettes using paint colors, items like these bamboo wallstickers http://17thandriggs.com/bamboowallsticker.aspx and lighting.
Can't wait to get started on the changes!!
view rma's profile
Thanks for the resource on the stencils - I can't wait to get started in my own entry hall!
view bepsf's profile
love the sailboat - and the neat little tray on the bookcase!
view westroc's profile
LOVE your paint choices - Farrow & Ball should pay YOU for presenting them so beautifully. I'm transitioning from earth tones to more subtle shades and your rooms have inspired me.
view BootC's profile
Anne-Marie
Who painted the picture of the girl in the background of the photo where you're holding your baby?
It looks like Daniel Greene but I wasn't sure.
view grumbler101's profile
sophisticated....not so much...homey...yes
view 519Wilson's profile
Love the paint color in the bedroom! I kind of wanted to see the "plastic" cupboards in the kitchen, too... even if they're an embarrassment.
view heather @ dollarstorecrafts.com's profile
Anne-Marie! How surprised was I to log in to one of my favorite "time to dream" blogs and find your home on here! And photographed by Nicole's little sis! Congrats on your beautiful home and daughter!
Liz (E!)
view indiekitten's profile