Name: Pam, Bryan, their sons, Sawyer and Zane, and dog, Shayna
Location: Arlington, Virginia (Clarendon)
Size: 4 bedrooms, 4 ½ bathrooms
Years lived in: almost 11, owned
Pam is an intuitive decorator. Rather than adhering to any strict design principles or striving for complete cohesion, she's designed each room with elements that she and her family love regardless of whether the spaces have a strong stylistic connection to each other. The result is a series of comfortable rooms, each with a distinct character. Some feel warm and earthy, others cool and modern, making the tour a bit like an aesthetic treasure hunt— you never know what decor surprise the next room will yield.
However, more surprising than the room to room decor changes was the creativity and enthusiasm of Pam and Bryan's eldest son, Sawyer, the resident artist, who served as my tour guide. He had an explanation for nearly every accessory's placement and every room's color. His artwork graces many rooms, and each piece involves a distinct combination of mediums from coffee grounds and acrylic to recycled windshield shards and hot glue. His parents have designated a craft studio in the basement for his creations, but have also used his work as the artistic feature of many "grown up" rooms which provide a personal spin in each space.
For more details and a better sense of the house's flow, check out the captions in the gallery tour.
Apartment Therapy Survey:
Style: Independent cool
Inspiration: Everything and anything
Favorite Element: I really like our family room. It’s the first room I “designed” and every thing in it, for the most part, was new.
Biggest Challenge: My kitchen
What Friends Say: Everybody loves it. We get a lot of comments about our river rock mudroom floor.
Proudest DIY: I’m proud that I’m able to buy things for my house and they just work. Different things that shouldn’t work together and they do.
Biggest Indulgence: We’ve been pretty responsible so far but I’m hoping that when we re-do our kitchen that we can indulge in some great appliances.
Best Advice: Do it yourself and think outside the box. If you believe it works, then it does.
Dream Sources: Jonathan Adler
Resources of Note:
Furniture: Room and Board, Crate and Barrel
Accessories: Jonathan Adler, Anthropologie, West Elm
Lighting: Design Within Reach, school house electric
Rugs and Carpets: Flor
Artwork: Jenny Gifford who is my good friend's sister in law, and my 9 year old son, Sawyer
Paint: Benjamin Moore
Thanks, Pam, Bryan, Sawyer, and Zane!
Images: Leah Moss
• HOUSE TOUR ARCHIVE Check out past house tours here
• Interested in sharing your home with Apartment Therapy? Contact the editors through our House Tour Submission Form.
• Are you a designer/architect/decorator interested in sharing a residential project with Apartment Therapy readers? Contact the editors through our Professional Submission Form.
Small Cool Lessons: Discovering Small Space Design Ideas That Really Work
Marisa and Peter's Playfully Eclectic Home
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Sheex Bedding
How to Make Fresh Pasta Dough in the Food Processor
Nice! It's always fun to see someone who mixes patterns as much as I do.
Very comfortable house! I almost wanted to say it was too cluttered for my taste, but everything is arranged so comfortably that I just love it. The colors are calming and the flow isn't at all broken by the very well-done additions.
Also, I love Sawyer's artwork! I am assuming that you don't use the radiator in the powder room? ;)
What a talented young artist! I love the "peace" photo vignette above Sawyer's dresser.
Very nice! Somewhere that I could actually see my family and I living.
What a great family home. I really like the paint color in the boys' bedrooms - not the typical light blue/pastels that many people use for kids' rooms. The artwork around the house is great, as well. It really makes the place personal. :)
I love how much they foster Sawyer's creativity...how wonderful and supportive. :)
Love the colors and the cozy and creative family/living room! I never would have thought of that seafoam color for the walls, but it looks fabulous.
What a warm and welcoming atmosphere in this home. I'm struck by how the furniture and decor all seem familiar (the source is list relatively accessible--nothing too design-y, pricey, or obscure), but it all comes together in an inspired way. I especially love how the parents encouraged Sawyer's participation in the decoration of this house.
Paint is on my mind these days, so I'll be the first to request a catalog of the paint colors used throughout the house!
I love the color combo. BTW, could I ask you how long it took you to hear back from apartmenttherapy after you submitted your photos? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
gatoneko- I met Pam through a friend so I found her, not the other way around. But AT's always looking for great tours, so feel free to get in touch about setting something up. If you're in the DC area I'd love to talk. My email is leah@apartmenttherapy.com, or if you're outside of the DC area, editorial@apartmenttherapy.com
Well this place is just wonderful in every way. I love a home that is functional and comfy and pretty, like this one. And it looks like someone took time and care to decorate it, but it doesn't look "decorated." Very personal and very lovely.
And how lucky the family is to have their own artist in residence !
Great house! I like the colorful living room.
I have trouble seeing the words "Arlington, Virginia" and not feeling hatred- lived there for a year and it was a nightmare. Maybe because I had an awful 1 bdrm apartment that ran $1200 a month. Now (in the midwest) I live on the first floor of a large victorian house for half of that. I won't even get started on the obnoxiously overambitious young yuppies or crappy traffic.
Sorry, I will not let my hatred of the D.C. area cloud my positive opinion of your cute house. :)
Great house! I like the colorful living room.
I have trouble seeing the words "Arlington, Virginia" without feeling hatred- lived there for a year and it was a nightmare. I will not however let my terrible (and expensive) memories of the D.C. area cloud my positive opinion of your cute house. :)
Love the house! Especially the colors. Can you tell us which paint colors you used? I especially love the blue in Zane's room and am looking for something exactly like that for my living room. Thanks for a great tour!
I love it. the blue is gorgeous. I love the pops of colour everywhere and very much appreciate that it looks like people actually live there. nicely done!
I personally don't care for TVs mounted above fireplaces, as it makes for uncomfortable viewing (plus I'm not a fan of how it looks).
Also, I can't tell from the photos, but it appears that the lampshade might obstruct the view of the tele from a section of the sofa (or at the very least be in the direct field of view -- e.g. distraction).
Otherwise, nice home.
I love the river rocks in the mud room, where did you find them? They are the perfect solution to my entry way woes!
I love the artwork and lighting! The master bedroom is probably my favorite space.
Everything is bold yet comfortable. The chocolate walls in the master with the coffee painting art by Sawyer is brilliant! I would never have the courage to paint my bedroom in such a dark color, but I LOVE it!
...Oh, And I love the color of the family room. It's like being inside a little blue Tiffany box...every girl's dream!
Fantastic home! Pam has a great eye and sense of design. I love the mix of traditional and modern in this family home. Sawyer is a great artist. It's wonderful that his work is incorporated into the design of the home. I also love that he was the tour guide.
Do you have source information on the rug in the master bedroom?
I like having captions on some of the photos...they help to visualize how the spaces in the photos fit together, and add a nice touch to the house tours.
And I'd love to have all that room to knock around in. What a colorful and happy-looking place!
I would love to know the name of the chocolate brown color in the master bedroom. It's great. (As is the rest of the house!)
Overall, I agree with the coziness and creative charm achieved here. Only two feng shui comments from these pics: the art work in the mudroom would serve the qi better if it were hung higher, and, the disco ball hung directly over the bed is not ideal (too stimulating over a sleep/dream area. However, the lovely peace symbol art work does counteract that somewhat!). We found some great riverrock "tiles" at Harbor Farm in Maine (they have a website).
that's one seriously cool kid.
Love. Love. Love.
I love everything about this house! It looks so comfortable and lived in! I love that each room is distinct from the others, but still flows well between them. You don't ever feel like you're in a different home, but you still get a sense of individuality.
Amazing!
Great home! Sawyers' da man! Gotta love any kid that asks for a peace themed room, spends time in the crafts room and is into art at such an early age (and has parents that promote and encourage by displaying his work through out the home). A very comfortable and livable house. Love the master bedroom! I also enjoy the HT's with captions. (Suggest the Phillips and Corcoran for Sawyer some weekend if he hasn't already gone!)
Please tell me more about the river rock floor. I've been plotting something similar for my bathroom for several years, and collecting beach pebbles to do it with. Any tips or tricks to be aware of? They look like actual stones set in there, not the "pebble stone" tile sheets you can buy at Home Depot. Thanks!
Wow, gorgeous. Great overall flow and cohesiveness without being matchy. Please share the blue paint color, it looks perfect for a project I'm planning. Thanks!
One of the more generic boring homes I have seen on here. Kinda cookie-cutter unoriginal. Looks like it would be cozy, though. Just don't get why it is on apartment therapy. It looks like a JC Penney catalog.
The house is nice, but Sawyer is the true gem here. One very cool kid!
Geez, this is cookie cutter? Soundspirits needs to get out more. I think the house has a wonderful, playful vibe - does not restrict itself to one "look" or color scheme. Every room looks liveable and not just for show. I have to agree that Sawyer is a great kid - would like to know what Zane is up to, also (equal time, please!).
Thanks Citipearl!!! I don't think my house is cookie cutter either. As for Zane, I think he's in the first picture, running out of the house.......
Cute!
I just came back to this post for inspiration. It's still one of my favorites. Thank you for the tour. :-)