Spring has arrived, and this year's DC Design House is a wonderful reflection of Washington's most idyllic season. The historic beaux-arts mansion was beautiful to begin with, but the all-star line up of designers has breathed an air of freshness and class into it that's fitting for a city currently overflowing with myriads of cherry blossoms and budding greens.
This year's design house was lovely for many reasons, but in my opinion, one of was the most notable — and unexpected — elements was the cohesion between the rooms. It would have been easy for such a large home to appear choppy, but the rooms flowed beautifully while still retaining their strong individual personalities. This was probably due to the fact that Farrow&Ball supplied all the paint and wallcoverings (with just a few exceptions).
Look for room descriptions in the captions that appear under each picture.
It was impossible to capture the grandeur and talent of this totally transformed house in a single post, so look out for more details and "before & afters" in the coming weeks. And in the meantime you can purchase your tickets online and mark your calenders for opening day, April 10th, to see it yourself! The Design House runs through May 9 (Tuesday-Friday: 10am - 3pm and Saturday & Sunday: 12pm - 5pm). All proceeds benefit the Children's National Medical Center.
MORE INFO ONLINE: 2010 DC Design House.
To check out what the house looked like before this talented crew got their hands on it, check out our Bare Bones Tour: DC Design House 2010.
Images: Leah Moss
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Can you say decorator hear me roar! Really how many big white vases, urns and huge center pieces on tables you fit into one space.
The fifth picture is the only one I find remotely inspiring or interesting because of the wall and ceiling treatments.
I agree with LoriSF, my taste is pretty traditional but the only one I like is #2 but I realized it's because of the staircase and moldings.
its all a bit same-y, i liked the kitchen tho... i've never seen so many shades of beige.
I live in the neighborhood this house is in, and walked over there when they had an estate sale, when the house was in "before" mode. It was gorgeous, but terrible paint colors and looked rather run-down. That enormous art deco light fixture in the top right of the first picture was one of the best things -- I'm glad they kept it. But I do agree that the designers seem to have played it a little bit safe, given the potential of the house.
It's nice enough. Nothing really stands out though. Honestly, it's a bit dry for my taste. They made traditional boring. I always thought that the point was of a design house was to do something exciting, if not a bit outrageous.
i just got back from a visit--thought it was incredibly boring, if inoffensive (and, i suppose "tasteful"), apart from a couple rooms that at least had some character. Can't DC do better than this?