Obsessions

If you are a regular reader of my Blog you have probably noticed that I have certain obsessions. Usually I obsess about pizza and shoes, but now I have a new one - CHAIRS! Last year we purchased a stunning pair of Kaare Klint chairs for a Georgetown client. They are the most simple, elegant, and pure chairs I have seen in a long time. These chairs set off my latest obsession. Naturally, I had to find 6 dining room chairs by Kaare Klint. This week we are bidding on this pair of side chairs for a client's home in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It is always fun to have a client that appreciates beautiful furniture and allows me to vicariously feed my new obsession.

 

One of a Kind

DC Design House 2011, ‘One For the Guys.’

One of the things that I always feel is missing

from showhouses and shelter magazines are

spaces with a definite masculine point of view.

So, that was the starting point for creating

my room at this year’s showhouse. I had bought

this series of Olof Rudbeck’s bird prints about

2 years ago in Hudson, NY. I love them so much,

I really can’t sell them to a client. But, I thought

the beauty and simplicity of them would work so

well in this space. The bedroom has low ceilings

and small windows so I knew it would work for

my concept. I wanted to combine contemporary,

antique and found objects together and also to

explore a more textural and graphic use of

materials and fabrics to give the space a modern

American rustic look.

Faces Of DC Design House Press Day

Today was Press Day at the 2011 DC Design House, which is always great fun. You get to talk to people like the fabulous writer, Susan Dowell, all the home editors from the Washington Post, Eileen Demiere from Traditional Homes, Real Estate agent Ellen Wilner, writer Merlisa Corbett, Home and Design Editor Sharon Jaffe Dan, Carol Buckley from The Current Newspaper and Bloggers such as Jennifer Sergent, Leah Moss, Michele Ginnerty  and Lauren Liess. I would like to thank all the editors, photographers and fellow designers participating in this years showhouse and making it such a fun day.

DC Design House Update 3

One of the things about putting together a showhouse is getting all the accessories right. Elizabeth and I have been working on editing and figuring out what sort story we want to tell and decided that the showhouse room is all about texture. So, we have been pulling accessories from my house, the office and calling some of our favorite shops to see what will work. Today I think we have some of the things worked out, here is a sneak peak.

Bone beads on a raffia cord, a piece of American pottery, a vintage Orvis pocket watch in a Chinese bowl. Just some of the things we have found.

Vintage ceramic pot that we had made into a lamp.

Just four of the 38, Olof Rudbeck’s, bird prints that will hang in our room.

6 of the Makins hat collection from my house that we are using.

Flying With New Wings

When designer Victoria Hagan introduced her first furniture collection in 2003 she started a modern revolution by introducing her Wainscott Wing Chair. This barrel back chair has become one of the most influential and copied pieces of furniture in the last 8 years. From modernist to traditionalist, from Ballard Design to Edward Ferrell, everyone has been influenced by this chair.

Victoria Hagan

Wing Chairs

I look at wing back chairs as being almost sculptural in a room. They can add a sense of warmth and a sense of drama. I now find that I use wing back chairs in both modern and traditional interiors.

Wainscott Wing Chairs used in a Chevy Chase house, David Mitchell Interior Design, Washington Home and Design Magazine 

David Mitchell Interior Design, Washington Spaces Magazine

David Mitchell Interior Design, Southern Accents Magazine

This Issue Is A Keeper

Cover of Veranda Magazine April 2011

People know that I am a huge critic of what is happening in the world of shelter magazines. Over the last year I have seen so many ugly projects being published. I was beginning to wonder whether editors had lost their mojo, mommy bloggers had taken over or bad taste is now the norm. Then the April edition of Veranda arrived where editor in chief, Dara Caponigro and her editorial staff had put together a pitch perfect edition. From my friend, Frank Babb Randolph’s Georgetown project to David Kleinberg’s interior for a New York apartment which is probably the prettiest and most beautifully executed spread I have seen in three years, this issue is a keeper.

Dara, call me! I have a project for you

DC Design House 2011 Part 2

The original wallpaper is being stripped off the walls and ceiling. Our painter had the fun task of doing it saying it felt like 7 layers.

Painter removing the horrible wallpaper from the ceiling

Stripped Walls

Just the Right Light

Since I work in a verity of styles everything from traditional to modern I have really learned that no matter how great the table is, the chairs are and the back drop is, the lighting fixture (the chandelier) is what makes the dining room sing.



In this very traditional county house the walls are painted and waxed with the song birds of Virginia. The chairs are covered in a cut velvet and the table is walnut with a brass inlay. But, the gold leaf and crystal Swedish chandelier is the item that pulls it all together.



This very eclectic house with a French wine tasting table, art deco chairs and the two large host chairs upholstered in a very earthy gray and chocolate brown print which echo the graphic pattern of the painted striped floors. I found this rather modest light fixture that is both traditional and contemporary at the same time. Remarkably this fixture is inexpensive costing only $195.00. But, it seemed to be the perfect chandelier for this dining room.



In this Arlington VA home in which I designed to have a more contemporary California feel to it. My wonderful assistant Elizabeth found this great modern chandelier which is a mixture of chrome and hand formed glass drops. This is perfect for a young couples home.

 

DC Design House 2011 Update

Demolition on the DC Design House 2011 has begun...there is no turning back now.

Garden

Although the days are beginning to get longer, we still have a couple more weeks of winter to survive. There was actually snow on my front lawn this past Sunday evening. Since we are all wishing for Spring to hurry up and get here, here are some things to move it along. One of the most beautiful ways to bring spring into your house year round is with a landscape painting. A more contemporary way to do it is with photography.



One of my favorite landscape photographers is Lynn Geesaman. I successfully used a pair of Geesaman photos in a client's apartment in Washington, DC.





This detail shows how I used a rich leaf green and blue on the sofa to bring the outside in.

Inspiration

Every time we do a project we do an inspiration board. This is the one we put together for the 2011 DC Design House for the bedroom we are designing.

Spring Show House

In most large metropolitan areas during the Spring there is always a designer show-house. In Washington it is the DC Design House that raises money for Children’s Hospital, one of my favorite charities. So, I choose to participate. Most of the time when I design a show-house room I choose one of the larger main rooms, like a living room or dining room. But this year I wanted to do a small intimate space, so I am designing a small bedroom on the 2nd floor. One of the most interesting parts of a show-house is the transition from a room of horrors to something beautiful, functional and appealing. This year I've decided to take a slightly different approach and design a room for guys. Show-houses have a tendency to be over run by a lack of originality, so that everything tends to look the same. It seems like a lot of young designers don’t take the time to develop their own voice, and as result they become interchangeable.

Over the next month I will be posting photos of the progress and final installation of the room. So, lets start with the before.



To give you more of an idea of how this all works,  here are some photos of the last DC Design House where I participated.  The house was a beautiful Victorian in Georgetown, and Elizabeth and I designed the Living Room.

A showhouse always begins with an empty room. Sometimes you are lucky and the space already has great bones, which makes it easier to have a wonderful decorating project.

When you have great bones then you need great things to go in it.

Pink Men

According to this months House Beautiful men like pink now. Oh, really?! As a designer who has had numerous single men, gay couples, hipsters, divorced dads, men about town and confirmed bachelors as clients, no man has ever asked me for anything pink. Maybe editor, Newell Tuner, should have checked with his buddies before making this statement. The only thing pink that us guys own is the obligatory pink oxford cloth shirt from Brook’s Brothers that we all bought on sale and now sits in the back of our closets, the very back of our closest.