This year I was honored to be selected to design a room for the 2018 New Hampshire Designer Showhouse in Nashua, New Hampshire. The showhouse is a historic mansion built in 1906 by Frank E. Anderson, the President of Estabrook-Anderson Show Company, in the Beaux Arts Classical Style. The 90 Concord Street mansion is built of red brick and dressed in white marble and slate with iconic columns and balustrades. The showhouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the "Nashville Historic District".
Open to the public for the entire month of August, 2018, all proceeds from ticket sales support Home Health & Hospice Care of Merrimack, New Hampshire. A hospice facility that supports people at the end of life who do not have the resources or insurance to transition comfortably.
Open to the public for the entire month of August, 2018, all proceeds from ticket sales support Home Health & Hospice Care of Merrimack, New Hampshire. A hospice facility that supports people at the end of life who do not have the resources or insurance to transition comfortably.
The house is currently owned by Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, who typically uses the home for events, and fundraisers. Some designer showhouses are either, owned by an individual who works with the sponsoring organization and the designers and signs off on all the designs prior to work beginning such as this year's Pasadena Showcase House of Design, https://www.pasadenashowcase.org/, or is the same house used year after year just for the purpose of being an over the top designer show piece, like the Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse in Manhattan owned by the Boys & Girls Club, which also uses the event as a fundraiser. http://www.kipsbaydecoratorshowhouse.org/
Since my showhouse is used by the school, a Catholic Liberal Arts College, I felt it was important to make sure anything I did to the surfaces of the room; walls, trim, ceiling, and window treatments, would make sense and have an appropriate feel once all the furnishings and accessories were removed. I could be dramatic and make a "statement" through the use of fabrics, lighting, furnishings, and accessories. My room was called the South Bedroom. A comfortable size room with 10 foot high ceiling, but it had a wall with two windows, and two walls that each had a closet and an interior door. Luckily there was one large wall with no openings, except a large radiator. Hmm, how could I disguise that!!
Since my showhouse is used by the school, a Catholic Liberal Arts College, I felt it was important to make sure anything I did to the surfaces of the room; walls, trim, ceiling, and window treatments, would make sense and have an appropriate feel once all the furnishings and accessories were removed. I could be dramatic and make a "statement" through the use of fabrics, lighting, furnishings, and accessories. My room was called the South Bedroom. A comfortable size room with 10 foot high ceiling, but it had a wall with two windows, and two walls that each had a closet and an interior door. Luckily there was one large wall with no openings, except a large radiator. Hmm, how could I disguise that!!
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When I design a room, I usually pick one piece as the inspiration for the room and then every other design choice flows from there. Typically, I have also talked to the client to understand their likes and dislikes, style and color preference and so on. In this case, I was my own client, but since we were asked to give our room a name, I created a fictional client, a young woman, early twenties, worldly, witty, stylish, and unique, I called the bedroom "Cosmopolitan Twist".
I knew I wanted a four-poster-bed to honor the age and style of the house, but I did not want the traditional look in the posts and dark wood. I wanted it to have an updated look, with a light finish. I found exactly what I was looking for from Universal Furniture and their Dogwood four-poster-bed.
My next inspiration piece was a pair of pillows by Callisto Home. The blue and gold were exactly the right colors I had imagined for the room. I wanted the room to be bright, with shades of blue and metallic gold.
I knew I wanted a four-poster-bed to honor the age and style of the house, but I did not want the traditional look in the posts and dark wood. I wanted it to have an updated look, with a light finish. I found exactly what I was looking for from Universal Furniture and their Dogwood four-poster-bed.
My next inspiration piece was a pair of pillows by Callisto Home. The blue and gold were exactly the right colors I had imagined for the room. I wanted the room to be bright, with shades of blue and metallic gold.
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I decided I put wallpaper on the walls, because I didn't want to just paint them, and the walls were old and had some cracks and uneven parts. The right wall paper would hide these. I looked at SO many wallpaper samples, from very graphic, to floral, to stripes, and I finally found the perfect wallpaper from Osborne & Little, https://www.osborneandlittle.com/, Fresco, reminiscent of old plaster paint wall, but updated in shiny lemony gold, white, and silver undertones. It is gorgeous!!
Next, I wanted to find a large chandelier that made a statement, was bold, beautiful and had that "WOW" factor. Again, I looked at so many options, some by Currey & Co. some by World's Away, but none of them created that sense of excitement. Finally, somehow, my search led me to an ostrich feather chandelier by Los Angeles designer, Jamie Dietrich, http://jamiedietrich.com/. This was the one, and the color I choose would add the dramatic pop of color I was looking for, Fuchsia!!
To make the chandelier stand out even more, I decided I would paint the ceiling a dark, almost cobalt, blue with a Satin finish to make it shine just enough. Since the ceiling was 10ft high, I knew the room could handle the dark ceiling, and I had also painted the trim a nice white, and the cove molding between the trim and the ceiling a beautiful shade of gold that worked with the tones in the wallpaper.
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With the finishes complete I needed to find a rug that worked with the design. Not too traditional, not too modern. PRG rugs in Nashua, NH, http://www.prgrugs.com/, had graciously offered to donate rugs for the showhouse!! After looking through every rug, do you get the sense I am a perfectionist? I found the right one!
As I started to look for other furnishings the style of the room was really coming together. I wanted some more updated pieces that still had a classic look to them. I found a great Klismos style chair, but in acrylic, from Worlds Away, http://www.worlds-away.com/. I had the seat reupholstered in a pink zebra print fabric and it looks amazing!!
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I think it is always important to think outside the box in design and create pieces of art from found objects. I found a unique stick sculpture and just had to have it. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to use it in my showhouse bedroom, but I had the perfect place to put it and I knew I would figure something out. I wanted to pay homage to inspiring women, and travel, because traveling opens our minds and expands our view of the world in positive ways. Honestly, in the middle of the night one sleepless evening it came to me. Let me know what you think!!
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I also looked around for unique art work from artists that would really suit the theme of the room. I found this great piece by Maisa Champalimaud of Portugal, https://www.maisachampalimaud.com/. I couldn't afford to purchase the original, but I contacted her, told her about my showhouse, and she had a print made and sent it to me. I love it and I think it is just perfect!!
Since I had designed the room for a twenty something year old woman, with a sense of humor, I added some fun pieces I found. The brass monkeys are from Noir Furniturela, https://noirfurniturela.com/, and the Audrey pillow is from Redbubble, https://www.redbubble.com/.
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I also like to use craftspeople on Etsy, and I had custom lampshades made for the two table lamps I place on the bedside tables by http://cruelmountain.com/ and I purchased a beautiful fuschia alpaca throw from
https://www.etsy.com/people/WorldWakeUp, seen here loaded into the back of my car with many of the other accessories for the room.
https://www.etsy.com/people/WorldWakeUp, seen here loaded into the back of my car with many of the other accessories for the room.
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The window treatments were the last items to be installed in the room. I worked with Barbara Burton of B. Burton Custom Decor, LLC, https://www.bburtoncustomdecor.com/, to find the perfect fabric and have them fabricated. I also purchased fabrics for the wing chair I had reupholstered from her and she made the lumbar pillow for me from the zebra fabric that I had also used on the acrylic chair. It is always hard to get good photographs of window treatments due to the back lighting from the windows, but when you see the room, you will see how they enhanced it. The windows were low compared to the height of the ceiling, so we raised the valance up higher to give the appearance that the windows are taller than they actually are. A trick of the trade!
Finally, it is time to show the completed room. I will do this through vignettes and finally in the head on view of the main wall. Enjoy and let me know what you think!
Finally, it is time to show the completed room. I will do this through vignettes and finally in the head on view of the main wall. Enjoy and let me know what you think!
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The final shot!
I really enjoyed designing the bedroom for the Designer Showhouse. I hope you enjoyed this blog post, and if you are in the area, head over to the showhouse to experience it for yourself!!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/new-hampshire-designer-showhouse-tickets-44804540587
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/new-hampshire-designer-showhouse-tickets-44804540587
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