Sorry for the prolonged silence — it’s budget time at the design center and I’ve been buried in Excel spread sheets. But one thing that’s got me coming up for air is the innovative nature of Charles Luck — when my former Washington Spaces colleague, Meghan Marino went to them after the magazine closed, I started paying more attention. I was somewhat surprised to hear that they search out trends from the likes of Maison et Objet in Paris — a stone center? Ok, well, check it out:

Not something a typical homeowner would expect when he or she is looking for stone in a kitchen, bath, or patio, huh?

Well, Charles Luck has teamed up with Virginia Commonwealth University’s fashion design and merchandising department to promote some of its stone as inspiration for fashion. Students were assigned to find a pattern in stone and interpret it into clothes. The photo directly above, for example, was inspired from Charles Lucks’ Struttura line of mosaics by Kate Bruce of Mechanicsville, Va.:

All of the students’ work is chronicled on Charles Luck’s blog, Perspectives.

Here’s another great pattern, which has been turned into fashion:

First there was Blue agate,

Which Vanja Smitran of Richmond turned into this preliminary sketch:

And then there was this amazing result:

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a photo shoot taken in a rock quarry, but Vogue should watch out: Charles Luck’s Boscobel quarry is a stark, elegant backdrop, especially for fashion inspired by its geology.

Here’s another interpretation from Jennie Onisk of Baldwinsville, NY, with classic marble as the starting point:

The sketch that followed:

And the result:

And here’s a really cool project, taken from the ladies’ room at Charles Luck’s studio:

Tess Priselac, a junior from Virginia Beach, Va., put the pattern of this marble, which was inspired by Turkish rugs, into the computer to come up with her sketch:

And then she produced this outfit:

Wow! And that’s not all: She was so inspired by the stones that she sewed the real thing into the jacket that goes with this ensemble:

VCU is really coming up with great design talent in all areas. This summer, I wrote a story for The Washington Post (right here) on the production designers for “Mad Men” and “Sex and the City” — who grew up together and then went on to VCU to study set design. The university is clearly an incubator of great design talent, and three cheers go to  Charles Luck for recognizing — and leveraging — that talent.

We just got an early edition of Elle Decor’s November 2010 issue this week, which isn’t even on their Web site yet (and I couldn’t find an image online), but the cover boasts this incredible landscape wall mural in a NY apartment. It immediately made me think of the work that Julia Phillips O’Reilly and her husband, Patrick, are doing at Monkton Studios in Monkton, MD:

It’s the same kind of ethereal, French-style landscape here as what you will soon see on the cover of one of the most well-regarded national shelter magazines. This look might indeed be coming back into vogue — if it ever went out, of course. Beauty like this really is never out of style.

And can you even believe that this picture below isn’t wallpaper? These murals are the work of Patrick, Julia points out.

Julia is the daughter of Paul and Dee Dee Phillips, whose store, Carolina Street in Fenwick Island, Del., I wrote about in August. I just found out this week that their landlord is refusing to renew the lease, so they are being forced to close.

Julia’s parents will continue in a smaller building to the rear of where they are now. Closer to home, however, I’m pleased to see that their talented daughter is going strong. Check out this delicate mural of pink azaleas:

It just looks so real! And then here is a dazzling ceiling mural — I think I could become very good at the piano if I got to practice in this room:

Julia recently painted two rooms in designer Skip Sroka’s new home off Foxhall Road in DC, which was just featured in Home & Design Magazine. She sent me a picture of the powder room, which, sadly, didn’t make it into the spread.

Apparently, she did a lot of work on the brown surface to make it resemble burlap before she painted on the delicate, pale blue details at the top and bottom.

She also does her fair share of commercial work, as we see in Mustang Alleys bar, bistro and bowling alley in Baltimore:

Julia also paints floors.

And take a look at the detailing of this zebra pattern, so you can see how intricate her painting is:

And as they said on those old K-tel commercials, that’s not all!

Monkton Studios has now embarked on building and painting custom furniture.

The painting is beautiful, as you would expect, but the lines of this chest are also exquisite. That’s one of the things I most love about my job these days — I get to meet all these creative and talented artisans. Not being one myself, I like being in their orbit.

Before I start in on this post, a little background: A got an intriguing proposal from the Dutch Boy paint company earlier this summer — coincidentally, at the same time we began to contemplate redecorating our sons’ bedroom. They contacted me, asking if I were interested in reviewing their paint on my blog in exchange for them providing the paint at no charge. They emphasized that they only wanted an honest review, and not an advertorial. So, since I was in the market for paint anyway, I agreed. Now I will proceed with the review.

Before Dutch Boy came into our life, here are the before pictures of our sons’ room, which my 8-year-old declared was too “baby,” and inviting his friends to the house would be out of the question until he had a more appropriate look. The 5-year-old didn’t seem to care one way or the other.

The room in all its toddler glory: washed pale green and blue paint, and construction-themed comforters from Target (I still love those matching truck pillows...)

Green carpet remnant, more construction themes in the Target valances, and a hanging toy holder from Ikea. The ceiling light stays -- a solid boy's room light for any age.

I framed my husband's Little League photographs, which made the cut for the new room -- along with the boys' current Little League paraphernalia. The white chest/bookcase from Pottery Barn originally stored crib sheets and burp cloths in the old nursery, as well as baby books. It needed a change.

Now, here we go with the transformation. About a year ago, Henry (the 8-year-old) and I ended up at this cool little quilt shop in Sperryville, Va., called Beech Spring Gifts and Quilts. He spotted some really great twin-sized quilts in dark Navy blue and khaki. They became the inspiration for the new room. I also found the perfect new rug from Dash & Albert at The Red Barn Mercantile in Alexandria, in the “Tobacco Ticking” style — the colors are  great match to the quilts.

Those staples in hand, I went about choosing paint colors, with astute advice from my friend, designer Dana Tydings. Dutch Boy allowed me to choose four colors, which I did for the ceiling, trim, walls, and book cases. You can see the colors in my “after” pictures, but oddly, there are no swatch images on the Dutch Boy Web site.

We chose Boothill Brown (B9-2) in eggshell for the walls.

We used White Lullaby (DW30) in semi-gloss for the trim -- just creamy enough to complement the off-white stripes in the quilts, but not so much that there was any yellow cast to it.

Here is the door, with the trim already painted in the White Lullaby, but we haven't yet painted the door. If you look closely, you can see how the new paint made our old paint look very slightly pink -- weird.

Ta-da! Here is the result, with the bookcases painted in this wonderful deep Navy semi-gloss, which is called Coal Blue (E16-1). The boys and I are very pleased.

I would say overall that the painting process went very smoothly. We especially liked the gallon-sized plastic jugs with a built-in pour spout and a twist-off lid. My husband wondered why every paint company does not do this.

This shot includes the ceiling, which we painted in a flat Ultra White (DW31). It's a nice pure white with no discernible color undertones, perfect for a ceiling.

The paint dries extremely fast, we found — which can be both good and bad. Good, because you can paint a second coat fairly soon after the first one, but bad, because it tended to glop up at times, forcing you to go back over details with a brush to smooth it out or pick off tiny glop balls. I would say this was the case when we were painting the louvered doors more than when we were rolling paint onto the walls.

I had never used Dutch Boy before, which is a division of Sherwin Williams, and I was pretty satisfied with the result — especially because I think the paint chips accurately represented the true color once it was on the walls.

The Coal-blue chest/bookcase is a dead-on match to the stripes in the rug.

The only problem we had was with the bookcases. Both had been painted before, so I will say that we didn’t use any primer. And maybe it was because we were painting in the hottest, most humid time of year. BUT: After painting the cases, we left them to dry for more than two weeks before we put anything in or on them. Nevertheless, items were still sticking to the surface — so much so that even now when I take a book out, it sticks. There are several scuffs in the paint as a result, which I have no intention of fixing, because they are under books and objects on the top surface.

I really don’t know if this was because of the paint quality or the time of year, but I just need to put it out there. More than a month later, I can now put my hand on the top of the case and not feel any tackiness on the surface. I should have heeded my husband’s advice to wait a full month before I put the books back, but I’m sure anyone reading this will agree with me in that I just wanted to get the room done!

So, I think for painting walls, Dutch Boy performed well, and I would certainly buy it in the future, considering its price points are much lower than other well-known competitors. Perhaps I won’t paint furniture with it though.

Here are some other notes on the room. I wrote an earlier post this summer soliciting advice on window treatments, and after considering all the comments, which were overwhelmingly in favor of white over brown, I finally found this fabulous “Primitive Stripe” fabric at Calico Corners, and it was on sale! I think the rough texture, along with the blue stripe, will go great with the room. I await the store’s semi-annual sale in September to have new Roman shades fabricated:

In addition, I was delighted to get some designer hand-me-downs for the room: I was recently at the home of another dear designer friend, Debbie Wiener of Designing Solutions, who had decorated the media room/ sports lounge for the Washington Design Center’s Design House in 2009.

She got some huge cardboard cutouts of DC sports figures from Fathead for the room, but when she had taken down the room at the end of the Design House, she took them home, and had simply leaned them against the wall in her office. I saw them there, and asked how much she wanted for them. She said she’d be pleased if I would just take them off her hands!

Here's the Wizards' Gilbert Arenas dunking the basketball over Chal's bed.

Alexander Ovechkin and Clinton Portis duke it out over the bookcase.

Here’s how they looked in Debbie’s Design House room (much better, I know!):

You can spot Clinton and a tiny piece of Gilbert in the left corner. Photographs from The Washington Design Center.

Here's Ovechkin, and a piece of Adam's hand...

Thanks, Debbie, for letting the boys have the sports figures. And thanks, Dutch Boy, for kindly letting us play guinea pig with your paint. We had a great time with this room, and the new Roman shades, as a result of all your great comments, will cap it all off.

Who wouldn’t love to work in a place that is surrounded by beauty? This week, I became lucky enough to do just that. I started work as the marketing director at The Washington Design Center — a place I have always loved to go to see the quality and craftsmanship in more than 50 showrooms on seven floors.

We're at 300 D St. SW, at the Federal Center SW Metro. Photograph by Gordon Beall via Architectural Digest

In my first four days, I’ve only just started going to each showroom individually, but I’ve already learned some incredible stories, which we’ll share in more detail on THE NEW BLOG we’re setting up for the WDC Web site, in an effort to give designers, architects, builders — even consumers — a better glimpse into what’s going on.

But I’ll share a few nuggets here to whet your appetite:

First, Lee Jofa has a new partnership with fashion designer Oscar de la Renta, who has created fabric designs that I wanted to wrap myself up in the other day! (My blog buddie Susie Isaac of Maddie G Designs wrote a whole post about the parnership earlier this year, right here.)

From Elle Decor via Maddie G Designs

Oscar created dresses and skirts out of the fabric, and there’s a video showing the fashion show in the Kravat/Lee Jofa showroom. Some of the actual skirts will be arriving here soon, which will ultimately be auctioned off.

And upstairs in the Century showroom, where Oscar also designs furniture, showroom manager Debbie Pegher showed me a stunning photograph of a bed frame upholstered with one of his new Lee Jofa designs.

From Elle Decor via Maddie G Designs

I also spent time this week in the J. Lambeth showroom, where Ann and Jim Lambeth have been friends since I was at Washington Spaces. I adore all their lines, which include Barry Dixon’s fabric for Vervain,

and his furniture for Tomlinson/Erwin-Lambeth;

luscious pieces from the French furniture maker Grange,

and funky fabrics by Lucy Rose.

The latest news at J. Lambeth is that one of its brands, Fabricut, just acquired the venerable fabric house of Stroheim & Romann, which had its own showroom in the WDC. Now, there is major construction going on to combine the showrooms, so it will all be on the first floor, prominently located off the right side of the lobby. J. Lambeth, which has always been on two floors, will now be on one.

I also went to visit the J. Asher Carpet Couture showroom this week, where I learned that its carpets cover the grand auditorium of the Department of Interior (where I used to go to see the winning artists of the annual Duck Stamp contest!), the main house and 13 guest cabins of Camp David, and the Opera House and Concert Hall of the Kennedy Center, to name a few notable destinations. And the red and blue carpet going up the Capitol steps at each inauguration? Yup — J. Asher.

The showroom carries lines by Tufenkian, Alexa Hampton, Barbara Barry, and other lines known for their exquisitely woven designs. Here are some examples from its Web site:

I have obviously given short shrift to the many showrooms I didn’t mention in this post, which is why I’m so excited that our team is putting together a new blog for the WDC so we can celebrate them all on a regular basis.

I hope that any of you interested in stopping by to see what they have to offer will come visit me!

I have been eagerly awaiting tomorrow’s Real Estate section in The Post to see who won its Mad Men design contest. But no need to wait — the winner is already online right here! I’m just as thrilled, of course, that my story yesterday about Mad Men‘s production designer having grown up in Hollin Hills with Sex and the City‘s production designer is linked to this one, right here.

Melissa Talley and Christopher Naughten of Silver Spring take home the honors.

The architecture is just as appropriate as the furniture here.

loving the orange chair -- this couple spent years of flea-market shopping and Dumpster diving to accumulate their collection.

The dining room seems like it's taken directly off the Mad Men set.

The built-in copper planter in the entry is lovely, especially with the stone column. And I wish I knew what those colorful "tails" are on the wall panel -- very cool.

There are many more pictures on The Post’s site, so go there to see them and read the story about these homeowners. Second place in the contest goes to Michael Shapiro, author of the Modern Capital blog, who consistently lets us see the mid-century-modern homes that dot our area in larger numbers than most of us would think. Here is his home:

Have a great weekend, everyone!

I’m so excited to share these dramatic photos with you from photographer Morgan Howarth‘s students — they took the pictures back when it was cold out, but I was waiting until my article about David Bearden’s loft downtown ran in the Washington Examiner, which it did today!

All photos by Sheila Reyes-Bunnag, Cathrine Sanders, Shirly Pezo, Brett Shipe, Ther Punggam, Dante Byrd and Kylie Faye, students in Morgan Howarth's class on architectural photography at the Center for Digital Imaging Arts.

I found out about David through artist Mike Weber, who consulted with him on placing art in this two-story condo in the Langston Lofts.  And when I talked to David, a policy analyst with the Congressional Research Service, I was struck by his academic knowledge of mid-century furnishings. As you can see above, his Eames armchairs and 1956 Eames sofa look almost like museum pieces in this carefully curated space. The modern abstract art on the walls, along with the sleek Room & Board chests, further enhances this uber-contemporary look.

George Nelson pendant, "Zero" table by Stua, and red Eames chairs punctuate the dining space.

Here is David, quoted from my story:

“I definitely like as minimal ornamentation as possible,” he says. The result is a soothing atmosphere that allows him to clear his head after hectic days at work.

“It allows me to recuperate and re-energize,” he says. “It’s a clutter-free space where the energy flows freely and you can relax.”

David told me he prefers solitude in his space rather than lots of guests. And wouldn’t it be great to have this cool, modern, light-filled and art-filled space all to yourself?

Le Corbusier horsehide chaise.

For more information about David’s art collection and his collaboration with Mike Weber, see my story in the Examiner, right here.

I plan to offer many more details about the transformation of our sons’ bedroom in a couple weeks, but I have a huge conundrum right now: what kind of wood blinds for the window?

First, here is where we started, with those ugly metal blinds from the house’s previous owner (not to mention the toddler design scheme):

The blinds are lowered on the window to the left.

Here is the new room, with handmade quilts from Beech Spring Gifts and Quilts in Sperryville, VA (thank you Barry Dixon and Michael Schmidt for the referral) as the inspiration piece, and a coordinating rug from Dash & Albert, purchased from Red Barn Mercantile.

We are still waiting for the paint to cure on the bookcases before we can put the books back.

NOW, tell me: should I put white wood blinds on the windows, or natural wood color? Either way, they will have a Navy-blue tape running down each side. I can’t decide if the white will be too much white with the doors, or the brown will be too much brown with the walls.

I’m kinda leaning toward brown, however, because with the blue tape and white window trim — that will feature all three colors. But my husband is leaning toward the white, because he understandably doesn’t want the room too dark.

There won’t be any valances or any other window treatments. What do you think, design-minded friends? White or natural wood?

First, we are just lucky to have a place to go when we want to go to the beach –but when you see my mother’s house in Fenwick Island, you’ll know that it’s not simply “a place to go.”

Mom bought the house when it was still under construction eight years ago, and she was not content to furnish it with any sort of cheap “beach” furniture. Instead, she turned to J. Conn Scott, a fabulous furnishing store in nearby Selbyville, Del. that carries all the best lines. And most of the whimsical lighting came from Shades of Light.

I adore the trunk in the office with mother-of-pearl inlay. Mom got the Fenwick Island pillow from a cute home shop just down the street called Carolina Street.

But the beach isn’t about staying inside, so we spend most of our time on the porch.

The cheerful kitchen is always pleasant to wake up to — and it holds a crowd when we’re all cooking dinner together.

Upstairs, Mom didn’t skimp on the bedroom decor, nor does the house skimp on the views.

Mom’s room:

My sister’s room:

My room:

And the kids’ room. Our boys are now 5 and 8, but they continue to tolerate the room’s soft colors, which were chosen when my eight-year-old was a baby. It’s my favorite room, with many happy memories of bedtime stories and snuggles.

There are contributions in this room from both myself, with this mask that I’ve had since I was a child,

and the boys, who are all about pirates (this sign was actually a gift to them from my sister).

My parents have had different places at Fenwick on and off through the years, so it’s the beach I’ve always gone to, and I never tire of its sleepy, family-friendly atmosphere. Tomorrow, I will show you some of my favorite houses in this little town.

I’m not the craftiest of people, you see.

But I was inspired to do a craft in the process of writing about DIY decorating ideas. It gave me an excuse to do something with this vintage floor lamp I’ve had probably for 15 years, which has been naked like this for the whole time:

Enough designer friends convinced me that it would be easy to buy a plain lamp shade and spruce it up. First, Dana Tydings suggested using wallpaper on the inside of the shade, but I completely failed on that count. When I found myself multiplying the shade’s diameter by pi, and the measurements were still coming out wrong, I knew I was too far over my head.

But then designer Sally Steponkus told me that simply wrapping trim around the top and bottom would suffice — with only a pair of scissors and a little glue. That sounded more up my alley.

Ta da! I got everything I needed from my dearly beloved Bruce Variety in Bethesda: anti-fray cream for the rope trim, glue and the trim itself. I took the light into Lamps Unlimited in McLean for the shade. They also told me that the socket was all bad and I risked an imminent fire, so they fixed that right up for me. AND I found the beautiful finnial which has the same colors as my living room.

Designer Raji Radhakrishnan mentioned that I should also use the trim down the seam of the shade, which would look unfinished without it. So here’s the final image:

So, I’m sure if you asked Martha, she would offer multiple suggestions on improvements. But my little craft project makes the living room SO much more inviting, and I just sat on the sofa last night and smiled.

As I write, my kids are packing for our trip to my mother’s beach house in Fenwick Island, Del. So obviously, I’ve got beach on the brain. That’s why I thought of this highly unusual beach-house renovation in Bethany Beach, just north of Fenwick. It’s the work of Ilex Construction, Brooke Steuart Interiors, and Jennifer Gilmer Kitchen & Bath (who did the house’s kitchen and master bath), for owners whose primary residence is in Potomac.

Enjoy these befores and afters, and have a great weekend. You probably won’t see me again until Tuesday or Wednesday. No computers for a few days — only sand and (hopefully) sun!

Here is the grand entry, full of swimming-pool blue, watery tile, and driftwood-like flooring.

Here is the family room before the renovation…

… and here is the new-and-improved version:

Now, the forgettable “before” version of the kitchen:

And the memorable After:

Upstairs, the master bedroom is a vision in lavender — whether or not you like lavender!

I don’t normally equate beach style with Art Deco like you see in this master bath, but it’s already clear that these owners aren’t going for the stereotypical beach look.

Here’s the blah before:

And the dramatic renovation:

Have a great holiday weekend, folks.