David Mitchell’s Cool and Calm in Arlington

I had the pleasure of spending a rainy afternoon the other day in designer David Mitchell’s Dupont Circle office, talking about a recent project he did in Arlington — a “beautiful little house,” he called it, but he infused it with a design that speaks volumes.

The checked chairs are vintage, which David had rebuilt and recovered for the space.

David is known for his ways with color and pattern, and this house is no different. All the rooms glow with greens, golds, olive, orange, aqua, and blues — “It’s got an earthy base, but brighter,” he said.

And as you can see in the living room, he has no trouble blending riots of pattern in a way that just totally works. “Getting all those patterns together is a real trick. Don’t try this on your own!” He said, in a joking tone, of course, but really, people, it’s true!

The view to the dining room is framed beautifully with matching console tables and mirrors, and the plants add a dramatic touch.

Apparently, David’s clients originally wanted to drastically rebuild this 1960′s house, and hired an architect to draw up extensive plans. “The house just kept getting grander and grander and grander,” David said. Ultimately, they simply let the designer work with the existing architecture. “This is a wonderful little house. Don’t overdo it,” he said. “People have a problem with simplicity when it comes to architecture.”

Speaking of simplicity, David designed the demure little side table to go with the Donghia-covered club chair, and chose soothing art for the walls.

Moving on into the family room, David’s flair with color and pattern really jumps out.

David covered the fireplace surround in porcelain tile that resembles petrified wood, from Architectural Ceramics. He chose a brown shag rug with a rustic cocktail table top (which he had custom made) on a metal base. The R. Jones club chairs are covered in Mokum, an Australian textile company.

The mission throughout the house is to keep the eye moving, so everywhere he’s blended square and circle shapes. “It’s all about movement.”

David has a cabinet maker whose name he fiercely protects -- and for good reason. He made the built-in shelves, the cocktail table, the table behind the sofa, and the built-in console against the far wall. (And don't you love those lights over the table?!)

Back in the dining room, looking out toward the sun room, this shot is a nice illustration of how two rooms can be completely different, yet complementary.

Notice the movement between the artwork in the dining room and the valences in the sun room, and the color in the dining room rug makes a nice transition into the sun room, as well.

If you really look a the picture above — the dining room seats, the art, the rug in the sun room, the window treatments — it’s another example of his “don’t try this at home” talent with pattern.

I'm loving the master bedroom -- my absolute favorite color is green, so this design is really speaking to me.

“I was looking for serenity in the bedroom,” David said. He’s also keenly aware of the two genders who occupy it. “You have to play with the masculine and feminine.”

He chose Thomas O'Brien's sleek dresser, along with wax-coated photography for this corner. The shimmering rug is by Tufenkian.

I asked David if the artwork above the bed served as the inspiration piece for the rest of the room, but on the contrary, he said, it was the last piece he chose to top it all off. I can’t believe he found something so perfect at the end, which seems to magically tie all the room’s color and patterns together.

I would never have thought of aqua and olive as an effective color combination, but here's the proof.

There are more pictures of this house in David’s AWESOME video montage on his Web site, right here. It shows the dining room and bedroom in particular in their unfinished state, morphing into the finished rooms. I have to say, David’s site is probably the coolest I’ve seen of interior designer sites —  you should definitely check it out.

Now, I’ll leave with shots I took of his office when I was there. He and his assistant, Elizabeth, were so much fun to talk to and hang out with that I completely lost track of the time. The DC meter maids didn’t, however, but the parking ticket was entirely worth it.