“When we first moved into our home, the dining room was a blank slate with dull white walls,” says homeowner Catherine Abramson, who lives with her husband, Michael, and two young children.
Referred by a family friend, interior designer Katy Anderson wholeheartedly embraced the project, striving to incorporate the homeowners’ family heirlooms — the dining table, side chairs, and sideboard — into a reinvigorated design.
“The existing furnishings were beautiful, but the room felt empty and incomplete,” recalls Anderson. “The bonus, from a design standpoint, was the sideboard has an Asian influence, and the homeowners had a collection of blue-and-white ginger jars. These quickly became the basis for the overall décor and vibe of the room.”
The chinoiserie influence first came into play when purchasing and upholstering new high-backed host and hostess chairs. The fabric’s Asian-influenced print quickly became the room’s palette, one highlighted by ivory ground, raspberry pagodas and blossoms, pale blues, soft greens, and a raspberry hue pulled directly from the side chairs’ cut-velvet seats.
“The added wallpaper, with its whimsical branch design, complemented both the host and hostess chairs’ landscape pattern and the homeowners’ love for chartreuse,” says Anderson.
Meanwhile, an elegant gilt chandelier, with floral-shaped crystals, works with the wallpaper’s botanical theme without visually crowding the space.
“The chandelier is often the first place your eye travels, so we were fortunate that our client was ready to splurge for this fixture,” adds Anderson. “It is airy and light, yet still has a rich ‘glam’ factor for special occasions.”
Tall curtain panels with a blue-and-white geometric tape — a design inspired by the ginger jars — add further polish and dress up the windows.
“The introduction of chartreuse emboldened us to go further with the blues,” says Anderson, referencing the room’s abstract art and blue lacquered bamboo mirror that rests over the sideboard.
Other finishing touches include a bold, black-bordered sisal rug that echoes the iron curtain rod, a pair of fluted gilt-metal standing lamps for the sideboard, and a traveling bar cart.
“Of course, we use the dining room for hosting family and friends for special occasions, but I also love looking at it throughout the day,” Abramson says. “Its simple elegance is refreshing and uplifting.”
Feature image by Robert Radifera for Stylish Productions
This story originally ran in our November issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to our monthly magazine.
