Happy New Year to you all

This past year has been a whirlwind for us at Powell Brower Interiors, ending with the recent press article in Small Space Decorating, the Spring 2019 quarterly issue, that came out in November.  We are so grateful to have accomplished our 2018 goal of being published in a national magazine.  As luck would have it, we were published in four magazines.  Now on to new goals in 2019!

Here is our most recent article featuring a lovely client who downsized from a large home to a condominium in the Maywood community of Arlington, Virginia.

Many thanks to Charlotte Safavi, Stylish Productions and Robert Radifera Photography

Thank you all for following us and we hope to bring you great things this coming year! Our passion of practicing the best interior design we can offer to our clients is created by infusing calm, natural and collected spaces.  We want to take the 'snobbery' out of interior design and genuinely help those who want to live better in their homes.

Have a wonderful year in 2019!

Nancy & Bethany

Northern Virginia Magazine feature

           

This article in the May 2018 issue of Northern Virginia Magazine is very near and dear to my heart, as it speaks of all the contributions of our family members in helping Bethany create her Warrenton home.  Bethany, her husband John, my son Michael, my husband Jim and myself, all helped in executing her vision in redesigning their cottage home from traditional to a more modern farmhouse.  Nestled in the mountainous woods of 'horse country' Virginia, Bethany's plan was to de-countrify her cedar cape cod, adding more contemporary elements and furnishings.  

I hope you enjoy reading about her journey with her family's participation.  

She and John  have purchased a new property nearby and are off on another exciting design adventure!

Happy summer to all of you.

The Cottage Journal

We are so pleased to be featured in the April  2018 issue of The Cottage Journal! This has been quite a spring for us at Powell Brower Interiors and we are so grateful.

Here are pictures of Bethany's former home in Warrenton, Virginia and a link to the story.

Thank you so much Helen Norman, photographer, and Charlotte Safavi, stylist and producer, and to The Cottage Journal for the publishing!

Happy Spring!

The Secret to Southern Charm

I am really pleased to review my friend, Kristy Woodson Harvey's new book, The Secret to Southern Charm, a sequel to her latest novel in the Peachtree Bluff series.  Admittedly I am a lover of design magazines and not much of a pleasure reader, but it has always been on my bucket list to become more of a reader.  This novel, as well as her previous three others, have made it easy for me to fall in love with having a book at the ready that I can enjoy and totally get lost in.

This book is about an interior designer mother, her three grown daughters, and the family secrets that have the potential to change their lives.  I love all the references to design that Kristy sites.  She is masterful at creating characters with so much detail that you literally experience the sights, smells, feelings and sounds of their coastal community beach town.

"Harvey’s signature warmth and wit make this a charming and poignant story

of first loves, missed opportunities, and second chances and proves that

she is the next "major voice in Southern fiction” (Elin Hilderbrand, New

York Times bestselling author)."

I have known Kristy and her mother, Beth, through their award winning blog "Design Chic" for years now and have loved watching her success grow as an 'up and coming' southern author.

This video best describes the book, as relayed by Kristy herself, whom you are sure to fall in love with.

This is a great Mother's Day gift, girlfriend or designer-friend gift or beach read.

Order yours today!

Enjoy,

Style at Home

Thank you Style at Home, Spring 2018, for the feature article on Bethany's home!

In case you don't get to see the magazine, here is the story:

I am so proud of Bethany's design vision for this house. We had so much fun decorating this house last year.  She has since moved to a new property and I can't wait to see what she envisions for her home.

Best use of outdoor space in a city apartment goes to....

The Rancic's

Our summer focus on outdoor rooms and how we enjoy our home's outdoor spaces is constantly on our minds.  We already are feeling a hint of fall in the air as we start August, but in the DC area, it is our hottest month.  Always tuning into inspiring spaces, here is a phenomenal use of limited outdoor city space in the Chicago apartment of Bill and Giuliana Rancic as seen in Traditional Home, 2015. I've held onto these photos for a few years now, they are just so good!

All the elements we love- wood, brick, stone, greenery, bringing the outdoors 'in'...

We hope you're enjoying the last month of summer.

Happy August!

Checking in...

Greetings friends!

 I hope you are having a great summer.  We are spending alot of family time in the pool and really have no vacation plans this summer.  We hope to get to the beach before summer's end. The best way to survive these hot, humid Virginia summers is to stay wet!

Alot is happening at PB Interiors.  We are busy with projects as you may have seen on my Instagram account. We have a basement remodel project, a wallpaper/paint kitchen and family room refresh, and a new condo to design from scratch (the clients sold their last house furnished, so they have very little to bring to the new 4 level house!) 

 Our fabulous 'three-peat' client is having their basement remodeled and turning it into a game room, entertainment area, workout room, in-law suite and bathroom.  It will be coming together in the next month and I will get some professional photos taken to show you.  In the mean time, here are the plans and the sneak peaks so far:

The planning phase involves these design boards to paint a picture of the overall feeling of the room. Often a few substitutions are made due to client changes, sale items, or product availability.

The actual sofa, rug and pillow install...

(My iphone photo of installation progress.  I love these West Elm velvet pillows!)

The in-law suite is about 3/4 completed. We're waiting on custom draperies and a few finishing touches.

The game room has been fun to plan.  The wall unit is in place and I am framing their own vintage childhood game boards for a fun and personal touch.

There are assorted backorder and custom items we are waiting on.  This project will take about 3.5 months to complete.

Another project is a new condominium we are helping a couple plan.  I will post that next, so stay tuned.

Take good care!

Whats new from Black Crow Studios

While in High Point, NC last month I had the pleasure of catching up with Tracy Hiner, the artist behind Black Crow Studios, who told me about her latest projects.

Series 12

I love Tracy's work.  We often see it at CR Laine during market, and I have purchased some of her prints, and can't wait to use her wallpaper line in our design business.

Here is a sampling of the scale and impressive watercolor 'airy-ness' of her artwork.  First featured is her wallcovering line...

Robbert Passal, designer

Cuffhome Interiors, designer

Tobi Fairley, designer

Her art prints are brilliant and affordable:

Greystone

Teal and Violet

Her latest series is titled "Caliber" and involves immersing paint in large bodies of water and photographing the completely spontaneous affect that happens.  Tracy described the process as using large aquariums filled with water and literally dumping water based paint into the water for random and unpredictable affects.  At first I didn't know what the objects were amidst the clouds of paint.

In this Caliber series, she has taken dismantled gun and weapon parts that she secured from police departments who have taken these weapons from arrested criminals, and rendered them unusable, never to resurface again.  I love that she is making a statement about keeping these guns off the streets, and not putting them 'en totale', but using parts so that it remains an abstract quality in her work.  I think this is a brilliant artistic move, and quite unique.  

I can't wait to see what she creates next.  You can follow Tracy, and Black Crow Studios on Instagram and Pinterest.

This inspires me to make some more art, how about you?

High Point 2017 Highlights

We had a whirlwind trip to spring market in High Point, NC.  It is always a whirlwind, because no matter the number of days we stay, one cannot see it all.  It is both exhilarating and exhausting.  The inspiration is plentiful, and we have so much fun meeting up with our design friends from around the country.  

The highlights of this years market are almost too numerous to summarize.  One of the most pronounced occurrences was the used of mixed metals in everything from accessories to furniture. This doesn't evoke an industrial vibe like it has in years past, but a focus on a marriage of old and new materials.  I loved the mix of metals and raw woods, and natural stones like quartz and even semi precious minerals.

• Mixed metals, in all finishes, less shiny, more antiqued
• Clean sleek furniture lines: simplicity and elegance
• Mixed wood tones, in many raw and natural finishes
• Geometric shapes in wall paper patterns and textiles
• Oversized 'statement' hardware on furnishings
• Bold color, grays are warmer, neutrals have hints of warm color in them
• Earthy tones, tawny browns- not your 70's earth tones
• Lucite and glass 

• Texture in everything including artwork, lighting, rugs-all across the board
• Natural fibers; raffia, wicker, rattan, leather
• Mid century modern style
• 1970's shapes and forms- a bit retro
• Global influences from India, Africa, Spain, Morocco, Cuba, etc.- gathering cultural vibes
• Hand block printed textiles and small authentically crafted prints
• Artisanal creations in all lines
• Large art and textiles framed as art
• Found objects and antique finds for accessorizing

This is just a small hint of all that was going on at market. 

                                                                                                                                  

We came back with tons of inspiration and fuel for client projects!

Check out #highpointmarket and #hpmarket2107 on Instagram for more fun snapshots. 

Next post I'll describe the process of the art by the amazing Tracy Hiner of Black Crow Studios. 

Happy Spring!