Bridget Beari's DC Design House Dining Room

October 03, 2017 by Susan Jamieson in Inspire Me, House Tours

**Bridget Beari®** **Papers: ROUX Grasscloth - Bling Bling**

The DC Design House is finally open for tours in the month of October. We are thrilled to showcase our modern Parisian dining room. Let me give you a few insider tips and insights into this years room.

Inspiration: Every room starts with an inspiration and mine was our new Roux metallic grasscloth. It is a pattern that has been looked over. It's one of my favorites and worked perfectly within the existing moldings. Taken from a lace pattern in a dress this gives the room the pattern and style.

Mixing Styles: We are all about "Living the Mix" at Bridget Beari. Mixing styles, mixing high and low, mixing antiques with modern piece and we did that in this room. Chairs from The Mine slipcovered in Osborne and Little blue strie velvet. A stunning early 1900's antique rug mixed with a mid century inspired cerused oak table. Contemporary photography with vintage 1950's portraits.

Adding organic elements for softness: Succulents in the antique clam shell and large Philodendron leaves soften the formal dining place settings.

Accenting with Black: I love black baseboards to set off a room but adding the grey/black accented panels took it to another level. Sleek, sophisticated and bold in choice. Topped off with a ombre black/grey smokey ceiling treatment for a more intimate feeling.

Mixing Art: Modern photography with antique busts. The perfect juxtaposition of style but reminds you of well collected home where the owner has added things throughout the years. Each item full of memories of the purchase or an event.

Organic plaster chandelier from Julie Neil lighting changes the whole formality of the room. It has a whimsical feel.

Layering Art: Not all art needs to hang. Try leaning items. This makes it easy to change and adds a causal element to the room.

Plaster, gilded, cerused, brass, terracotta, marble, plaster, concrete: Mixing materials for interest and flavor.

Setting the table: Mix it up! Use different patterns layered on one another. You can even layer the placemats for color.

I custom designed many of the pieces in this room: Wallpaper- metallic grasscloth call Roux-bling bling, the dining table- cerused wood top and brass tiered bass, and the consoles - geometric bases.

Formal dining but causal, fun and inviting. The perfect setting for a fabulous dinner party!

Everything in the room is for sale. All furniture and ticket sales benefit Children's National Hospital in the Washington DC area. It is a great cause and we love participating even though driving 95 is a bear!

Bridget Beari Colors featured in this design: Lady M27, Trifecta M48, Shadow M5

Lady M27 featured on the faux door panels.

The Ombre ceiling are in Bridget Beari Colors Modern Collection: Trifecta M48 and Shadow M5

The Treehouse Project

September 03, 2017 by Susan Jamieson in Inspire Me, House Tours

Our treehouse project in Richmond is truly an amazing before and after. Architect Pat McClane did an superb job of recreating a simple Cape Cod house by opening up the floor plan and adding some key architectural elements like the arched windows.

You can see some more photos of this house in this month's Rhome Magazine but here are some photos of other rooms that were not shot for the magazine.

The client likes to call this her treehouse because when the back doors are open you feel like you are in the trees. We took this idea and added color, art and items that echoed this in a subtle way.

We love the beautiful sliding back doors painted black.

Our Bridget Beari Colors paint Pia No. 31 really shines in this amazing master bedroom. Those windows, although a challenge to cover for privacy, are a real showstopper!

Collected and colorful was our goal!

Our subtle nod to our client's love for the University of Richmond spiders!

Thanks for stopping by to check out our work! We are super busy this fall with the DC Design House, Southern Living showhouse, Southern Style Now Traditional Home Showhouse in Savannah, and of course the opening of our new store: Bridget Beari Home.

Buckhead, Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles’ 2017 Southeastern Designer Showhouse

August 28, 2017 by Susan Jamieson in Inspire Me, How To & Tips

“Our room was created with subtle hints of all the activities a young man and his dog would enjoy in springtime,” says Susan Jamieson. “We loved experimenting with the geometrics and mixing of the patterns, as seen in the headboard...”

Jamieson designed a custom headboard, which was handmade from slabs of reclaimed wood in a bold, geometric pattern painted in calm yet cheerful colors from her Bridget Beari Colors paint collection.

See More Images From This Project

Southeastern Atlanta Designer Showhouse

May 29, 2017 by Susan Jamieson in Inspire Me, House Tours

Bridget Beari Designs was trilled to have participated in last month's Atlanta Showhouse sponsored by Atlanta Home and Lifestyles Magazine. We have been working in Atlanta our the past few years so this seemed like a perfect fit. We were given the little boy's room and chose to create a space that paid homage to handcrafted items as well as a nod to the historic nature of the home.

You can see some Scandinavian influences in the design through the use of texture and materials. I wanted to create a room showcasing our Bridget Beari Colors paint but do something more creative than paint a wall so I designed this wood headboard in 5 of our Bridget Beari Colors - Rambo, Maddy Tingy, Caesar, Beebop, and Snowball. It became the anchor for our design.

From the headboard came handcrafted items from Tate Pray, a Charlottesville craftsman who made the bed and the Poof Chair in Walnut. A beautiful and simple design that coordinated so well with the antique chest and leather chair.

Touches of texture in the Kat Kozy quilted throw in raw Murino wool, the Moroccan wool black rug with super long tassel edges, wool draperies, and linen sheeting.

Handcrafted clipboards with map art were a perfect choice for changing art in a kids room. Our selection of Baltimore artist Theresa Bauer kept a simple image with white void space and natural framing.

Following the geometric shapes of the headboard came the off centered light fixture - again with space voids. You can also see from this angle the wool draperies are made of 3 different patterns sewn together to create a trapezoid shape when the two panels are closed together.

The theme of the room was "A Boy and his Dog in Springtime" everything a boy might do or enjoying doing - walking his dog, canoeing, archery, hiking in the woods, and enjoying a comfortable and cozy room when he returned home.

Our African dog collar and dog trophies continued our theme.

Accents of brass to hint at the historic nature of the home and give warmth to the room.

Black and White Dog Portraits by Amanda Jones, a renown photographer from Boston.

I find a designer hour is the perfect place to experiment with ideas. Mixing shapes and patterns was a big part of this rooms dynamic.

Only measuring about 10' X 16' the room packs a punch but is also relaxing and cozy.

The Pierre Frey sham was the perfect combination of shapes and colors to accent the bed and the round ball Designer Guild wool a perfect distraction from all the angles.

Black iron frames of feathers seem to float on the white walls.

Adding the pop of yellowrod leather gives the room energy as well as nod to antiques. A home that has collected items and history.

A little whimsy in the bathroom filled with hand painted bulls eyes to continue our theme.

Thank you to all our vendors, craftsmen and women, carpenters, movers, and fans! We had a great time in Atlanta meeting new and old friends!

The wood headboard was designed using 5 of our Bridget Beari Colors
- Rambo, Maddy Tingy, Caesar, Beebop, and Snowball -

Bridget Beari's National Ad for DXV

October 30, 2016 by Susan Jamieson in Inspire Me, House Tours

Have you seen the latest DXV national ad Campaign launched in all the major magazines? I was fortunate to be chosen among the 4 designers across the country to help DXV, American Standard's luxury plumbing line, design a bathroom in one of their selected themes.

**All room photos by Earl Kendall studios**

The theme was Design movements inspired by certain eras and cities. My theme was 1890-1920 Charleston, South Carolina.

Everyone asks how the design process works with DXV and what is really amazing is that we, the designer's, really designed these bathrooms and kitchens as we envisioned them. No corporate PR direction just pure design from real designers. That is what makes this experience and the DXV group so incredible!

How it starts:

Veronika Miller, of Modenus is the brainchild behind the concept of designing real spaces with real designers. Here she is as she explains the process and introduces this year's cities:

Since my theme was the early 1900's, I did research on the progressive era after the Victorian clutter but before modernism. Having visited Charleston many times I love the historic homes, the architecture, and the symmetry in the designs. Taking something noticeably antique and classic and making it modern was my goal.

Here is a video of all the designs:

My design highlights reflecting Charleston include:

symmetry
spiderweb window
crown moulding pulled from Drayton Hall
Greek Key motif
Black and white marble floor
Brass Fretwork
English grisaille mural
hutch metal top from an English kitchen

The spiderweb window was a focal point as this classic Georgian motif immediately reminds me of Southern style. An attempt to recreate the cultured and dignified styles of Europe but with a new world twist.

I was very focused on keeping the symmetry that is why the inverted niches at the corners were so important to the design. If you look on the floor plan, Those curves mimic what happens in the shower wall.

The large scale crown moulding runs throughout the space giving it a sense of grandeur and classic luxury.

Everything was built on set directly from these drawings with only 1 on site meeting with the art director and 1 day of shopping locally for accessories. The Sheraton chair, brass hinges, guerdion table, green vases, shaving brush and antique frames were all bought at local antique stores in Minneapolis, an amazing city!

**Thank you to** **Decorators Supply** **for the crown moulding**

There were phone calls during the building process but by the time we arrived on set the bathroom was built. The team did an amazing job getting all the details just right. Although they said my plans were so detailed there weren't many questions!

My job on-site the final day was to help with the finishing touches and styling to get it just right!

I wanted the bathroom to be a look back to a classic era but also a look forward to a bathroom that could be used today. I live in an older home so designing something that looks classic but feels modern was the intent.

Key modern elements:

curved glass shower wall
oversizing the Greek Key motif
gloss emerald green tile highlighted with the black linear Greek key tile- current trend color
geometric marble pattern in the shower
modern Flemish photo with bubble wrap in her hair as a veil.
addition of the brass - current trend
black undermount sinks

**Thank you to** **Schumacher** **for the fabric on the antique chair**

**Thank you to** **Heritage Tile** for their gloss green tile
Thank you to Earl Kendall studios for the Flemish girl photo

I found that this is really where DXV products shined for me. The selection was spot on for the design. Classic Oakhill toilet, cross handle Randall faucet in the beautiful aged brass finish, the classic Fitzgerald tub, Tub filler again the perfect shape and finish, the shepard hook shower arm and cross handle levers in the shower and sinks. I mixed it up with adding the Pop black undercount sinks for a modern touch.

**Thank you to** **Mural Source** **for the wallpaper**

The vanity was my pride and joy as I designed the entire piece and it was constructed just perfectly. The fluted carerra marble front, the fretwork from Decorator's Supply, Bridget Beari Colors metallics paint MT Bastille Brass, metal hood with brass tips, custom mirrors, antique mirror backs in the center shelves. It was a beauty!

I am so proud of this design as it is the perfect marriage of old and new. It celebrates the classic era in a 21st century way.

Thank you to everyone that made this ad possible - Veronika Miller, Modenus team , DXV team, Earl Kendall studios, Jim Goulet ( and team ), videographers, photographers, stylists and more! It was a team effort and a dream come to life.