Putting the Blue in Bluemercury

Let's stay on a blue theme this week.

Loving this Bethesda, MD sunroom designed by my girl Sally Steponkus Roche and home to Bluemercury founders Marla and Berry Beck.

Photo by Gora Kosanovic for The Washington Post

The particular shade of saturated blue on the walls is the perfect anchor for all that wonderful natural light. And the chippendale chair + table combo is right up my own alley. Also loving those oversized lamps.

I know I say this every time I write about her, but Sally is so charming and delightful. Really. And her work is always tailored, elegant, and refined. She's a great DC area talent.

Sidenote: You should check out the full Washington Post article here because they have one of those awesome 3D tours of the house - you can literally use your mouse to walk through the various spaces. If you don't know what I mean, you should really try it - such a great use of technology.

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New Work from Sally Steponkus

The Leontine Linens event last week was lovely, I hope you went. I'll have some pictures tomorrow...but the major bonus for me was catching up with Sally.  And she informed me that there was some new work to enjoy on her website so I'm doing my public duty and reposting some of my favorites here for you:

All photos by Angie Seckinger

Sally's talent (in my opinion) is her ability to edit a space. She really lets architecture, subtle color, form, etc, do the work. You won't see a hodge-podge of tchotchkes in Sally's spaces. She's too tailored. And when you see her rooms they are so lovely and pleasing as everything quietly works together - falling into place to create a gorgeous room.

And though her work may be crisp and tailored, Sally is SUCH a personality. Not that those traits are mutually exclusive, but I think she's a breath of fresh air when you meet her. And when I see a space like the one below, I see Sally's twinkle coming through:

Check out more of Sally's - and her whole team's - work over at their website...

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Jane Scott Hodges, Leontine Linens, DC Neiman Marcus

There are so many important words to put in this post title, I had to go to a list format.

via Leontine Linens' Instagram

On the heels of Leontine Linens announcing their Christmas partnership with Neiman Marcus (yes, another retail + designer pairing! I love themes...) and the debut of founder Jane Scott Hodges' book Linens: For Every Room and Occassion...the Leontine Linens party press train will be in D.C. this Friday!

You can meet Jane Scott at the Neiman Marcus at Mazza Gallerie in Friendship Heights, get your book signed, and tell her how you would trade-in your first born for a monogrammed bedding set how much you love the brand.

 

But wait! There's more!

My friend and designer Sally Steponkus will be co-hosting the event along with boutique owner Sarah Cannova. If you've not met Sally, I think she's as worthy a personality to meet as I'm sure Jane Scott is...so what I'm saying is, this is going to be a good event.

Sally does right by Leontine in a lot of her work, including this recently done bedroom which she was nice to share with me...you saw it here first:

photos by Angie Seckinger

Stunning.

So friends, this is your PSA for the week. If you're local and have some free time Friday, head over to Neiman's in Friendship Heights from 10:30-12:30...lucky for me, said Neiman's is across the street from my office so I will definitely be popping in to meet Jane Scott and get my book signed!

See you there?

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Sally Steponkus on One Kings Lane

PSA for this Wednesday: DC designer Sally Steponkus will be on One Kings Lane today with a Tastemaker Tag Sale!

If you are not familiar with Sally's style it is incredibly classic but never boring. Her spaces are timeless with just the right touches of youthful chutzpah to make them delightful.

I'm oh-so certain her sale will be full of handsome pieces that will be great additions to your home. I just trust this lady - she knows what she's doing. So check it out starting at 11 am EST - click here for the link. Happy shopping!

p.s. Click here if you aren't an OKL member and would like to sign up

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Leontine Trunk Show

The sweet and talented Sally Steponkus is holding a Leontine Linens trunk show tomorrow and Wednesday for those in the DC area. I went to this trunk show a while back and it was amazing!! Lots of Leontine to see and touch.

Here are the details:

April 2 & 3

9:00 am - 3:00 pm

3401 38th Street, NW

#621

Washington, DC 

202-237-9872

Sally says this show will also feature a fantastic stationary line, Maison de Papier. If you have a moment to stop by, I'm positive you'll enjoy seeing all the goodies!

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Sally Steponkus' Instant Room for House Beautiful: A Shopping Companion

Y'all know Sally Steponkus is my girl. Love her AND her work.  Did you catch her Instant Room in June's House Beautiful? A classic living room in soothing tones of blue and brown...a timeless space with beautiful details (hello coffee table).

So, Sally and I were dining the other night and discussing her beautifully curated room and I convinced her to share her resources with all of us. The House Beautiful article gave us a peek at all of the gorgeous fabrics Sally chose...and now she's giving us the scoop on the rest of the pieces!

Without further ado, from Sally:

"I really wanted to show a fresh room with lots of white trim (like the paneling below the grasscloth on the walls) that was technically a 'formal' room, a Living Room, without a TV but that wasn't fussy or unlivable. I'm basically mourning the loss of the American Living Room. I'm not saying we don't need the big Family Rooms, we do, but we also need 'parlors' and spaces to entertain without giant televisions everywhere."

Coffee Table
Edgartown Coffee Table in Turkish Coffee finish with natural raffia top from Oomph

Side Tables
Miranda Lamp Tables in Espresso by Michael Weiss for Vanguard through And Beige

Tabourets

These were antiques I found on 1st Dibs, but the above link shows something similar. Or a pair of these (new) from Lee would also work.

Lamps
Christopher Spitzmiller Medium Hann Lamps in Shell Pink

Mirror
"String of Pearls" Mirror from my friend, Keith Fritz
 

Lantern
Century Furniture Grand Tour Chandelier (this one is 18"x18" so I fudged the size for the purposes of the drawing!)
 

Rug
Apadana, Inc. - I literally got an email solicitation from this line and just used this, can you believe that?  I've never seen this in person, but I loved it!  Oushak rugs are my favorite.

The upholstery is custom through Sally Steponkus Interiors, but the style is typical English-arm skirted sofa with loose backs, and turned-leg English club chairs with tight backs.  You can find these of varying quality anywhere.

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There you have it. The full low-down on Sally's Instant Room. My favorites are the coffee table, lamps and mirror - what gorgeous pieces!!

Thanks, Sally!

Sally's headshot photo by Angie Seckinger

 

Friday Crush (A DC Design House Sneak Peek)

Photo by Angie Seckinger

Designer Sally Steponkus was kind enough to share this exclusive sneak peek of her room for the 2010 DC Design House with me yesterday. Remember what this room looked like before? Sally has transformed the dark red cave into an elegant, serene space (love the ceiling color!) with touches of neutral Chinoiserie to boot (and all in record time)! I can't wait to see it in person...I'm sure the whole space is fantastic.

Make your plans to visit the House - doors open on April 10th and the event runs through May 9. Proceeds benefit Children's National Medical Center. Click here for tickets.

Spring has sprung in D.C. - I hope you all enjoy this holiday weekend. See you Monday!

2010 DCDH: Sally Steponkus

Next up is the master bedroom of the 2010 DC Design House to be designed by my personal favorite, Sally Steponkus. Sally has her work cut out for her...

 

The master bedroom is a rather large room that is currently pretty dark and dated. But Sally will be working her magic and turning it into a light, neutral, calm space.

 

(Click image to view larger)

Sally's concept is awash in a gorgeous neutral palette of tans for her stunning fabric and wallpaper and a lovely pale blue paint for her ceiling. Sally's classical style lends itself beautifully to the house and to this room in particular.

I asked Sally for her thoughts on the space:

The Master Bedroom will be a serene space filled with panel after panel of a custom colored Quadrille print fabric called Excelsior that is in keeping with the Beaux Arts style of the house, built in 1905.  At the moment I’m working on bringing some fun, young and fresh accessories in to blend with the traditional roots of the space.  I can’t wait to show it to everyone!

Sally also noted that she is very excited to be participating in the house once again this year, especially for such a worthy cause as the Children's National Medical Center. Here she is obliging me with a photo with her board:

 

If you read AO, you know I love Sally's work (and Sally!) and I've posted pictures from her online portfolio - click here to see them. Today I thought I'd show you drop dead GORGEOUS photos from one of her recent projects that Jennifer over at DC by Design recently featured:

Photography by Angie Seckinger

  

  

  

  

  

  

Amazing right? Totally slick, hip, contemporary and yet very classic. I LOVE the Leontine monogram. Sally is good! I'm sure the Design House bedroom will be fantastic - make sure you check it out in April when the house opens (it runs April 10-May 9).

 

Sally in SoLi

Did you catch D.C. designer Sally Steponkus in February's Southern Living?

 

I was so happy to see Sally as I flipped through my issue - she's a great designer, great person and the images were of her own well-appointed home. Don't you adore that large bamboo mirror over her couch?

Sally was recently featured as one of 20 up-and-coming young designer by House Beautiful - check out this blog post to see some of her recent beautiful work.

And, Sally told me that she has just signed on to do the Master Bedroom of the 2010 D.C. Design House. I can't wait to see what she comes up with - I'm sure it will be fabulous. I'll be heading to the Design House on February 27 for the Bare Bones Tour to see the rooms before the designers work their magic. Of course I'll be blogging about it :)

Kudos to Sally on the Southern Living shout-out...I have a feeling we'll be seeing more and more of Miss Steponkus, don't you?

Adventures in Blogland

This post is why I love blogging.

Yesterday, after posting about Sally Steponkus, I decided to shoot her a little email to let her know I had written a post about her HB mention and her work. Lucky for me, this tipped off an email exchange that went a little something like this:

Me: Hi Sally. Love your work. I wrote about it on my blog. Check it out.

Sally: Hi Daniela. Thanks for the mention. Love your blog.

Me (Utterly excited that she wrote me back and likes my blog): Thanks Sally. Hope you'll keep reading it and I look forward to following your work.

Sally: Thanks Daniela. By the way, my friends are throwing me a cocktail party tonight to celebrate my HB mention. Wanna come?

Me (Rubbing my eyes to make sure I read that right): Ummm. YES.

Ok, so I have downplayed the conversation for the sake of length. To my complete delight, Sally is as friendly over email as she is in person. She was warm and complimentary through my computer screen. And I was quite happy for the opportunity to meet her in person.

Once I got to the party and met Sally, I understood why she is where she is. When you combine charm with talent, you have a winning combination. She greeted me like an old friend and I had a ball talking to her and her assistants, Heather and Laura, over the course of the evening.

Sally was also a gracious hostess and introduced me to many interesting people, not the least of which was Michele from the blog My Notting Hill (which I love) who is also a local. I had the best time talking to Michele and her husband Dan. Michele and I swapped design adventure stories and she gave me a couple of tips that I'll be following up on.

Me, Sally and Michele

All in all, it was a fun night. And I love that I started the morning with a little post about Sally and by the end of the day I had met her and Michele and lots of other people as well...the beauty of the blog.

Thanks to Sally and her party throwers for a great evening.

Sally Steponkus

The December/January issue of House Beautiful naturally looks to the year ahead in design. One section in the issue is thus devoted to 20 up-and-coming young designers worthy of your attention in 2010 - the "Next Wave," says HB.

As I perused the list I was happy to see a couple of DC names in the bunch, and one that caught my eye was Sally Steponkus.

Designer Sally Steponkus
image via housebeautiful.com

Sally, owner of Sally Steponkus Interiors, was born and raised in Washington DC and a quick tour of her portfolio shows she's my kind of gal. Her portfolio features many a traditional interior (which is kind of a must in a town like DC), each with its own identity that keeps it from feeling stuffy or stale.

In her HB interview she cites her enthusiasm as her differentiator - thoughts of curtains, wallpaper and fabrics keep her up at night (me too, Sally!) She also names Kelly Wearstler as her favorite designer (agreed that KW is amazing...although her designs get a little kooky for me sometimes) and mentions that her latest inspiration has come from design blogs! She reads about 30 of them a day...dear Sally, have you heard of a little blog called Aesthetic Oiseau?

As you can see, I really enjoyed her interview and skipped right over to her portfolio and have found a new designer to follow and enjoy. And the fact that she is local is icing on the cake- I'm always up for some DC design love.

Enjoy these images from Sally's portfolio. All can be found on www.steponkus.com (please note the fab Greek key background on her web site - this is a story for another day, but I see many unattractive web sites for interior designers, which I don't understand. Sally's site is very nice...another reason to like her):

All images via steponkus.com, Photography by Angie Seckinger