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Vivid pinks, oranges and greens are layered with luxe gold accents in Janie Molster's Aspire House living room.
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Inspired by a chic supper club, Jennifer Stoner used niches to create intimate spaces for cocktails and dining.
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Lush accents like the gold-framed and fringed barrel-back chairs and dramatic wallpaper by North Carolina designer Amanda Moore give Stoner's dining area an inviting ambiance.
When the Aspire House McLean, a Washington, D.C.-area designer show house, opened its doors in late August after a two-month, COVID-inspired delay, Richmond-based designers Jennifer Stoner and Janie Molster were on hand to welcome long-awaited visitors, along with the 27 other professionals participating in the regional design showcase. While both designers are veterans of other show houses — and both have clients to the north — the Aspire House, chaired by the D.C.-based designer Mary Douglas Drysdale, was their first foray into a metro Washington, D.C., show house.
Stoner, principal of Jennifer Stoner Interiors, was asked to design the dining room, which has a high barrel ceiling and sits in the center of the house.
“It was a little challenging — because of the two-story ceiling, it’s difficult to feel intimate,” Stoner says. “Most people would have been tempted to stick a big round table in the room, but I didn’t want to interrupt the beautiful light that flows from the front doors to the back of the house.”
Instead, Stoner used niches on opposite walls to create intimate spaces: one for dining, the other for pre- or post-dinner drinks. In the dining area, drapes set off a dramatic wallpaper panel by North Carolina artist Amanda Moore. Seating included a plush built-in banquette, black lacquer bamboo host chairs and low, barrel-backed chairs upholstered in Stoner’s own shop — complete with fringe. Gold sconces arched out from the wall, directing attention to the table. “The whole feel of the room [was] a chic supper club along the Barcelona coast,” Stoner says.
“I always enjoy doing show houses because it’s a great way to show off your own design aesthetic; we can push the envelope,” Stoner says. “I say [of my designs], you’re going to love it or hate it, but you won’t forget it.”
Molster, principal of Janie Molster Designs, received the living room, a space she saw as both public and private. “I thought, ‘If I lived in this house, what would I want?’ ” she says. “I would want a really pretty room, a room I could retreat to. But I’d also want a room that I could get dressed up in and entertain people. We tried to create something that bridges that gap.”
Her final design included gold wallpaper, a gold chandelier and floor-to-ceiling velvet drapes edged in silk ruffles. Plush sofas laden with pillows welcomed guests.
Molster says her team enjoys show-house work. “It’s a tool for a designer to get their range in front of the public, and the camaraderie with other designers is really fun.”
Proceeds from Aspire House McLean, presented by Aspire Design and Home magazine, provide support for aspiring design talent from underrepresented communities, in conjunction with Marymount University.