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The custom seating in the family room by designer Edith-Anne Duncan is upholstered with performance fabrics. The Varsity rug, also a Duncan design, is from KES Collections.
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The bar, a new addition to the space, is accessorized to match the room’s colors. The hardware on the flat-panel doors is by Modern Matter.
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Duncan says the blue-and-orange color palette flowing through the family and breakfast rooms is a salute to homeowner Benton Lewis’ alma mater, the University of Virginia.
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The wainscot and moldings in the dining room are painted in Benjamin Moore’s Nile Green; the ceiling is painted Benjamin Moore’s Breath of Fresh Air. Duncan designed the custom window treatments and rug. The chandelier is from Visual Comfort.
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The game table area in the living room has a custom banquette upholstered in a Christopher Farr Cloth performance fabric. The custom-painted game table is by Wildwood, and the stools are covered in a classic Brunschwig & Fils Les Touches fabric.
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Each evening, the family gathers in this oversized chair in the primary bedroom for story time. The walls are painted Benjamin Moore’s White Dove; the ceiling is Benjamin Moore’s Peppermint.
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A framed scarf the owner obtained at the Masters golf tournament inspired the decor in his son’s bedroom. The walls are painted in Benjamin Moore’s Downpour Blue.
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Duncan chose Joseph Frank’s whimsical Citrus Garden fabric for the throw pillow and window valance. The bedroom space was designed to grow with their daughter through time.
Asking Edith-Anne Duncan to choose her favorite color is like telling her to pick a favorite child. “I can’t do it,” she says. “I love them all the same.”
The Blacksburg-based interior designer is known for her classic aesthetic with bold patterns and fearless color. Her new book, “Southern Sensibility,” features nine signature projects, including the home of Ashley and Benton Lewis. Their West End Richmond house is a literal case study in the use of color.
Looking to put their own stamp on their 1950s home, the couple were drawn to Duncan’s style. “Her work is like a crayon box exploding — it’s just colorful and bright,” Ashley says.
The Lewis home appears in Chapter 6, “Color Rules to Live By,” where Duncan shares her expertise in balancing bold colors and layered patterns. “The house is drenched in color, but everything is cohesive and works together well,” Duncan says. “It’s sophisticated but also casual, approachable and livable for their young family.”
Duncan carefully orchestrated each room, following her rule of three. “You want to use no more than three main colors in a space,” she says. “We used blue and white in the foyer with a few color hints in the accessories that give a cue to the rest of the house.”
Using blue — the Lewises’ favorite color — and white as the common thread, Duncan introduced new colors throughout the home: yellow in the living room, spirited orange in the family room and deep green in the dining room.
“Since Benton went to UVA [the University of Virginia], I wanted to insert a little preppiness in the family room with the plaid and varsity stripes,” Duncan says. She collaborated with KES Collections to design the plaid rug and worked with Benton on the bar and custom built-ins. “The bar is saturated with that beautiful blue, and we installed lighting in the back of the mirror,” she says. “The ceiling is painted Hermès orange for a little bit of a pop.”
Of the room’s many fabulous elements, the monkey wallpaper steals the show. “It was originally planned for the powder room,” Benton says, “but I thought, ‘Why hide it?’ So, we went big.”
Another color rule Duncan follows is incorporating at least one brown piece in each room. Using the Lewises’ existing dining table as the anchor, Duncan updated the dining room with a graphic rug, fresh seating and splashes of green.
Ashley often pulls her dining chairs into the formal living room for dinner parties or mahjong games with her mother. “We can easily interchange different pieces from room to room,” Ashley says. “Edith-Anne thought through everything, so it all flows well.”
Her work is like a crayon box exploding; it’s just colorful and bright.
—Ashley Lewis, homeowner
In the powder room, Duncan installed a bold wallpaper to tie in all the colors of the home while introducing violet, which reappears in the nearby primary bedroom. The color palette for the bedroom was inspired by a Hermès scarf given to Ashley by her parents. “Our room feels like it could be in a luxury hotel in New York or London,” Benton says.
Ashley’s favorite spot in the bedroom is the cozy reading nook punctuated by two wall sconces. “I just love walking into our bedroom,” she says. “It’s bright but soothing, with the pink on the ceiling. Edith-Anne made it so lovely and warm.”
“Standing in our room gives you a vantage point for the rest of the house,” Benton says. “You can see how all the color schemes connect thematically.”
Duncan also created special and thoughtful spaces for the couple’s two children. For their 10-year-old son, she started with a commemorative flag from the Masters golf tournament, infusing the room with blue, green and yellow. For their 12-year-old daughter’s room, Duncan embraced a chic pink-and-aqua theme with Gray Malin artwork and Schumacher Citrus Garden fabric. “It’s a tween room, so she can really grow with it,” Duncan says.
While it’s been a few years since the refresh, Ashley says the thrill of entering each room hasn’t diminished at all. “It’s so nice to have a place that’s cheerful and bright that we can all enjoy when we’re home,” she says.
Benton recently installed a storm door on the front of the house, and they often leave the interior door open to let in light.
“From the street, you can see the colors in the family room and the front hall,” he says. “The lamps light the house up, and it’s just really inviting to come home to.”
