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Designed to be lived in: The custom 11-by-16-foot sofa in the living room is upholstered in a Pierre Frey performance fabric, and the Verellen swivel chairs are in a sturdy navy blue Manuel Canovas linen. Layered lighting includes Saladino table lamps and Vaughn Designs up-light lamps. The walls are painted a bright white, and the ceiling is finished with faux bois pattern wallpaper installed by H.J. Holtz and Son.
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In the dining room, custom curtains by Inaray in a thick white fabric have a patterned fabric trim. The cerused oak and white sconces are by Urban Electric, and the blue lacquered octagonal mirror is by Oomph Home.
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Lacquered raffia wallpaper by Phillip Jeffries in the entryway provides a crisp canvas for paintings by Patricia Udell. The carpet is by Stark, the clients’ Chinese Chippendale-style chair was given a custom cushion, and the bobbin console table is by Chelsea Textiles.
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In this space designed for TV viewing and gaming with durable and hardy fabrics and furnishings, the walls are covered with a vinyl sisal wallpaper. The tangerine- and cayenne-colored toss pillows are covered in boiled wool and linen fabrics. The felted ottomans have removable metal tray tops, and the swivel tub chairs are upholstered in a Schumacher fabric.
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Roman shades and toss pillows in a Ric Rac fabric give off simple graphic vibes in the den. Rattan and brass wall sconces provide reading light. Black-and-white family portraits installed by Professional Art Handling line the walls.
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In the primary bedroom, a softer color palette and tactile textured layers — such as the lilac chevron curtains and matching Roman shades, pink swivel chair and leather ottoman, cane headboard and nightstands, and a pair of scalloped mirrors with a lacquer finish — add a more feminine flair.
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Designed for use as a home office — and a great place to do puzzles — the sunroom features a pendant lantern by Coleen and Company and a white lacquer desk. The stools are braided raffia, and the toss pillows on the sofa are by Fermoie.
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Located just off the media room, this cozy guest room is enveloped in serene botanical-patterned wallpaper by Zoffany. The chrome scones are by Schoolhouse Electric.
When Amanda Nisbet set out to design her clients’ river house in Weems on the Northern Neck, the mandate was simple: Keep it calm and inviting, a place where the family of five can be cozy and relax with their friends.
Nisbet drew her initial inspiration from the home’s setting and an expansive window overlooking the Rappahannock River.
“It’s all about the view when you walk in,” she says. “I didn’t want to have a jarring transition. When you have a big, open window with such a lovely view, you have to bring the outside to the inside.”
Taking that into consideration, Nisbet developed a color palette for the main floor that balanced the clean, crisp gray her clients loved with navy and green to reflect the outdoors. Upstairs, pops of orange, lilac and pink add visual interest and a touch of femininity.
In the living room, Nisbet opted for a navy, white and green color palette and a mix of geometric patterns and natural textures. An oversized custom sectional upholstered in navy-and-white fabric from Pierre Frey is balanced by a wingback chair from Verellen in a durable navy mohair fabric. Custom pillows in variety of fabrics and trim from Zak+Fox, Pierre Frey, Cowtan & Tout, and Samuel & Sons add vibrant green and white accents, while an oak side table from the clients’ collection and drinks table from CB2 bring in natural elements.
As the project continued and Nisbet developed a deeper relationship with the clients, she gained their trust and introduced more patterns and colors. In the dining room, a table and chairs from Serena and Lily offer a continuity of navy, white and natural materials. However, Nisbet accented the space with a boldly patterned navy-and-white wallpaper, “Lyford Trellis” from Quadrille.
“She wanted simple and clean. She didn’t want patterns or flowers, nothing overtly colorful,” Nisbet says of her client. “Soothing was the operative word. But she also said, ‘I want to be pushed.’”
Artwork also became a crucial element of the project. While the owners have artwork in their primary home, they had little to bring to the vacation property. Nisbet was tasked with building a collection in tandem with the design she was creating.
“This was my first time working with this client, so there was a level of trust that always has to be earned,” she says. “Once the upholstery and other pieces started coming in, they said they would like me to do the art, as well.”
Since the interior design was well established, Nisbet’s challenge was finding art that fit the existing aesthetic without feeling overly coordinated. She also wanted to find pieces that aligned with the owners’ minimalist style yet were unique to their home.
Nisbet focused on prints and paintings that added color to the spaces without being overly edgy and that evoked a sense of fun and calm. After 30 years in the industry, she says, she has developed relationships with a bevy of galleries, including Quogue and Voltz Clarke in New York, that represent a range of reputable artists. She also regularly attends art shows such as Art Basel in Miami and The Armory Show and IFPDA Print Fair in New York City.
“I keep my eye open to find new artists, to find things that are affordable but interesting and unique,” she says, “just like I’m always looking for unusual fabrics or an unusual piece of furniture or lighting that makes a space unique. It’s a part of my job that I love doing.”
For the main stairway, just inside the entrance, she turned to artist Patricia Udell from the Quogue Gallery, who had a series of geographic gouache paintings — “Indigo Figurative” and “Figurative Squiggle” — that set a welcoming tone for the rest of the home. According to Nisbet, the oversized paintings also created a sense of scale in a space with high ceilings without filling the wall with a “cacophony” of smaller artworks.
The artwork also helped to define two spaces upstairs: the primary bedroom, which featured a softer palette of lilac and pink, and a game room where the owners’ sons hang out with their friends. The game room, which also includes a navy sectional with bright red throw pillows, features a series of 26 paintings by Susan Currie that evoke a subtle nautical feel. And in the primary bedroom, Nisbet selected “Sunday Breezes,” a pink-and-orange ombre painting by David Michael Slonim of the Quogue Gallery, to add a bit of femininity for the only woman in the house.
Nisbet says the art collection also brings a sense of cohesiveness to the home, bridging the color palette across various spaces. For instance, in the living room, an untitled trio of oil paintings by Susan Vecsey of Quogue Gallery and a commissioned pastel-and-pencil work by Maru Quiñonero of Voltz Clarke Gallery nod to the natural world outdoors while bringing the pinks and purples found upstairs down to the main floor.
“I might choose something more geometric or with different colors, but they all echo back to each other and to the scheme of the house,” she says. “Because the furnishings were simpler, the art was the final touch that brought it all together. It was a true joy finding the right pieces; it feels like you’ve found the last piece of the puzzle.”
