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Tabb painted the dining room ceiling to give it a visual lift. The sideboard is a family piece she updated with colorful pulls from Anthropologie; the lamps are from Summer Classics; the dining room table and light fixture are from Arhaus; the rug is from Amir Rug Exchange.
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A bright pink door welcomes visitors to Maria Tabb’s Westover Hills home.
Maria Tabb grew up in an artistic family; her sister is a painter and landscape designer, and her father was an accomplished photographer whose works are featured in Tabb’s Westover Hills Dutch Colonial. Although she’s not an interior designer by trade, as a hobby, “It’s what I love doing,” she says. “I’ve helped some friends and got paid in wine. For me, it’s a way to express myself.”
One way she expresses herself is through the use of vibrant color. The walls of her living room are bright green, with shades of turquoise in the den and master bedroom. The back porch, which opens onto an expansive yard and a royal blue garden shed with a magenta door, is painted teal and furnished with wicker seating with blue cushions.
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Tabb and her black Lab, Lucy, enjoy one of the seating areas on the front porch.
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The color flows outside: In the backyard patio area, the dining table is crowned with a bright green umbrella.
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In the den, the leather and chrome chair and rugs are from Green Front Furniture; the painting behind the chair is from Crossroads Art Center; the rawhide stool is from HomeGoods; the fish-shaped coffee table, a wine rack turned on its side and topped with glass, was a gift; the sofa is from Virginia Wayside Furniture; a painting of the James River by Rhea Gary hangs over the sofa.
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Bright pink and turquoise accessories pop in the backyard seating area.
As the youngest of five children, Tabb has always found herself in possession of hand-me-down furniture from her parents and grandparents or otherwise scavenged pieces. A thick piece of green marble came from a friend’s house renovation and cost Tabb $20; it found a use years later atop an antique Chinese altar table she uses as a kitchen island.
“There are pieces I’d never paint. Part of it is what it means to me.” —Maria Tabb
Some family pieces, such as a library table, have remained unchanged, but others have been transformed with colorful paint. A Victorian-era dresser that Tabb was about to recycle is now a bright turquoise and white marble showpiece in the corner of her living room. She removed the mirror to make room for a painting by Turkish artist Ali Golkar. A wagon-wheel coffee table in the center of the living room was covered with only one coat of magenta paint so the wood grain shows through. Upstairs in her bedroom, Tabb painted two traditional dressers chartreuse to act as bright spots against the cool blue tones.
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The armchairs and sofa in the living room are from Green Front Furniture; Tabb painted the vintage coffee table; the mahogany side table is a family piece dressed up with turquoise pulls from Anthropologie; a painting by Turkish artist Ali Golkar hangs over a turquoise painted Victorian dresser and vintage lamp with a hand-painted pink shade; the black-and-white photos over the fireplace are by Tabb’s father; the dhurrie rug is from HomeGoods.
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An antique Chinese altar table topped with marble serves as an island in the kitchen.
A lot of people are nervous about painting furniture, especially if it came from Grandma’s house, and Tabb acknowledges, “There are pieces I’d never paint. Part of it is what it means to me.” But for other furniture, she says, “It’s just paint, right?”
Her advice to those who want to paint furniture is to buy higher-quality paint and be prepared to give a piece at least three coats if you want to cover the wood underneath. “It will nick,” she cautions, no matter how many coats you put on it.
“Little by little, I’ve changed the appearance of every wall.” —Maria Tabb
Tabb says she loves entertaining, and shopping for art and furniture is a beloved pastime. Favorites include Verve Home Furnishings for vintage, Green Front Furniture for larger pieces, Crossroads Art Center for artwork, and HomeGoods and Marshalls for discounted accessories. She likes anything that evokes a “strong, positive reaction,” is “funky and cool, or something timeless. I’m going to find a place for it to work.”
She also collects original artwork, mostly by regional painters. German-American artist Wolf Kahn’s pastel and oil painting “Yellow Band,” purchased at Reynolds Gallery, “really started my collection,” she says. A larger painting by Denise Hughes featuring a pickup truck hangs in the kitchen, and a canvas with large leaves by her sister, Jane Enright, decorates the dining room. Two black-and-white photographs of the Lee Bridge and a train trestle shot by her father, James Tabb, are displayed above the living room mantel.
“I just loved the airiness and the sunniness.” —Maria Tabb
Tabb says the home, which has been shown twice in the Westover Hills Home & Garden Tour, was in good condition when she purchased it in 2002. Most of the work she has done has been cosmetic, though she did put an addition on the master bedroom, which itself was expanded by knocking down a wall, allowing room for a soaking tub, double sink and corner shower.
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In the master bedroom, the upholstered bed is from Arhaus; the wood trellis is from HomeGoods; a vintage lamp from Nest Antiques Art and Gifts is paired with a hand-painted shade; the Midcentury parsons table is from Verve Home Furnishings; the slipcovered camelback sofa belonged to Tabb’s mother.
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A soaking tub and double vanity in the master bath addition
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The vintage armchair belonged to Tabb’s grandmother; the elephant planter is vintage; Tabb painted the traditional highboy.
Architect Todd Dykshorn designed the addition, which includes a carport below the master bedroom. Classic Construction Inc. did the lion’s share of work on the addition and other projects, including shortening two walls off the foyer, a small change that opened up the first floor. A full bathroom downstairs is now a roomy powder room with a vanity created from an old family silver-service cabinet Tabb painted gray.
“Little by little, I’ve changed the appearance of every wall,” she says. “I didn’t walk in with this idea that I’m going to change this, this and this. I just loved the airiness and the sunniness.”
