Three weeks ago, Gale Waldron was certain the Loudoun Arts Council’s first Designer Showcase could never happen.
The council tasked 17 designers from Northern Virginia to design the rooms in a three-story Van Metre Home in Lansdowne on the Potomac and incorporate artwork from local artists into their designs.
“I know how long it takes to do my house,” said Waldron, vice-president of the Loudoun Arts Council, a non-profit organization that supports the visual, performing and literary arts and Loudoun artists.
A week ago, Waldron returned to the house, a Hemingway Model at the intersection of Riverpoint Circle and Kitty Wake Drive. “I almost cried. It was so beautiful,” she said. “These designers have worked non-stop.”
The designers were given three colors — cream, eggplant and celadon, a light green — to design one of the rooms, so that all of the rooms would flow together, as Waldron said.
“I’m very pleased with the way all the rooms interact with each other,” said Becky Lower, chairperson of the Designer Showcase.
THE DESIGNERS demonstrated ways to incorporate art into the home during the 10-day showcase, which ends on Oct. 5. They selected furniture and accessories from local merchants and artwork from Loudoun artists and galleries. They provided custom treatments on the walls and ceiling, including freehand art, and had the rooms painted to coordinate with their interior designs.
“Every piece in the rooms is signed by an artist,” said Julie Dovion, Loudoun Arts Council president. “What it has become is art in the home in every nook and cranny of the house.”
Designer Robin Bergeson designed the library, which is on the first floor near the patio, to have a romantic feel as if it were a room for a female poet, using sculptures for bookends and paintings throughout the room. “I hope [visitors] can find a designer or new ideas to take home,” said Bergeson, owner of Bergeson Design Studio, LLC of Ashburn.
The Designer Showcase provides seminars and demonstrations on interior design techniques, Meet the Designer sessions, a silent auction, a fashion show, musical performances and wine tastings. The Loudoun Arts Council is hosting the event in partnership with Lansdowne on the Potomac, Van Metre Homes and élan Magazine.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the Loudoun Arts Council. “We thought this would be an excellent way to raise funds and show off art and artists in the county,” Waldron said. “You have to be creative in this economy. Government funding is not what it used to be.”
The house and most everything in it, including the furniture and artwork, is for sale.