A Show House with Many Benefits
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In 2010, Meredith Bay home set the stage for a fabulous fundraiser for two community services.
Most people enjoy touring beautiful, well-decorated homes. But the experience can be even more enjoyable when such a tour also supports a worthy cause.
Last summer, the 2010 New Hampshire Designer Show House at Meredith Bay showcased the talents of nearly a dozen interior designers while raising funds for two worthy nonprofit organizations: Community Caregivers of Center Harbor in Meredith and Moultonborough, and Central New Hampshire VNA & Hospice in Laconia.
Meredith Bay-a family-friendly, master-planned community overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee-provided the lakeside setting for the event. Designs for the five-bedroom, four-bath show house were inspired by the chosen theme, "Lakeside Life-Fun for All Ages."
Organizers attributed the showhouse's success to the dozens of volunteers and designers who gave their time, talent and materials to dress up the home in lakeside splendor.
The event required almost a year to plan, says Fran Orenstein of Unfed Design, a full-service marketing and design firm in Meredith. Orenstein designed and produced the full-color guidebook for the show house, and worked closely with Marcy Yerkes of Southern Accent Designs on almost every show house committee. The lakeside, vacation-home setting inspired
Orenstein's guidebook, which opens with an image of a wooden table covered with photos of home and family, a fountain pen and stationery, and a cup of coffee.
"I wanted it to look as if you were on vacation, sitting on a dock writing a letter," she says. Inside pages are filled with profiles of each designer, highlights of room décor and numbered paint swatches that correspond to the colors used in each space. Orenstein says show-house guests frequently ask about the brand or name of the paint colors, so she decided to include the swatches in the scrapbook-like guide.
Orenstein says the 2010 event-her third-featured many designers who had volunteered in the past. "It's almost become like a family. There's a nice camaraderie," she says. "We were very lucky. We had a huge amount of volunteers last year."
She says the show house also drew positive attention to Central New Hampshire VNA & Hospice and the Community Caregivers. "Both are such deserving organizations," Orenstein says.
Study suite
Christian Boyér of Boyér Interior Design in Manchester designed the study suite with elegance-and function-in mind. Boyer says he's inspired by design pioneer Elsie de Wolfe and her ability to transform a simple space into one with functional elegance and sophistication.
To start, the room was painted in a rich chocolate color, then stenciled in a pattern using gold filigree. "I wanted to make the room rich and warm," he says. Cream and gold silk draperies flanked the windows behind the desk.
The centerpiece of the room was a hand-inlaid Martha Washington table desk and gooseneck-arm, Federal wreath chair, he says. The room's anchor was a hand-knotted Persian area rug in tones of chocolate, ivory and aqua.
Boyér's favorite touches included a stunning mirrored sideboard, the crystal block lamps he placed on it and the matching mirror. "That spark of glass and glitter gave the space an awakening," he says.
Come on in! The great room Sue Bartlett and Marcia Gouveia of Bartlett Design Associates in Concord furnished the home's great room in an elegant but relaxed style. Eyes were drawn to the large stone fireplace and the terra-cotta-painted accent wall above it. The other walls were painted in a gray/green tone. Bartlett says she wanted to use an organic color scheme without being too rustic.
The sofa was upholstered in a textured oatmeal fabric. Faux silk draperies-about sixty yards of fabric with an "iridescent" quality and embroidered circles-added a little modern feel to the room and also draw from the colors in the rug, she says. Black accent pieces-such as the coffee table and the console-provided needed contrast in this large space, she says.
The large scale of the room called for several large pieces of furniture and "big accessories" from the foliage to the matted butterfly prints.
Kitchen and breakfast nook
Julia Elizabeth Dias of Julia Dias Interiors in Bedford designed the home's kitchen, breakfast nook and mudroom. She combined sophisticated and casual elements that offered saturated color, organic patterns, rich textures and natural fibers to the family-friendly spaces.
In the breakfast nook, Dias worked to draw in the outdoors with wood and rattan dining chairs as well as a round, wooden dining table in a dark tone; colorful area rugs; and handmade accent pieces. An accent wall above the cream-colored wainscoting was painted in a contrasting terra-cotta color that coordinates with the botanical pattern of the Roman shades on the nearby windows.
"Summer at the lake may be short, but the warm interiors will carry you throughout the year," Dias stated in the guide.
She brought warmth to the kitchen with place settings, colorful fruit, herb and vegetable accents.
More to see
Julia Wood of J.A. Wood Interior Design in Derry decked out the laundry room with blue walls and custom fabric window treatments in tones of deep brown. The room's chair was topped with a pad in a coordinated striped fabric and deep brown accent pillow.
Designer Lorie Taylor of Lake Style Interiors in Laconia designed the dining room and foyer. The entryway was decorated in a casual, chart room theme with local lake maps adorning the walls and a welcoming upholstered bench. To the left of the entry in the dining room, Taylor started with a casual rug. She brought in a rounded pedestal table and a buffet of dark, distressed wood with black iron accents. The color palette of the window treatments, slipcovers and upholstery included ecru, sage, wheat and adobe.
Guest room and bath
Interior designer Barbara Bernier of Bernier Design in Henniker created a comfortable guest room by blending mid-century, contemporary and transitional design elements. The serenity of the space is accomplished with walls of mocha brown, a custom-made headboard upholstered in ivory canvas and bedding in coordinated tones. The nautical, striped fabric in the window treatments brought in a "sailing on the lake" feeling, and the fabric was also used in the adjoining bathroom, where the walls were painted blue.
"I tried to use some things that were unconventional, so the design is an eclectic blend of a lot of influences," Bernier says. One unique piece was a mid-century Danish teak dresser that her family owned. Bernier liked its clean lines.
Bernier also brought in personal touches that connect to the two organizations the 2010 show house supported: photographs of her husband and parents, who were recipients of hospice care.
Master bedroom and bath
Teresa Perry of High Country Home Interior Design & Custom Cabinetry in Silver Lake was tasked with decorating the home's master bedroom and bathroom suite. She interpreted the familycentered theme by bringing in antique furniture; luscious floral and striped bedding; and her own family pictures and artwork. The idea was to create a room that would endure from one generation to the next.
"I like to combine old and new pieces," Perry says. "With that said, I wanted it to feel like this bedroom used to be a grandparents bedroom, and now the children inherit it. I wanted it to feel authentic but with a fresh, clean look."
A floral Ralph Lauren duvet with roses, soft olive green leaves and a cream-colored background inspired the room's other design elements. On the walls, Perry turned to a faux-painting technique that uses a lighter-colored stripe outlined in rose next to the larger stripes painted in soft olive.
On the wall above the headboard, she hung three paintings of young children with an oar above, "to bring in the lake feeling," she says.
Personal touches include a picture of her great-grandparents.
A second guest room
Diane Ames of Green Mountain Furniture in Ossipee created a nostalgic, lakeside getaway in another guest room by using solid wood furniture plus a variety of textures and patterns in the fabrics and accessories. The rustic hickory bed-which could have been a lakefront-home heirloom passed down from one generation to the next-was dressed in an artichoke-colored diamond-patterned coverlet and topped with a Marcello plaid duvet in green and red tones. The nautical valance in a mosaic leaf pattern brought the outdoors in. An olive-toned rug with a dragonfly motif coordinated with the wall colors; the accessories, such as duck decoys and rustic lamps, reflected the laid-back lakeside lifestyle.
In the corner of the room, Ames placed a comfy occasional chair covered in leather and lakeside fabric, with a matching ottoman and a reading lamp.
Bunk room
With its birch-tree bunk beds, antique toys and forest-themed décor, the bunk room evoked fun days on the lake.
Interior designer Dawn Heiderer of Design Inspirations Inc. of Meredith partnered with product designer Jodi Sleeper of American Cottage in Gilford to create a space with layers of playful visual interest.
"It was so much fun," Heiderer says of the experience. "Jodi and I work really well together," said Dawn.
Sleeper says partnering with Heiderer was an imaginative "adrenaline rush."
The duo started with two sets of birch-tree bunk beds that Sleeper's husband, Kevin, built. Sleeper designed the botanical-themed rug as well as the owl and moose quilts for the beds.
"Sophisticated color, fantastical custom design and fun are the foundation of our kids room. Nicknamed 'the tree house,' we wanted nature to drive the color, design and product choices for this New Hampshire show house," Sleeper says. Accessorizing the space came naturally. Heiderer had a big mock rock, and then found antique toy cars and a stoplight to match the automotive theme in one of the rugs. "The rugs were Jodi's, and we played off the colors," Heiderer says. Added to those were an old-fashioned globe, antique baseball bats and a rustic lamp.
Compassion for caregivers
Many of the volunteer designers also brought a compassion for groups that provide hospice care and services for all ages.
Boyér's mother was critically ill and spent her last days in hospice care. "They made it feel like home," he says. Heiderer says many people don't realize how important hospice care is until a loved one is in dire straits.
Bernier's family members-her husband, mother and father-all received hospice care prior to their passing. "I think unless you have been involved in a hospice situation, you don't appreciate what kind of support they lend," she says. "Hospice is really about your loved one's comfort and keeping things peaceful and comfortable."
Bernier says participating in a show house to benefit Community Caregivers and Central New Hampshire VNA & Hospice was one way to raise money for this important service.
Perry says the show-house experience has many pluses. "You get to help a charity, have fun and show your stuff," she says. "It's a neat event."
