Dawn and Erich Broksas purchased their custom-built Arlington bungalow more than three years ago but until they hired Whittington Design Studio to remodel the main level, the first room you saw upon entering remained mostly empty. Unsure of what to do with this extra room, interior designer Christen Sullivan decided to make a statement. “It’s an extra little entry room that wasn’t really being used for anything at all,” Sullivan said. “So we took it as an opportunity to make it a place she would use simply because she wanted to be in there. She would just walk in and fall in love with it. We made it a statement room.” Broksas loves the room so much that she admits to sometimes standing at the top of the stairs just gazing at it. “Our first goal was just looking for a non-empty room,” Dawn Broksas said. “We just wanted a space where there was no TV, a space where if we had all the time in the world we would curl up here and read a book.”
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“The color palette already was there. She just wanted to bring in interesting elements that would make her fall in love with it,” Sullivan said.
It was important that the room set the tone for the rest of the house, especially a larger great room connected to it. “We treated the rooms as one, in terms of the color palette,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan chose an embroidered floral linen print from Schumacher as the inspiration for the space. The print included most of the colors in the family room; warm corals, earthy greens, soft yellows and vibrant oranges.
“It was the perfect starting point,” Sullivan said. “We like to find one pattern and we call it our theme fabric and everything complements that.”
Sullivan used the fabric to cover the top of a wooden ottoman that sits in the center of the room, pulling the room together. The same fabric was next used on lumbar pillows on coordinating striped chairs in the family room.
A large, wrought iron chandelier from Curry & Co. hangs above the ottoman and anchors the space. “It actually brings attention to the ottoman and creates a communal area,” Sullivan said.
An oversized sofa from Patagonia Trading Co. sits in front of a large arched window. “This ended up being her favorite piece,” Sullivan said. “It has high arms, giving it a day bed look and the nail heads give it that special detail.”
Across from the sofa is a pair of mahogany chairs from Palecek with rattan detailing on the sides and festive tangerine zigzag-patterned upholstery. Sullivan used a neutral sisal rug in the statement room and a colorful oriental rug in the family room to give each space its own identity.
“It’s always a good way to separate the spaces, but have them be companions to one another by finding area rugs that are very different,” Sullivan said.
A mix of textures and patterns add warmth. A grass-cloth wall covering from York backs white built-in bookshelves that flank the entrance from the family room into the statement room. Drapes in the family room have a geometric pattern that complements the Palecek chairs. Repeating the core colors makes a room with stripes, florals and zigzags work.
“There’s a fine line between pattern repeat and matchy matchy,” Sullivan advised.
