The Memorable Room: Mary Drysdale

Keep reading to learn how prominent Washington DC designer Mary Drysdale brings elegant, memorable, and modern style to our nation’s capital and beyond.

What makes a particular design last…what ensures longevity?

Rooms or houses which last are first remarkable examples of a certain type or room, and a certain type of style. They maximize the potential of the intended use and the space available, communicate something either beautiful or refreshing such that the viewer wants to breathe it in and take away its charm. That is a room which I would call memorable.

There is a big reset happening in the world with people spending less and returning to basics with a focus on the home and family. It is business as usual, or are your clients cutting back?

I think that there is a change in what people want today, which is influenced by current politics and economic reality, but home and family are big favorites – always. These are the changes I see: first, the reign of strict modernism is over. Style preferences of today have been influenced by the Modernist ideal yes, but also by the last 30 years of the Historic Preservation Movement.

And now, with a less robust economy, a less “over the top” approach to design projects seems to be what I see, that people prefer. There is certainly a trending downwards in the amount of space buyers wish to acquire, as well. People interested in architecture, design and art are not your average consumers. These people will continue to want to do things well, and to invest in furniture which retains value, and art which will hold its price or increase in value.

Those of us who consider our environments to fall under the heading of “quality of life” are not likely to change our priorities just because we have a stressed economy. These people will continue to love their homes, good art, entertaining and living with design. They will want their dwellings to be special, under any circumstances.

How do you go about assessing a client’s/project’s needs?

Easy, it all starts with information gathering. I don’t start designing until I have the data. I know, the who, what, where, when and why of a project. When people start to design too early – they design, without the information required to do so and make mistakes.

Do you prefer to have painted walls or use wallpaper, and why?

I paint everything! And the why is easy. Paint (surface) is a wonderful way to bring all of the elements of a project together. If any dye lot is off, etc, paint can be “tweaked” to add a bit of this pigment of that, in order to create relationships.

And since I use stripes and stencils a lot, I can create “order” on each and every wall. I layout each and every wall of a project, altering dimensions of repeats slightly, in order to create balanced relationships……And you can’t do that with wallpaper.

How do you describe your design style?

Complete. In a brownstone, I like classical architectural detailing, combined with the clean sensibility of modernism expressed in the spareness of furnishings. All of my projects include contemporary art, or craft, either as work for the walls, or as decorative pieces to be used and admired admired. I tend to work for smart, successful people, so hopefully intelligent design is reflected in the project work.

What is the ultimate goal of all of your projects?

My goals in any project are to exceed the expectations of my client, to reflect their taste, to maximize the experience of the architectural environment, to make the process reflective of client need and agreement, and to achieve excellence in design.