Like many young couples, the inhabitants of this Brentwood home moved in and didn’t do much at first, except to buy a bunch of decent-quality furniture from big box stores. However, they remained largely unhappy with the results. They reached out to designer Peter Dunham, a friend of the family who had a connection to the husband’s parents through LA designer Suzanne Rheinstein, who had designed the family’s houses. So they had grown up in well-thought-out homes with plenty of style.  

Interior Designer Peter Dunham Takes on a Brentwood Home

The new structure itself is basically a spec house, with an odd layout that created what Dunham calls “flyover” rooms, spaces you basically ignored to get to areas like the kitchen and the family room. It was a shame because the owners love to entertain and want their home to be a place where people congregate, but the flow wasn’t serving that. (The flyovers were the living and dining rooms!) Dunham made the side entrance the main entry point, creating an entirely new way of approaching the home.

“I’m always thinking about how I can manipulate the experience in a better way that’s maybe not the standard way.” He recalls having seen, early on, items such as a billiards table and a guitar setup (the husband gets guitar lessons) in the living room, as well as high ceilings and nice proportions. “It was a shame the rooms didn’t get more use,” Dunham comments.  

Now, after coming into the house and making a left turn, you are able to experience the garden, and you almost forget that it is a front garden of a standard suburban house. It’s now become something else: a private outdoor space.  

Embracing What’s Already There

Part of the reason some of the rooms were ignored was that they didn’t receive much light. Rather than fight it, Dunham enveloped the spaces in pattern to make them exciting, as a way to visually warm them up. Now they’re adult entertaining spaces where everyone wants to congregate. Even the guitar gets put into service, with the husband and sometimes friends playing songs for the group. “We turned it into a space that really felt like a party area,” says Dunham. The home in general is now a place where the whole family—including siblings and parents—comes for holidays, birthday parties, and many other occasions.  

Furnishings have a strong presence but are never overly fussy or screaming for attention. Patterns play an important role but never overwhelm. The look is tailored but still very relaxed, with a mix of styles and pieces that feels like it was assembled over a long time. Details such as a black and white marble top on the dining room sideboard bring unexpected visual texture.  

Integrating Dunham’s Textiles

A thread of blue in myriad shades unites the various rooms. The living and dining rooms share one of Dunham’s wallpaper designs, Cosima, in blue and pink, a pattern that also shows up as draperies in the dining area. A sofa in the primary bedroom is another Dunham offering, Oona, again in blue and pink, but in higher contrast.

In a cozy fireplace area, a small blue chair provides a moment of fun contrast. A blue and white Chinese vase accents a mangle, and a barium blue pendant, a collaboration between ceramicist Natan Moss and Dunham’s line for Hollywood at Home, hangs in the kitchen (see one of Dunham’s expert table settings). And there are, of course, many exciting moments in other hues, including a custom floral print hanging behind the bed.  

In a corner of the primary bedroom is a tranquil place to read or relax, with a T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings high-back lounge chair by Widdicomb, antique Moorish inlaid side table, and vintage lamp. Works of two local artists bring color and narrative to the space. On the left is A Murder in Larchmont by Nils Benson, and on the right Walk With Steve in Silver Lake (2022).  

As Peter Dunham begins to prepare for his trip to Pittsburgh for the Women’s Committee’s ON DEC fundraiser, we got an exclusive Q&A to see what exactly he’s looking forward too.

Story by Stephen Treffinger
Interior Design by Peter Dunham
Photography by Victoria Pearson

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Pittsburgher Cara George describes herself as a daydreamer, passing away hours with a watercolor brush in hand and memories of long-gone family members and their traditions in her mind. Through her line of wallpapers and textiles, Otea Textiles, George artistically expresses these dreams in patterns that combine Old World maximalism, irreverence, and modern sensibilities.

Layering with Textures Makes Cara George from Otea Textiles’ Table Setting Shine

Cara grounds the tabletop vision she shares with TABLE Magazine in her textile work. The tablecloth is from her Antiquity pattern in the color-way, Incantation. The napkin is in her Vintage Scarf pattern and color-way, Kaleidoscope. Upon as well as around these textiles are family heirlooms and collected objects whose exquisite patterns amplify the gorgeousness of the past. Somehow, however, in combination they create their own very modern statement.

History is what we make of it, they say. Yes, history gives us a visual vocabulary to work with, but it’s up to us to string the old words into new sentences that give voice to how we feel right now. To the kind of world we want to live in. Cara’s world is graced with the ghost of her great-aunt Otea, left behind in Italy when the rest of the family came to America. The memory of a homeland left behind, but not lost, gifts this table with nostalgia but not grief: a new life not only took root here, as it has done with centuries of immigrants, it also blossomed.

George herself, and her design work, are a living testament to that journey, and the possibilities each new arrival opens for our country and for each of us.

A Design Lesson To-Go

Your unique family history can be the starting point for a layered look that will also delight all who behold it.

Story by Keith Recker
Styling by Danny Mankin
Photography by Laura Petrilla

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Sewickley-based interior designer Melissa Ewen comes on strong for green at the table. “It’s incredibly versatile,” she asserts. “On a table, it is a beautiful backdrop for food. Verdant, herbaceous elements feel especially alive against it, and it gives life to simpler, less vibrant dishes. Beyond that, in interior design, green feels grounding and natural—it brings an ease that invites people to linger.” As we contemplated her table setting, we exhaled with both relaxation and pleasure. We think she’s right. 

Interior Designer Melissa Ewen Encourages You to Add Color to Your Table Seeting

A dash of gold is another of her trademark choices. “Gold-rimmed glassware has been around since the Romans. I’m mad for the warmth and sense of history a gold edge brings to a table. I’m always looking for pieces that I can mix and match,” comments Ewen. “I found the gold-rimmed glasses in the photo on a trip to Prague. Vintage finds add character and patina. I think about the stories of previous owners and the lives a piece has lived and love that my own story is now a part of that.”  

Does this sense of hidden narrative make a difference when Ewen and her guests sit down to dinner? “When I set a table, it’s a one-of-a-kind experience for my guests, because the table is the result of years of collecting what I love. Collecting slowly allows you to build layers of meaning, not just style. Over time, you begin to know your pieces well enough to use them creatively and intentionally—pulling out just the right plate or glass because its story will resonate with a friend.” 

A Design Lesson To-Go

Dive into the world of antique shops, thrift depots, and online forums like Etsy and eBay. Vintage treasures will expand your visual world broadly and deeply. 

Story by Keith Recker
Styling by Danny Mankin
Photography by Laura Petrilla

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Pittsburgh native Colleen Simonds boomeranged back to town a few years ago after decades in the fashion space with Gap and J Crew. The geographic shift was accompanied by a career transition: Simonds moved from fashion into home. Now a nationally recognized interior designer with projects published in The New York Times, House Beautiful, and other publications, she shares her unique vision of color, print, form, and texture with residential clients across the United States and (lucky us!) with TABLE Magazine.

Colleen Simonds Shows How an Eclectic Table Setting Can Bring Your Ideas to Life

What we love most about Simond’s work comes out so clearly in this table setting: her enthusiastic embrace of color and pattern, and an eclectic aesthetic so finely tuned that nothing appears out of synch with the whole. Also, there’s always a gloriously irreverent high-low combination that feels spontaneous and sincere.

The flame stitch patterned tablecloth and Scarlett Sand placemat come from Mrs. Alice, and the design of the napkin is by Amanda Lindroth. Bamboo flatware found on Amazon balances out the sourcing. The plates and vintage glassware were found here and there over the years.

A Design Lesson To-Go

Choose your favorite color and drench your table with eclectic textures and patterns in various shades. The whole will be proverbially richer than the sum of its parts.

Story by Keith Recker
Styling by Danny Mankin
Photography by Laura Petrilla

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Los Angeles–based interior designer Peter Dunham brings his worldly yet relaxed glamour to the table with a new collection of dinnerware and textiles for Hudson Grace. Known for interiors that layer California ease with cosmopolitan panache, Dunham translates that sensibility into pieces designed for both everyday use and for special occasions.

Exploring Peter Dunham’s Dinnerware Collection for Hudson Grace

The dinnerware features painterly, hand-drawn motifs—stripes, borders, and small-scale patterns that feel collected rather than coordinated. Sun-washed colors recalling Mediterranean markets and long trips to India bring the designs to life. Plates and bowls are meant to mix, not match, encouraging a table that looks evolved over time instead of styled in a single stroke. Shown here are Dunham’s Jaali appetizer plate and Fez hand-painted border salad plate, both in green.

Textiles echo that same lived-in luxury. The gentle exuberance of block-print-inspired linens and patterned tablecloths make sure that nothing feels too precious. Instead, the collection invites you to actually use it—to serve Sunday pasta, pour a casual rosé, or host a lingering, candlelit dinner.

A Design Lesson To-Go

Learn from the designer himself! Peter Dunham is coming to Pittsburgh this Spring as featured speaker at ON DEC, presented by Carnegie Museum of Art Women’s Committee. Find out more about his journey with our Q&A!

Plus, you can view Dunham’s transformation of a young couple’s home, too!

Story by Keith Recker
Styling by Danny Mankin
Photography by Laura Petrilla

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Located in the Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee’s Blackberry Farm is one of the great resorts of our day. Its unique layering of luxury and American sensibilities has cultivated a passionate following. Inspired by years of requests for help in achieving Blackberry Farm’s signature look in visitors’ homes, Blackberry Farm Design was born.

Blackberry Farm Design on Upgrading Your Table Setting

Co-founder Kreis Beall shares with us her tabletop passions. Simon Pearce’s Everyday flatware gleams with a gently hammered texture. A creamy Blackberry Mountain Bud Vase cradles sprigs of asters and chrysanthemums. Barn Pottery dinnerware speaks in a hushed language of functionality and craftsmanship. Belgian linens in stunning red ochre and chartreuse and MATCH Lando Twist Highballs in amber complete this quiet perfection.

A Design Lesson To-Go

You can live happily forever with timelessly pared-down textures and colors that move with you across all the seasons.

Story by Keith Recker
Styling by Danny Mankin
Photography by Laura Petrilla

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On a trip to Claude Monet’s house in Giverny, France, architect and interior designer James Mohn appreciated the garden’s trailing trumpet vines, tall dahlias and larkspur, and sensuous water lilies. But he fell in love with Monet’s dining room. Its chrome yellow walls radiate optimism. Windows framed by green screens and shutters turn glimpses of the garden into living landscape paintings. On the day of Mohn’s visit, the table was set with dinnerware designed in 1898 by the Impressionist master himself, in colors of sunshine and blue skies.  

James Mohn Designs a Table Setting Around Claude Monet’s Dining Room

The yellow- and blue-striped service was used for grand dinners, while traditionally patterned blue and white plates were used for everyday occasions. (Mohn notes that the latter coordinated perfectly with the blue-drenched kitchen adjacent to the dining room.) The Foundation Claude Monet revived the pattern in 1976 in collaboration with Limoges-based porcelain maker Robert Haviland & C. Parlon. In Pittsburgh, they’re available at Glassworks and Contemporary Concepts. 

Back home, Monet’s dinnerware is part of Mohn’s breakfast ritual. The plates are a crisp jumping off point for a day of bringing order and beauty into his clients’ homes. 

A Design Lesson To-Go 

Travel can be an exciting source of visual inspiration. When Cupid’s aesthetic arrow strikes deep, buy while you’re there and ship it home.

Story by Keith Recker
Styling by Danny Mankin
Photography by Laura Petrilla

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