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Designer Peter Dunham Transforms a Young Couple’s Home in Brentwood

By
Stephen Treffinger
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A blue couch sits at the end of a large four poster bed,

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.  

A dining room with brown chairs and blue walls.

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.

Colorful table setting with dark orange highlights in bottles and flowers.

“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.  

A large blue rectangular sectional sits in front of bright curtains.

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.  

A blue couch sits actoss from another couch with the walls painted the same blue to match.

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.  

A balcony doorway in a bedroom with a blue couch at the end of the bed.

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.

A brown rocking chair sits by a fire along with a white chair and a small blue wooden chair.

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.  

A blue Chinese case sits on a white ledge.
A hanging blue lamp beyond white cupboards.
A blue walled sining room with a dark table and brown leather chairs.

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).  

A tall brown leather chair sits beside a brown side table and lamp.

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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Cara George of Otea Tells a Family Story in Textiles and Table Settings

By
Keith Recker
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Three green pattern plates stacked on top of a brown table cloth setting with silverware on each side.

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.

A stack of three green pattern plates sits beside a pattern napkin with a spoon and knife on top of it.

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 stack of green pattern plates sits on a white table cloth with silverware on each side.

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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Color and Vintage Shopping Inform Interior Designer Melissa Ewen’s Table Setting Tips

By
Keith Recker
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A woman's hands fix flowers in a vase on a table setting of green and gold.

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. 

A table full of four green and white plates with birds on them, green napkins, and gold silverware.

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.”  

A person pours water into a green glass with a white and green and brown plate in the background.

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 white plate with a green bird pattern on it sits on a table setting with gold embellishments.

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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Colleen Simonds’ Table Setting Encourages Color Drenching

By
Keith Recker
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A purple pear on a small bowl on top of bigger mauve plate all on a pattern table cloth of blue and pink.

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.

A purple plate with a purple pear inside all sitting on a pattern tablecloth.

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 drizzled peach sits in a mauve bowl under a similar color plate and with a small plate of three pears sitting in the background.

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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Peter Dunham’s Collection of Dinnerware for Hudson Grace

By
Keith Recker
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A white plate has a green painted plate on top of it with a green napkin to the left.

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.

Two plate settings with stacks of white and green plates on an orange table cloth and glasses of drinks.

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 table setting with green dinnerware on a busy orange pattern table cloth.

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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Blackberry Farm Design Finds Balance in Table Setting

By
Keith Recker
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A stack of white plates beside an orange napkin, below glasses of water and a white strawberry cake.

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.

A stack of white plates with forks and white strawberries sits below three glasses and to the left of a white cake on a piece of stone.

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 white plate sits on a red wood table with a bowl of white strawberries on top of the plates.

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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Designer James Mohn Takes Tabletop Inspiration from Claude Monet’s Dining Room

By
Keith Recker
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A two stack of yellow plates with blue edges sits on a white table with a blue cloth to the left of it, a yellow saucer plate above it, and then a plate of crystals to the right of it.

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.  

A stack of two yellow plates with a yellow Buddha hand chopped up on top of it.

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 stack of yellow and blue plates sits on a table with blue napkins and other yellow embellishments like a yellow saucer.

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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St. Patrick’s Day Cocktails for Getting the Party Started

By
Kylie Thomas
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A closeup look in photo of a Guinness Beer Float with vanilla ice cream and a can of beer being poured over the top of a ball of creamy white ice cream.

St. Patrick’s Day is the perfect excuse to raise a glass, gather your friends, and add a little Irish-inspired spirit to the celebration. Whether you’re hosting a lively party, heading to a festive get-together, or simply toasting from home, the right cocktail can instantly set the mood. We’re sharing a lineup of St. Patrick’s Day cocktails that are as fun to make as they are to drink. So what are you waiting for? Shake up the luck of the Irish! All you need now is our Irish Feast to match.

St. Patrick’s Day Cocktail Recipes

Irish Cream

A glass holds an Irish Cream with whipped cream on top, a shot of whiskey to the left, and ice cubes sitting in front of the glass all on a green background.

Skip buying Baileys this year and make it at home instead. Our recipe for homemade Irish Cream is not only cheaper than the bottle alternative, but tastes better too. Its full-bodied profile lets the creamy cocoa shine, followed by a smooth chase of Irish Whiskey. Serve it in your coffee or on its own in a glass with delectable whipped cream on top.

Bailey’s Irish Coffee

An Irish Coffee made with Baileys sits in a mug on a white table with whipped cream on top and a pair of shamrock sunglasses in front of the glass.

Now that you’ve made your own Irish Cream, put it to good use by making a Bailey’s Irish Coffee. We recommend serving this coffee hot as a way to both wake and warm you up on St. Patrick’s Day morning. All you need is your favorite brew of hot coffee, your Irish Cream, sugar, and whipped cream as well as cinnamon for a garnish.

Not Your Average Guinness Float

A closeup look in photo of a Guinness Beer Float with vanilla ice cream and a can of beer being poured over the top of a ball of creamy white ice cream.

It’s tradition to enjoy a cold pint of Guinness on Saint Patrick’s Day, so why not make it a bit more fun? This is Not Your Average Guinness Float either since it includes dashes of walnut bitters. The nutty addition blends perfectly with the ice cream’s creaminess and rich, stout Guinness. With a combination this good, you’ll be looking forward to dessert before dinner is even made.

The Gentleman’s Brew, A Non-Alcoholic Irish Coffee

A glass mug filled with a dark, creamy-looking A non-alcoholic Irish coffee garnished with a lemon peel and what appears to be coffee beans or espresso grounds.

Even though Saint Patrick’s Day is thought to be all about the drinking, you don’t have to be drunk to enjoy the holiday. In fact, this Non-Alcoholic Irish Coffee delivers a burst of energy with the use of cold brew. It also uses a bourbon replacement and chocolate bitters to make this drink more complex than your average coffee.

Story by Kylie Thomas

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Peter Dunham Comes to Pittsburgh for Women’s Committee ON DEC Fundraiser

By
Stephen Treffinger
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Peter Dunham sits in a wooden chair inside the living room of his home.

On May 13, Los Angeles-based interior designer Peter Dunham will be the featured speaker at the Women’s Committee Carnegie Museum of Art’s annual ON DEC fundraising event. We sat down to discuss his relationship to Pittsburgh, his process in putting together a talk, and more.

Talking Pittsburgh with Peter Dunham

Stephen Treffinger: Have you spent much time in Pittsburgh? 

Peter Dunham: I have, actually. My brother got married in State College, and Pittsburgh was the quickest and most interesting place to escape to.  

And I went to see Fallingwater and it was on the way. It was a long time ago, maybe 20 or 25 years, before the cultural renewal. 

ST: Is there something you’re looking forward to seeing? 

PD: I definitely want to see the Warhol Museum. We were friends when I was young. I was very much in his orbit in the 80s when I moved to New York—and also in Paris, where he and his business partner had an apartment. I also love to tour houses that are open to the public—such as Clayton, the home of the Henry Clay Frick family, as well as lots of other museums. 

ST: Can you tell us what your talk will be about? 

PD: It will be centered around my book, The World of Peter Dunham: Global Style from Paris to Hollywood, which came out in April of last year. I’ll talk about outdoor living and outdoor entertaining. I also have a collaboration with the brand Hudson Grace, which does a lot of tabletop. I may also talk about doing historic renovations, because we are called on to do those a lot.  

ST: How do you get ready for a big talk?

PD: I start thinking about who I’m speaking to, and what they’re likely to be interested in, and what time of the year it is. It’s May, so people are going to start thinking about summer and outdoor stuff. So I might also do something about travel, which is one of the themes in my book. I’ll think about the photographs that we can populate the lecture with. To pluck something the audience is not necessarily expecting. And then, you know, I need to figure out how I can make it entertaining. 

ST: Will you be signing books? 

PD: Yes. 

ST: And, finally, what do you love about your book? 

PD: Oh, dear. Wow! All of it. I was a very, very reluctant enter into the idea of doing a book. I felt it was going to be very exposing. I didn’t want to do a portfolio book, just a list of projects. That seemed to me very boring and static. I’d saved up quite a lot of projects that people did not want me to publish in magazines or did not want me to publish with their names attached. In a book, you don’t really have to worry about that, as you do with magazines now.

So one of the things I do like about the book is I was able to present these projects that I’d saved up that either didn’t resonate with editors, or they were just not timely, or they wouldn’t publish because of the anonymity. The book is a little bit all over the place. And so I think you dig into it, and the effect becomes a little bit subliminal, the effect of color and pattern, as you go through. We organized it obviously into certain themes, because it’s very hard to do a seamless or completely unstructured book. 

ST: Can you give an example? 

PD: We discuss the importance of finding cool light fixtures. I mean, you might think, ‘Oh, light fixtures are light fixtures.’ But to me, light fixtures are almost like sculptural pieces. They’re like the jewels on someone’s earlobes, you know. You can be dressed in a similar black dress, but if you put on some great piece of jewelry, you know, you have a completely different aspect. 

I tried not to make it some kind of glory piece of, you know, how great am I—but just try and give people ideas to take home and decorate with. 

Tickets available on the Women’s Committee website.

Plus, while you wait for his arrival, check out one of Dunham’s latest design projects, where he transforms a young couple’s home.

Story by Stephen Treffinger
Photo Courtesy of Victoria Hely-Hutchinson for Peter Dunham

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Western Pennsylvania Native Plants to Grow in Your Backyard

By
Keith Recker
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A tall purple flower with blooms all around it.
Blue Lobelia Wetland Flower (Lobelia siphilitica)

Allegheny monkeyflower. Culver’s root. Great Blue Lobelia. Do those names roll off the tongue like poetry?  They should! They’re native plants which evolved in this region and know how to handle the intricacies of our climate. They support precious pollinators and beautiful birds. They are capable of re-seeding so that you have a new batch of flowers next year. And they’re downright gorgeous.  

Tall lavender in a field of green.
Veronicastrum virginicum flowers

What Western Pennsylvania Native Plants Can You Grow?

If you’ve never thought about planting natives, check out the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania’s Native Plant Guides. They’re free online, and full of information and plant lists that will get you started. The first step is to decide where in your garden you want to sow local. Is it sunny or shady? Moist or dry? The next step is to choose your look. Do you want showy or subtle? Short or tall? Then dive into the list and make your picks. 

Next step: go shopping. The Audubon Society’s Beechwood Farms may have what you’re looking for. They’re in Fox Chapel. After shopping, walk their lovely trails. But you can also purchase some amazing seeds online at places like Ernst Seeds, and Hungry Hook Farm. I had some amazing results from an Ernst seed mix designed for sunny hillsides. The areas where I planted it looked amazing for years and years. 

Small purple flowers within greenery.

Finally: watch your seeds grow into stunning flowers. Clip a few when they bloom to enjoy on your table. Let the rest go to seed so that the next growing season is even more beautiful than this one.  

Story by Keith Recker 

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