Inside Homes - March 2016

HOME LIFE Real Estate News and Open House I Inside Homes and My Washington

-R 0MZMRK 'SPSV Erin Streeter and Chris Israel mix candy hues and playful patterns in Alexandria.

BY AUBREY ALMANZA PHOTOGRAPHS BY TONY BROWN

HOME LIFE | INSIDE HOMES

hile interior design continues to trend toward a Scandinavian aesthetic and neutral color schemes, Chris Israel and Erin Streeter’s Belle Haven home is anything but minimal. With the help of Alexandriabased interior designers Alex Deringer and Courtney Cox of Ivy Lane Living, the couple has created a whimsicallydetailed home to showcase their personalities and prove “kid-friendly” need not mean boring.

Cox and Deringer appealed to the homeowners for their shared emphasis on one-of-a-kind décor. v “I want everything to be unique,” Streeter says, looking around her pink office where even the trim is painted a rosy hue. “It’s different,” she says, “not something you would walk in and see in someone else’s home.”

Wandering through the expansive and light-filled house, each room offers a color scheme different than the last. The sitting room features a floral sofa, pink patterned wallpaper, and multicolored, striped curtains. The main living room, on the other hand, has an open, Palm Beach feel and is primarily orange and white with green accents.

The dining room is a combination of various shades of blue, offset by gold. The piece-de-resistance, a Tommy Mitchell lucite box chandelier encasing hundreds of gilded butterflies hangs above the dining table. “It’s like a piece of jewelry, a chandelier earring,” Derringer says, noting that it “makes a statement.”

The most remarkable facets of Streeter and Israel’s home lie in the details. A butterfly motif can be found throughout, including on the fabric shades in the kitchen and colorful Schumacher wallpaper in the basement mudroom. It’s a subtle way of bringing the outside in, also evidenced in paintings depicting bales of hay, sunflowers and open country, an homage to Streeter and Israel’s home state of Kansas.

With such a bold idea of how they envisioned

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OPENING PAGE: Erin Streeter, Chris Israel and their dog, Clementine, sit on a couch from Ivy Lane Living Private Label in the living room while children Lizzie, Lilian and Grant jump behind them. The sofa is finished with low-hanging orange tassels, a detail matching the Brunschwig and Fils wallpaper.

PREVIOUS PAGE (clockwise from top left): The family enjoys spending time in the kitchen, where they painted dark wood cabinets white; Two sculptural, standing lamps from Visual Comfort frame the living room fireplace;The basement mudroom features butterfly wallpaper, a motif running throughout the house; Sandy Welch’s painting of Chanel shoes holds a special place in the memories of Streeter and her daughter, who visited the flagship store in Paris together; Streeter and designer Alex Deringer discuss pushing boundaries using color.

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THIS PAGE (clockwise from top left): A Fernando Botero copy hangs above a floral sofa in the sitting room; Gilded butterflies are on display inside the Tommy Mitchell chandelier hanging in the dining room; Ivy Lane worked directly with Streeter and Israel’s eldest daughter, Lizzie, to design her dream bedroom; An abstract Chris Shands painting hangs in the office, Streeter’s favorite room in the house. The hay bales are by Ernst Ulmer, a landscape painter from Streeter and Israel’s native state, Kansas.

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transforming their home — a blank canvas when they purchased it from a builder two years ago — the couple needed interior designers capable of capturing their family’s happy, warm and whimsical style. “I know my taste and what I like, but I can’t always pull it together,” Streeter says. “That’s where the partnership with Ivy Lane has been really fun and rewarding.”

After two unsuccessful experiences with other interior design firms, Streeter realizes how important it is for homeowners and designers to have that connection. “I feel like she [Derringer] has me down in a way no one has ever really understood my personality. It is at a place now where I trust her completely. She’ll call and say ‘I have something for you,’ and I know I’m going to like it.”

In addition to capturing their family’s personality, Streeter and Israel designed their home to accommodate the activities of their three energetic children and dog, Clementine. The layout of the house is open and provides “so many hiding spots. Every time the designers come or put some new furniture in, we always have more and more places for hide-and-seek,” says 11-year-old Lizzie.

Yet, in a home that is always bustling, “functionality is a big thing,” Israel says. “We’re always moving from the kitchen to downstairs to the car. You get on that rotation every day, so making those spaces user-friendly is important because they’re the focal point of your routine.”

One of the greatest joys of creating such a stunning, family-friendly home has been Streeter and Israel’s ability to share it with others. From birthday parties and school functions to entertaining friends and colleagues, the colorful residence radiates light and positivity, making it the perfect venue for social gatherings. “This is our home,” Streeter says. “We’re raising our children in this house and we like to have people over.We like to be a part of our community, and I think this house represents that.”

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