Anderson Wier Studio

Getting ready to seize the weekend (and a first look at one of the first spaces I designed after opening #andersonwierstudio). My work week ended on a high note when the real deal photographs of the #AWSarlingtonhouse landed in my in box.
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credit for said real deal photos and styling to @stylishproductions @radifera @charlottesafavi

This time last week I was touring @visitmanitoga, the home of Russel Wright in the hills above the Hudson River in Garrison, New York. Wright crafted the house and the landscape from his imagination, creating Manitoga on a site that had once been a quarry and looked nothing like it is now. The house seems to grow out of the woods and to be at one with the cliff it is perched upon. Manitoga reminds me of Central Park, a space that at once feels totally natural but is in truth a fully cultivated environment. It’s staying with me. More to come.

It’s a rainy day in Washington and as I hear my kids launching themselves into the air one floor below, I’m wishing that I something like the game room at the #AWSpalisadeshouse in my basement.
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photographed and styled by @stylishproductions / @radifera @charlottesafavi

my computer isn’t cooperating with my plans for a productive work day so #moodboardmonday and a view of the material concept for the new #AWSeastonhouse

It’s feeling very Monday around here. Here’s to keeping the vacation spirit alive with this look back at the #AWSbearsvillehouse.

It’s the last morning of our vacation and we’re packing up. As I strip the beds and do the laundry before we hit the road, I am thinking about this gem of a linen closet at the Roosevelt house in Hyde Park. I’m always more interested in the private service spaces than the grand public rooms on tours of historic houses. I leaned over the velvet rope to capture this view and I must say that it suits me quite well. In the choice between “upstairs and downstairs,” I’m downstairs every time.

treehouse bedroom for a growing girl at the #AWSbearsvillehouse

We came across this grand entrance to nowhere while searching for a swimming hole yesterday. The word “Estelina” is carved into the top section of the stone. The internet isn’t filling in the blanks so my imagination is running wild, conjuring up all the fantastical places the gates of Estelina may have led once upon a time.

looking through the bedroom window at the #AWSbearsvillehouse

a new day and a new view from the #AWSbearsvillehouse—this piece by @jonah_w_meyer reminds me of the mountains outside the front door

My current view at the #AWSbearsvillehouse (also known as doing a bit of work during an otherwise lazy vacation doesn’t bother me one bit).

Good morning from the #AWSbearsvillehouse. This place feeds my soul.

The honed and beveled marble tile I spied earlier today while sourcing materials for another project is sticking with me. The sharpness of the detail combined with the subtlety of the color reminds me of one of my design heroes @stevengambrel. It’s not quite right for any of my current projects but I’m recording it here with the thought that I can manifest it into reality. We’ll see...

Last summer I was doing a deep dive into the furnishings for the #AWSpalisadeshouse. The vintage chairs in the great room were one of the first things I found for the project and I’ll admit that the vendor wasn’t thrilled with me as I kept calling to extend my hold on the chairs while the other pieces came together. Now almost a year later, the chairs have been refinished and reupholstered and you’d never know that they weren’t always this way. Scroll to spy the detail that convinced me that these chairs were just right. The reveal between the seat and the frame had me at hello.
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image no. 1 photographed and styled by @stylishproductions @radifera @charlottesafavi / image no. 2 courtesy of my phone

I had bathrooms on the brain today. This is a pint sized (read really hard to photograph) bathroom I designed a couple years ago for a weekend getaway in the Catskills. I’ve tackled a dozen bathrooms since then but this remains a favorite. We used an inexpensive tile to dramatic effect by installing it from floor to ceiling. It’s a classic choice that I’ll never tire of.

My husband and I snuck in a date last night and a visit to the new @bejustcville. We were thoroughly charmed by the shop and could have filled our car with treasures many times over. As it was, we left with a little something for us, a gift for a friend, and a just right piece for a client. Mission accomplished.

Does anyone want to join me on the porch at the #AWSpalisadeshouse? I’ll bring the iced coffee.

I’m thinking today about the things that inspire me and how I found my way to the life I’m living now. This tattered drawing is a clue. It’s the work of an unknown artist my aunt discovered pinned to the wall of a community center where she was teaching an art class. It’s quintessential outsider art and when I look at it I see an entire world of possibility—a life spent considering the details. Until recently when my aunt passed the drawing on to me, it hung in her house. I remember starring at it as a girl and returning to it again and again with fresh eyes as I grew older. This is one of the things that taught me to see and it’s a treasure.

Let me tell you story. Once upon a time about six months ago, the construction of the #AWSpalisadeshouse was wrapping up. Light fixtures were installed. The hardwood flooring was finished. The painters were putting the final coats on the millwork. The installation was coming into view but there was a problem. The custom-made mantel for my clients’ great room arrived and the color and texture were all wrong. It was a beautiful piece but not for this space. In the final weeks of a long project, there can be pressure to let not-so-great things be good enough. That said, I’m a sweat the small stuff kind of person, and so I scrambled to work with the vendor to re-make the mantel. It took two more rounds of finish samples and in the end the mantel moved into the house a few days after my clients. It broke my heart a little not to deliver a fully finished house, but it was more important to be a steward of the design and get the details just right. So here it is, the mantel that checked all the boxes and is sitting pretty just as I envisioned it.
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photographed and styled by @stylishproductions @radifera @charlottesafavi

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Anderson Wier Studio, Washington D.C.