A Maryland Couple Turned Their Home Into a Masterpiece

Brandi Underhill has been studying fine art since she was young, so when she started a massive redesign of her 6,114-square-foot Tudor revival, she thought of the place as one big canvas. “I’ve been dreaming of creating a home like this for decades,” she says. “I love all types of art, especially pieces that are bright and colorful, and I wanted this house to have that same sense of joy.”

Brandi, who now works in healthcare, and her husband, Justin, a media executive, hired designer Jewel Marlowe to execute her vision on the Bethesda, Maryland, home and give it a touch of glamour — with a lot of color. “We based most rooms on just one or two special items,” Brandi says. “And like any incredible piece of art, the house has plenty of unexpected details!”

Brandi and Justin wanted a blue room for entertaining but asked Jewel for something bolder than navy. “This color is almost teal,” Jewel says (Bermuda Blue by Bejamin Moore). To add to the drama, she installed a marble-pattern Phillip Jeffries wallpaper on the ceiling. This room is home to the bigget splurge of the redesign: the custom Baker sofa.

“The space really envelops you, and people never want to leave!” Brandi says.

The dining room had good bones but needed a colorful redesign — and a new light fixture that suited Brandi and Justin's artful taste.

Jewel nodded to this room’s garden views by installing painted latticework (Ocean Air by Benjamin Moore) on the walls. The Murano glass chandelier, from Sogni di Cristallo in Venice, Italy, is part of a collection inspired by Van Gogh’s Irises. “It really replicates the feeling of the painting,” Brandi says.

There wasn't anything wrong with this neutral kitchen. All it needed was a dash of personality to blend in with the rest of the redesign.

Brandi and Justin kept most of the kitchen as it was and painted the island gray (Purbeck Stone by Farrow & Ball) to match the marble countertops. Jewel chose pendants from Visual Comfort & Co. and added a valance made of Schumacher fabric. “It gives the room a nice punch!” she says.

This bare-bones bedroom was a blank slate to create the main bedroom of Brandi and Justin's dreams.

The couple wanted to create a focal point in this room, so Jewel’s team covered a portable screen with crane wallpaper from Phillip Jeffries. “Justin grew up by the water, and water birds make us feel at home,” Brandi says. The bed and nightstands are from Caracole.

Blah gray walls and an off-center window made this room feel anything but inviting.

Jewel installed drapery (in Schumacher fabric) in this room to mask the window placement; the drapes sort of trick your eye into thinking the window is larger and centered. She used a matching Schumacher coverlet and Ted Scott headboard. “My friend calls this her favorite boutique hotel!” Brandi says.