This DC Interior Designer's Bold Home is All About Taking Risks

Dana Schwartz, an interior designer in Washington, DC, explains why you should design your home for you — not for your guests.

By: Kassondra Cloos

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Shop This Look

Photo By: Stacy Zarin Goldberg

Photo By: Dana Schwartz

Photo By: Stacy Zarin Goldberg

Photo By: Dana Schwartz

Photo By: Stacy Zarin Goldberg

If You Absolutely Love It, It's Not Risky Design

When designer Dana Schwartz moved into this Washington, DC apartment, it was an empty new build with plain white walls. Now, the place is bursting with color, pattern and texture you wouldn’t think could mesh so well together. But the key to making it all work is simple: “Ultimately, it’s all stuff that I love,” she says. “It works, because it represents me.”

We asked Dana to give us some tips on taking design risks in your own home. And we got her to share her decor-sourcing secrets.

One secret? That “painting” underneath the neon sign—a quote from the Desperate Housewives of New York—is actually a Samsung Art TV, which many designers use in their work. You can subscribe to an art membership from Samsung so you can change up the image as it suits you. “It literally tricks people,” Dana says. “People are like, ‘Where’s your TV?’ So when it’s off, it really does look like a piece of art. That’s why I just built the gallery wall around it.”

Before: Painting These Walls Deep Navy Elevates the Rest of the Decor

Dana's apartment was a plain white canvas when she found it. She quickly decided to paint these walls in Indigo Batik from Sherwin Williams—which she said she treats more like a neutral than a bright color. "It's a really good background for all of the beautiful pieces that I have," she says. "I really wanted a really deep, rich color to help everything pop off of it."

An Animal-Print Coffee Table is Just One of the Wild Pieces in This Apartment

Usually when Dana stumbles upon incredible pieces, they're for a client's home. But when she found this faux fur coffee table in a dalmation print from Made Goods, she had to have it for herself. She thought, "I will never even show it to a client, because I have to have that."

In theory, it's a risky piece — it's quite unique, and the pattern could be loud. But Dana loves it, and it works perfectly against a neutral sofa and chaise set. “I’d say, take the risks while you can,” Dana says, adding that she pushes her clients to have fun with their design. “That’s what’s really going to make you love it at the end of the day, and want to be there and host, and have people over and show it off — if you have some fun with it, and if you’re true to yourself in it.”

The box on the coffee table is a piece she found at an antique shop in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She color-matched the turquoise on the box to mix a custom paint from Benjamin Moore for her kitchen island.

Before: A New-Build Apartment Is an Opportunity to Design a Place That Uniquely Suits You

Dana applied hot pink, patterned wallpaper to this bathroom when she moved in, immediately making it her own. In its current, colorful state, it's unrecognizable from its original state, here. "I've had friends say to me, 'I would never think all this would work together. But how you put it together, it just all works,'" Dana says. She tells her clients that they're the only ones who need to like what they've designed, and pushes them to get edgier and take risks on designs they love.

"At the end of the day, it's your home and your style," Dana says. "You're the only one who has to be happy in it.

Hot Pink Wallpaper Modernizes a Classic Toile Print

Dana plastered this powder room with a bold Brooklyn Toile wallpaper print in a custom hot pink color, sourced from Flavor Paper. She had “OMG” and “WTF” monogrammed onto towels from Pottery Barn, nodding to classic monogramming while also poking fun at it. The wallpaper “takes a traditional toile look and modernizes it,” she says, “which is where the monograms come from — that’s so not me, but I live in DC, and that’s a lot of people here.” The gold shopping bag, which she uses as a trash can, was sourced from an antique shop.

A Simple, Custom Kitchen Island Perfectly Matches Turquoise Tones in the Living Room

When Dana first moved into this apartment, there was no island here. Having such an open concept place can give you a lot of space to work with, she says. But it can also create a challenge in figuring out a natural place to put all your furniture. She worked with her contractor to commission this simple island that’s a great place for both meals and food prep. She had a custom turquoise paint mixed at Benjamin Moore to match the stones on a box she keeps on her coffee table, just out of view here. She chose the acrylic counter stools, from CB2, because “they just kind of disappear,” she says. “I didn’t want to have a lot of visual weight, because the space isn’t huge.”

Colorful Accessories Complete This Anthropologie Bar Cart

The colorful glasses on Dana’s bar cart were a housewarming gift from a friend, and she said they’re the perfect addition to the room. They pair well with this set of small purple glasses she bought at an antique shop in Santa Fe. “When I bought a lot of this stuff, I had no idea where it was going,” she said. “I just bought it because I loved it, and I knew I would make it work because I loved it. These little purple glasses were so cute and I had to have them, and they just worked, and then, later, they ended up working perfectly on my bar cart.” The cart is sourced from Anthropologie.

Acrylic Accents Add Funky Yet Professional Vibes to This Home Office

Part of the reason Dana chose this apartment was so she could have this office space for her business. She put up cork boards along the back wall so she could have a large inspiration wall to see all the current projects she’s working on. She had the curtain custom-made to match the furniture in the office, including these 1960s acrylic dining chairs she sourced from Chairish and reupholstered. The acrylic lamp is from Jonathan Adler.

Be Bold 'While You Can' and Take Risks With Wild Wallpaper

Dana calls this place her "Sex and the City apartment,” because it’s hers alone and she doesn’t need to consult a partner on design decisions. “This apartment is reflecting that, because I know the next place I will be, I’ll most likely be sharing with someone,” she says.

“I won’t get to have fun, pink palm wallpaper. So I kind of went all out with the design, and leaned into the girly stuff that I love, because it’s my place and I can make it exactly how I want it to be.” This Kingdom Palm wallpaper, in one of her two bathrooms, is from Milton & King and comes in several colorways. The cabinets are a simple set from IKEA, which Dana says she's had since she was in college. “I just got cool hardware at Anthropologie,” she says — a simple, low-cost way to spruce up furniture.

Installing a Curtain Behind the Bed Creates a Striking Visual Effect

In Dana's last apartment, there was an ugly control panel on the wall behind her bed. To disguise it, she hung this curtain behind the bed. She loved the way it looked — almost like an extended headboard — so she integrated the look into her new home, too. She sourced the bedding from Sunday Citizen, the lamp from Anthropologie and the rug from Wayfair.

Well-Placed Artwork is a Clever Approach to Add Privacy Without Blocking a View

Dana has a stunning view of DC's Adams Morgan neighborhood from her bedroom window. To keep the view open while also adding a bit of privacy, she placed this piece of art from CB2 so that it obscures part of the window. The upholstered bench is also sourced from CB2, and the baskets are from Anthropologie.

A Gallery Wall Features Permanent and Rotating Photos of Friends and Family

The gallery wall in Dana’s entryway is made up of some of her favorite photos of family and friends. The images in the simple black and white frames, from Williams Sonoma, change a lot, while those in the wooden frames are more permanent installations of photos of family members and extra-special days. “It’s a really special wall to me,” she says. “I wanted to make sure that the people who aren’t around anymore that were so big in my life are represented in my home.”

Turn an Awkward Nook Into a Decor Opportunity

There's an awkward space between Dana's office and second bathroom that's a bit of a cross between a nook and a hallway. So, Dana added this bookshelf to make the space feel purposeful and curated. It works so well, people often ask her if the shelves came built into the apartment, she says. "It's just perfect right there."

Color-Coding Your Bookshelves Can Make Them Seem More Intentional

Dana said she doesn’t usually color-code her shelves, but she gave it a try here on a whim and it just worked. When you're staring from the hot pink bathroom through the hallway into an office decked out with bright purple and teal furniture, the rainbow bookshelves tie everything together and make the whole color scheme flow more naturally.

“Color-coding chunks usually helps a lot” to balance out a bookshelf, she says. In addition, adding photographs and personal pieces breaks up the look, “instead of having just an entire thing of books.”

This DC Interior Designer's Bold Home is All About Taking Risks

Related To:

Shop This Look

If You Absolutely Love It, It's Not Risky Design

Before: Painting These Walls Deep Navy Elevates the Rest of the Decor

An Animal-Print Coffee Table is Just One of the Wild Pieces in This Apartment

Before: A New-Build Apartment Is an Opportunity to Design a Place That Uniquely Suits You

Hot Pink Wallpaper Modernizes a Classic Toile Print

A Simple, Custom Kitchen Island Perfectly Matches Turquoise Tones in the Living Room

Colorful Accessories Complete This Anthropologie Bar Cart

Acrylic Accents Add Funky Yet Professional Vibes to This Home Office

Be Bold 'While You Can' and Take Risks With Wild Wallpaper

Installing a Curtain Behind the Bed Creates a Striking Visual Effect

Well-Placed Artwork is a Clever Approach to Add Privacy Without Blocking a View

A Gallery Wall Features Permanent and Rotating Photos of Friends and Family

Turn an Awkward Nook Into a Decor Opportunity

Color-Coding Your Bookshelves Can Make Them Seem More Intentional

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