Imagine Design

Imagine Design I am an interior designer that works towards creating casual, elegant rooms that are visually intere and Northern Virginia area.

Although Imagine Design is a full-service design company, our specialty is working with renovation or new construction. I love the building aspect of design and believe getting scale, flow and function right from the beginning helps everything fall into place. Being able to assess these elements from a set of blueprints or floor plans is essential, and is one of my favorite parts of the process. F

or 10 years prior to launching Imagine Design, I was a top-ranking real estate agent in the Washington, D.C. This experience provided valuable exposure to what impacts home value, and an understanding of which improvement would ultimately provide the best return on a client’s investment. I work towards creating casual, elegant, rooms that are visually interesting but also comfortable and inviting. It is the subtle coordination of fabric, color, layering, and unique accessories that really brings a home to life. My approach is tailored to each client’s individual needs, lifestyle and budget, but the formula based on comfort and elegance is always the same. Imagine Design is available for service from project management for a full-scale renovation/new build project to simple consultations on how to work with existing furnishings.

This dining room is such a beautiful reminder that dark, moody color doesn’t make a space feel smaller. It can make it f...
05/28/2026

This dining room is such a beautiful reminder that dark, moody color doesn’t make a space feel smaller. It can make it feel more expansive, more enveloping, and so much more memorable.

Here, the walls, trim, and ceiling are all wrapped in the same deep green, creating a rich backdrop for everything else in the room. The antique wood tones feel warmer. The crystal chandelier feels brighter. The artwork, rug, and collected pieces all stand out against the deep color.

That’s the magic of committing to a color. Instead of adding drama in little bits, the whole room becomes the atmosphere.

And in a historic home like this, that kind of confidence feels especially right. It honors the architecture, gives the antiques a backdrop, and makes the space feel as if it has always been this way.

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One of my favorite measures of a successful room is how it feels when we come back years later.This family room was phas...
05/25/2026

One of my favorite measures of a successful room is how it feels when we come back years later.

This family room was phase one of what turned out to be a much larger project. Since then, we’ve been back several times as the house has evolved, working on a glass-walled indoor-outdoor room that opens completely to the garden, the living room, and the entire primary suite. But this was where we started.

The goal here was relaxed, casual, and a little California in feeling, while still making sense in a traditional East Coast home. The soft neutral upholstery, warm leather, oversized tropical plants, natural wood coffee table, and collected layers all helped give the room that easy, indoor-outdoor feeling.

So when we walk back in, now years later, the original room still feels fresh, current, and completely right for the house, that is when I know we hit the mark.

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interior designer

I’m so excited to share some first photos from a recently completed project, and I just had to start with this moody lit...
05/23/2026

I’m so excited to share some first photos from a recently completed project, and I just had to start with this moody little home bar.

This room was the original galley kitchen in the sweetest 1950s Cape Cod. When the family needed more room, we helped rethink how the house could live. The new addition gave them a beautiful, functional kitchen and family space, but just as important, it allowed this narrow pass-through to become something much more special.

Instead of treating it like leftover space, we turned it into a moment.
The new arched opening softens the transition into the dining room and makes the passage feel intentional and architectural. The deep blue color drench quiets the narrowness of the room and lets the cabinetry, walls, and trim read as one cohesive envelope. Mesh metal cabinet fronts add texture and a little old-world bar feeling, while brass hardware and plumbing bring just enough warmth and polish.

I of course included the before and after, because who doesn’t love seeing a year or two of planning, decisions, construction, and problem-solving turn into a four-second reveal? If only it were actually that easy.

I also included a few views of the new kitchen. The addition gave this family the space they needed, and it gave the original galley kitchen permission to become something much more memorable and unexpected.

That is often my favorite kind of renovation. Not just adding square footage, but reimagining what the existing spaces can become while never losing the original charm of the home.

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You know how a great pair of jeans somehow goes with everything? Deep blue can work the same way with your upholstered f...
05/21/2026

You know how a great pair of jeans somehow goes with everything? Deep blue can work the same way with your upholstered furniture in a room.

That is one of the reasons I love using blue as a neutral when designing a home.

In this family room, the custom blue sofas give the space depth and structure, but they don’t make the room feel overly “colorful.” Instead, they make all the warm neutrals work harder: the natural wood coffee table, the brass lighting, the woven dining chairs, the cream drapery, the textured rug, the leather, the collected art.

It is color, but it behaves like a classic.

And when the tone is right, blue has that same easy quality as denim. It works with almost everything, adds a little richness, and keeps the room from feeling flat.

To me, that is what makes a room feel layered and livable. Not decorated in one perfect note, but collected over time, with each piece making the others feel better.

Design: Imagine Design
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Old houses do not always need to be opened up to work for modern life.This 1913 Washington, DC four-square still has its...
05/18/2026

Old houses do not always need to be opened up to work for modern life.

This 1913 Washington, DC four-square still has its original main floor layout: two rooms in the front, two rooms in the back, and a wide center hall running through the middle. Instead of changing that, we leaned into it and thought carefully about how each room could serve the way a family lives today.

This light-filled room near the kitchen had originally been the dining room, but it was the perfect place to create something these homes were never really designed to have: a true family room.

A hundred years ago, the closest equivalent might have been a double parlor. Today, this room needed to be comfortable, casual, and useful every day. It was large enough for two sofas and club chairs, giving the whole family a place to gather, while an oversized square coffee table helps anchor the seating and makes sense of the room’s proportions.

The original shutters were beautiful enough to leave alone, so there was no need for additional window treatments. And the soft, cloud-like light fixture adds just enough whimsy without taking away from the simplicity of the room.

Now the two front rooms serve as the more formal living and dining rooms, while the back of the house holds the eat-in kitchen and this relaxed family room lounge.

It feels current and easy to live in, but nothing about the original character of the house had to be erased. That is one of my favorite kinds of design: honoring the house you have while making it work beautifully for the way you live now.

Design: Imagine Design
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Some rooms begin with a dream.In this Warrenton home, our clients were remodeling to create the house they had always im...
05/16/2026

Some rooms begin with a dream.

In this Warrenton home, our clients were remodeling to create the house they had always imagined for themselves. Part of that dream was a music room just off the moody dining room: a place for records, books, conversation, a beautiful drink, and those easy evenings when dinner spills naturally into music.

We wrapped the room in a deep green, then layered in wood-backed shelves, brass accents, leather, rust velvet sofa, art, records, books, and collected objects so it would feel warm, personal, and lived in from the start.

That is what I love most about designing a home. It is never just about the furniture or finishes. It is about the life the room is meant to hold.

A quiet morning with coffee.
A record playing after dinner.
Friends moving between the dining room and the music room.
A dream house, built around real moments.

Design: Imagine Design
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I came across this photo today from a project I did for a friend years ago, and it still feels like such a good reminder...
05/13/2026

I came across this photo today from a project I did for a friend years ago, and it still feels like such a good reminder of one of my favorite design principles: invest in interesting statement pieces.

A piece like this carved console does so much more than fill a wall. It anchors the room, creates an immediate focal point, and gives everything around it a sense of intention.

Once you have something with this much character, the smaller layers can stay relatively simple: a great mirror, a pair of sculptural lamps, a piece of art, a vase with branches, a found object or two. The statement piece gives the eye somewhere to land, and the quieter pieces around it help tell the story without competing for attention.

That is often the difference between a room that feels decorated and a room that feels collected. So if you’re wondering where to start when decorating a room, choose one extraordinary piece and let it lead.

Design: Imagine Design

In a 150-year-old Georgetown home, you have to respect the quirks.This room began as a traditional basement, but a 19th-...
05/11/2026

In a 150-year-old Georgetown home, you have to respect the quirks.

This room began as a traditional basement, but a 19th-century street improvement project actually lowered the street outside. That left the home’s foundation level almost entirely above grade, transforming what was once a dark storage space into something extraordinary: full-height windows, abundant natural light, original stone walls, brick floors, and the kind of architectural character you simply cannot recreate.

During a much more recent renovation, we knew we wanted to keep the original stone walls and brick floors exposed. There is something so grounding about layering modern luxury against 150-year-old masonry. But as beautiful as the room is, it also needed to function by day as a home office.

I’m often asked how to make a home office feel less like a cubicle and more like a sanctuary. My best advice: don’t try to hide the function. Design around it.

Here, we anchored the room with a clubby, stay-all-day feeling: a cognac leather sofa, a plaid ottoman, comfortable lounge chairs, layered art, and a moody wet bar with warm wood, unlacquered brass, and antiqued mirror for that evening glow.

Look closely and you’ll see the desk, computer monitor, and tech gear tucked right behind the sofa. By placing the desk facing the view, rather than pushing it against a wall, the office becomes part of the room instead of an afterthought.

And that, to me, is the real lesson. A home office doesn’t have to announce itself with wall-to-wall built-ins or a desk shoved into the corner. It can feel like a library, a lounge, a retreat, and still be incredibly functional.

You don’t have to sacrifice historic soul, comfort, or even your favorite cocktail for a productive workday.

Design: Imagine Design
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This dining room is a whimsical take on tradition. We wrapped the walls in a richly patterned paper, painted the trim a ...
05/09/2026

This dining room is a whimsical take on tradition.

We wrapped the walls in a richly patterned paper, painted the trim a deep blue, and let the lighter ceiling give the room a little breathing room. The result is bold, layered, and still completely livable.

I love the mix here: the warmth of the wood table and hutch, the patterned dining chairs, the collected plates, the antique-inspired chest, and that beautiful mirror reflecting just enough light back into the room.

It feels classic, but not predictable. Formal, but not fussy. The kind of dining room that makes even a weeknight dinner feel a little more special.

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When designing a home, we are always thinking about the whole. How each room connects, how the palette carries through, ...
05/06/2026

When designing a home, we are always thinking about the whole. How each room connects, how the palette carries through, how the house tells one complete story.

But the truth is, we do not really live in the whole room all at once. People live in the moments the little vignettes.

It might be a favorite chair by the window that is perfect for a cup of coffee watching people walk by. At the bedside table at the beginning and end of the day.
In the entryway view that greets you when you walk in. The console styled with flowers and lamplight. The collected art hung just right on the wall.

This historic Old Town Alexandria home is full of those moments. The larger design matters, of course, but it is often these smaller vignettes that give the home its warmth and personality. So swipe through to see some of my favorite moments.

Design: Imagine Design
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22101–22103, 22106

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