Mary Douglas Drysdale knows one speed – high. “They call me ‘the high RPM woman,’ ” she says. “I don’t stop until every detail is perfect.” When starting each project, Drysdale, principal of Drysdale Inc., learns everything she can about the homeowners. “There’s a mutual trust between homeowner and interior designer if a project is going to be successful,” Drysdale says.
For a Bethesda, MD, homeowner, finding Drysdale was intuitive; she had been collecting magazine pages for years of Drysdale Inc. designs. So when a friend showed her recently finished Drysdale spaces in her home, the owner knew it was time to contact the interior designer about her family’s 17-year-old kitchen.
By listening, Drysdale surmised that taller ceilings would make the homeowners happiest. So she suggested taking down the dividing walls between the kitchen and family room and redesigning the spaces to be on the same sunken level with bonus views of the backyard.
“It never occurred to us,” the homeowner says, to put the two rooms on the same level. “Mary thinks as an architect and designer. Now the kitchen doesn’t look like a kitchen, but instead feels like a fabulous drawing room.”
The Big Picture
The ultimate success of a design project depends on envisioning the space as a whole. “The best projects are strong in continuity of thought,” Drysdale says, when the ideas of design are brought forward and expressed. “Those concepts are reinforced and so strong that the veneer of those projects are found on every surface,” she adds. “The biggest mistake designers and owners make is that they focus on one thing. You can’t choose individual things or else you will have chaos,” Drysdale adds.
It’s a funnel effect. Any idea is considered initially and then as you proceed, you have to be more precise. “As you move forward, you give yourself over to what you are creating so that it leads the way. In order to achieve excellence, there are compromises that need to be made,” the designer says.
For this homeowner, the elements of surprise in her new kitchen and family room still delight her. “I can’t imagine thinking about all the details,” she says, such as setting the oven and microwave far enough back in the wall so the handles don’t protrude or anticipating niches for artwork not yet purchased. “It was important to bring art into the space,” the owner adds, because her house is all about the art. She found the painting to fit in the panel above the sofa in Aspen. “It’s so energetic. It makes me feel happy when I walk into the space,” she says.
Having sculptural pieces outside, such as John Dreyfuss’ Merlin, to continue the visual sightline is the right thing to do, Drysdale says. “It invites you to go outside, it makes you open the doors, and it completes the space visually.”
“Everything aligns now,” the owner says, “so you’re much more aware of the yard. There’s so much more light in the space now, too.”
This kitchen and family room feel grounded, connected, Drysdale adds. But the best part is that the homeowner feels the same way. “When I leave the space, it’s theirs,” the designer says. That’s why collaboration is so imperative. “I listen intently and force them to make decisions,” Drysdale says. “We solve the problems of the space and improve quality of life.”
The owner adds, “I feel at peace here; the inside and outside are in perfect balance.”
