Decorating a room can be a ton of fun. Decorating a room with a piece of fine craft as your inspiration? Well, that can be a downright ball.

To celebrate our 2013 show season, we invited regional interior designers, architects, and stylists to create 10-by-10 foot room settings – all inspired by a piece of craft made by one of our show artists. Some designers chose glass, others ceramics or fiber art. No matter the medium, the results were spectacular!

Take a look below to meet our professionals, and then see the works that inspired them and a few of the finished settings in the photo gallery. Going to one of our shows? Lucky you! All of the local vignettes will be set up on the show floor for visitors to walk through, admire, and, well, soak up some inspiration.

Who knows? Maybe you’ll spot that perfect piece for your home. Enjoy!
 

Designer: Debbie McHale, ASID
Design firm: Interior Transformations
Inspiration: Randi Solin, glass; Gabriele Beyer, textiles; Luke Proctor, metal, mixed media
Design style: Varied. What I love about my business is I work with clients who have diversified design styles, sometimes within the same space. Some clients favor eclectic or contemporary design and décor, while others prefer traditional. Each finished project directly reflects that client, as if he or she had the knowledge and resources that I have to create the room on their own.
Vision: The three pieces I chose inspired me with their organic feel. Randi Solin’s Sedona has a beautiful mix of color. Gabriele Beyer’s Underwater Garden has a feeling of life, movement, and simplicity. Luke Proctor’s piece shows a beautiful human side, with each mark created by this artisan a manifestation of strength and assuredness in a craft that has stood the test of time.
 

Designer: Elizabeth Cross-Beard Marsh
Design firm: Jenkins Baer Associates
Inspiration: Luke Proctor, metal
Design style: Transitional. I’m inspired to create spaces that work for my clients, whether it’s modern or traditional style. Layers mixed with sophistication and art define my spaces.
Vision: Inspired by the raw sculptural quality of Luke Proctor’s Branches candleholders. They have weight to them – emotion and sophistication – and the varying weights play off one another to create a really beautiful composition. I envision these candleholders on a traditional chest of drawers in a living room with modern furniture and artwork.
 

Designer: Marianne Fishman, ASID
Design firm: Row House Interiors LLC
Inspiration: Jennifer McCurdy, porcelain
Design style: Urban traditional. I started my first company, Row House Interiors LLC, after moving to Baltimore in 2003, specifically to use my talent in making the most of smaller-proportioned spaces.
Vision: Inspired by Jennifer McCurdy’s Coral vessel. It has such an organic feel and elements of movement and lightness. This versatile piece could exist in a variety of design styles and settings. I envision placing it in the sitting area of a bedroom, surrounded by furniture and décor that complement the craft.
 

Designer: Marietta Ries, ASID
Design firm: Alexander Blank Fabrics & Design Inc.
Inspiration: Gerald Patterson, glass
Design style: Understatedly elegant, with elements of simplicity, harmony, and balance. Whether I’m influenced by transitional, traditional, or modern décor, I strive to create an inviting and unique space by unifying fabrics, trims, and accessories with an unexpected twist.
Vision: Inspired by the vibrancy of Patterson’s glass platter. Displayed on a large cocktail ottoman, this piece reflects the cohesive mix of textures and colors in the great room while retaining a mindful beauty of its own. The platter also makes the room feel a bit more transitional by providing an otherwise traditional space with an eclectic feel, as artwork enhances any and all spaces.
 

Designer: Sequoyah Hunter-Cuyjet
Design firm: Most recently worked at ColePrévost Inc.
Inspiration: Sang Joon Park, ceramics
Design style: Modern. I gravitate toward clean lines and pure forms, but I experiment with mixing styles to achieve warmth and a sense of playfulness in a space. It’s important to me that my work reads as unpretentious.
Vision: Inspired by Sang Joon Park’s artwork. This particular piece of craft inspired me with its simple, organic form and earthy feel. The captivating scale challenged me to rethink how to incorporate three-dimensional art into home design. It reminds me of many aspects of nature that I explored in the woods while growing up on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation.
 

Designer: Victor Liberatore, ASID
Design firm: Victor Liberatore Interior Design
Inspiration: Jeanne Petrosky, paper
Design style: Contemporary. Composition, balance, proportion, and function are paramount in the thought process of designing a space. By playing on the energies of clients’ requests or the space that houses them, I draw inspirations from interactive, key elements that result in freshly interpreted contemporary spaces.
Vision: Inspired by Jeanne Petrosky and Dennis Guzenski’s paper piece. The item gives the illusion of expanding watery space through its curves, fluid motion, and texture. Her work looks great in architectural environments.
 

Designer: Mary Douglas Drysdale
Design firm: Drysdale Design Associates
Inspiration: Ron Artman, ceramics
Design style: A mix of traditional and modern. I coined the term “neo-traditional” and began using it to describe my design style 25 years ago. I create rooms where past
meets present.
Vision: Inspired by Ron Artman’s Seneca piece. It works well in the foyer because the entry of the house is simple, refined, and artful. The color of this modernist piece, with its dark tones, balances the room and also provides this elegant townhouse with a dramatic first impression.
 

Designer: Susan Sunderland, ASID
Design firm: Sunderland Interiors Inc.
Inspiration: GDG Studios, ceramics
Design style: My style juxtaposes antique and contemporary décor. I love pairing luxury with great finds and partnering over-the-top with clean and simple. A lot of colors and patterns tend to make their way into my work; I don’t do well with all beige.
Vision: I like to incorporate a little of the unexpected into a space I design. GDG Studios’ Deer Trophy lamp will be a nice diversion from the still-life painting I will include in my dining room. Expect to see bold choices. When the only client you have to answer to is yourself, anything can happen!