Samara Interiors Installation at the Washington Design Center Holiday Fete

Photograph of me by Kaz Sasahara for the Washington Design Center

This month I had the pleasure of attending the Washington Design Center's Holiday Fête in support of my dear friend Samara Goodman, head of Samara Interiors LLC. Samara created a beautiful holiday design installation in the DC showroom of STARK Carpet cleverly incorporating the Holiday Fête theme of "Parisian Holiday." In full disclosure, I had the gift of being able to do creative director-style brainstorming and advising about historical accuracy details with Samara in the process of developing her design concept (thank you for letting me have an insider's view of this Samara!) so now I get to share with you all the genius of her vision!

To set the scene, the DC area has been very fortunate to have the exhibition "Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment" on view at the National Gallery of Art this fall, which Samara saw and loved. This sparked her idea to use the exhibit as the foundation for weaving in the Parisian theme, and to ground the holiday tablescapes in a fun play on another famous French Impressionist painting which also happens to be in DC, Pierre-Auguste Renoir's painting "The Luncheon of the Boating Party," which is in The Phillips Collection. Renoir's color choices in the painting informed the elements Samara wove into the STARK installation, from the blue tablecloth speaking to the blue dresses the women are wearing to the red stripes above them that appear on the table below the mirror. Samara's design concept wittily played on the Boating Party's luncheon, and envisioned that the ghostly guests were now ready to sit down for a beautiful holiday dinner. I adored the STARK poms (used to design the colors in custom carpets) that Samara featured as dessert in the main tablescape, and my favorite part is WHO is coming to dinner... If you look at the photograph of the placecard I've included carefully, you'll get a clue about the identity of the ghostly dinner guests.

Samara and her design team impressively created a multi-part installation including two displays flanking the front entrance to the showroom: one evoking the visitor's [time] travel back to Victorian Paris with a beautiful STARK rug reminiscent of antique maps and a stack of vintage suitcases featuring an illuminated Eiffel Tower. The second vignette leads visitors through a portal back in time to glimpse a Victorian Parisian couple's evening at the opera, complete with top hat and opera glasses that have been placed on antique chairs awaiting them to return shortly. The artist's dinner party welcomes visitors in the main showroom area, and visible off the elevators is an additional installation Samara created showcasing a beautiful STARK rug in blue tones that accentuates the blue candles in the menorah.

I had the best time meeting the STARK DC team and appreciate how welcoming and friendly they all were. It was a joy to support my friend and witness her design brilliance! Congratulations Samara! (Pictures by me other than my photo by Kaz Sasahara)