Hampton Designer Showhouse: Dining Room by Marshall Watson
by habituallychic
07 . 30 . 09
The dining room at the Hampton Designer Showhouse is directly to your right when you enter the house and Marshall Watson has created a fabulous room to greet visitors! According to his description of the room, his firm decided to take the architectural details of the room down a notch by adding “rustic textures and natural linens, accompanied by both vintage and antique furnishings that command a strong presence.”
There were a lot of wonderful details in this room including the English oiled walls, the monogrammed slip covers/place cards on the Spanish chairs, and the natural edged table. 
I often see dining rooms in real life that look unfinished because no thought was ever really given to them since they are rarely used but this room doesn’t leave any wall empty. The art and furniture around the sides complete the overall design wonderfully and make it look like a room you would want to use everyday!
There were a lot of lovely flower arrangements in the showhouse.
The most unique element in the room is the light fixture that lighting designer Mark Figueredo (MF Custom Lighting and Design, 631-329-5033) created from “bee skeps.” It adds that natural element that any house near the beach should have to make it feel a little more casual.
At first I thought the wired flatware was part of the design until I remembered that sometimes showhouse visitors think they should be able to take home a souvenir. That happened to designer Garrow Kedigian at the Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse this year and he was very upset because the item taken was a sentimental object picked up in Paris. So this is a good time to remind everyone that the designers who participate in showhouses often borrow items from showrooms or their own homes and they must be returned so please do not steal anything! If you need a fix, you can always buy something at the gift shop!UPDATE: I came across this great article today by Marshall Watson that describes exactly how much work goes into participating in a showhouse!
Photos by Heather Clawson
16 Comments
Wow- this is gorgeous! I love the lighting elements. They are very similar to ones that hang in a very cool retaurant in San Francisco.
Lovely Blog-I have followed for a while!
xo
Those walls are amazing! Where did the paper come from?
Those oiled walls are magnificent. The same thing occurred at the Boston showhouse every year – theives – just grotesque.
A lovely dining room – the use of bee skeps was most unusual. Thanks for showing us!
Well that home is gorgeous, I know because I hit your link button to the actual showhome website and had a look right at all sorts of things including all their designs’ blogs and websites, just mindblowing! Thanks so much for putting up this quality post, and the links!
The walls are magnificent – you describe them as oiled and I wonder if it is a topical application after the paper is hung. The reason I ask is that a topical application of oil would not give that high gloss. Perhaps they were varnished in layers? With an oil-based varnish? Are are they vinyl?
Laurel – I love light fixtures that are made from found objects. They are so much more interesting!
Suzy and Blue – the book describes the walls as English oiled but another article says they are stenciled on caramel shellacked walls by decorative artist Judy Mulligan. Hope this helps!
Blushing Hostess – the worst part is that it is done by older women who should know better.
Nenagh Gal – i hope they start producing the light fixture!
Thanks Annie!
Blue – see above.
Heather- Great room to feature. I will be in the hamptons next week and thanks for the reminder to go and link to the webpage! Can’t wait to see this room in person.
Heather, Thank you especially for the Marshall Watson article link! Really enjoyed that piece of the story!
* Those walls are to-die-for, T*O*T*A*L*L*Y STUNNING, Heather! (Jury’s still out on the “custom lighting”, tho… “SOMEthing” JUST feels a bit “off” there, IMHO… You know the old adage, tho… “To each his own”!)~
I canNOT BELIEEEVE that many DR “things” end up “missing”~~~ (UNREAL, and “SHAME on THEM!!!”)~~~
Thank you, AND enjoy a lovely day!
Linda in AZ *
Great post, HC! Did you know Marshall Watson is the brother of champion golfer Tom Watson? Kansas City is very proud of both of them.
Congratulations for your wonderful blog, magic work, greetings from Brasil!
Foquinha/Ilhas Galápagos!
What AMAZING walls!
I love them…
Thanks for the reminder about the “souvenirs” – some people can be so rude. And those hydrangea bouquets are gorgeous!
Thanks for the post about Marshall Watson’s dining room. Judy Mulligan’s stenciled walls are amazing!
Those bee skep lights are crazy original. Such a great juxtaposition of textures!