Most of Georgetown's old rowhouses are Victorian, even though nearly all of them get called Federal, and that kind of detail shapes how a DC house should be furnished. Debbi Porter Interiors is an interior design studio based in Northern Virginia that works with homeowners across Washington, from Capitol Hill and Georgetown to Kalorama, Spring Valley, Cleveland Park and city condos. Start with a complimentary discovery call by phone or Zoom.
Rowhouses on Capitol Hill and in Georgetown
Capitol Hill is one of the largest historic districts in the city, and its rowhouses run from Federal townhouses and Italianate rows with bracketed cornices to late 19th century brick rows with full-height projecting bays and Queen Anne towers. Georgetown has a smaller number of true Federal houses and many more Victorians in the Italianate and Queen Anne styles.
Rowhouses share walls, so the light comes from the front and the back, and the bay window at the front is usually the best seat in the house. We like to give the bay its own furniture, a pair of chairs and a small table or a built-in seat, so it becomes a room within the room. High ceilings and tall, narrow windows in these houses call for curtains that are hung high and made long, and for lighting that brings warmth into the middle of the house where daylight doesn't reach.
The interiors of rowhouses can handle real color. A dark, glossy dining room, a papered stair hall, a front parlor in a saturated shade that looks right next to old brick. Your rowhouse's original details, like mantels, plaster medallions and stair rails, become the frame we design inside.
Large rooms in Kalorama
Kalorama is known for embassies and diplomatic residences, along with elegant townhouses and large stone and stucco houses in Georgian Revival, Colonial and Mediterranean styles. The rooms are often formal and generously sized, with high ceilings and grand staircases, and they're frequently used for entertaining.
In rooms this size we think about how a party moves. Where people gather when they arrive, where they sit after dinner, how a single big living room can hold several conversations at once. Multiple seating groups, art at the right scale and lighting that flatters people as much as the architecture are all part of it. These rooms can hold important antiques and art, and we're glad to design around a serious collection.
Planning a project in Washington, DC? Start with a complimentary discovery call.
Detached houses in Spring Valley and Cleveland Park
Spring Valley was built by the W.C. and A.N. Miller company starting in the late 1920s on curving streets that follow the land, with Colonial Revival houses, Tudors, Cape Cods and later ranch houses under big old trees. Cleveland Park grew around the streetcar in the 1890s, and many of its houses have wide porches, large windows and long overhanging eaves, in Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Craftsman and other styles.
These are family houses with yards, porches and more rooms than a rowhouse, and the design work tends to be about making the whole house feel consistent. We often work room by room here, starting with the living and dining rooms, then moving to a primary suite or a sunroom. Our full-service design covers the whole process, from the plan to the last accessory, if you'd rather hand it all off.
City condos
DC condos come in every form, from converted older buildings to new glass towers. We handle the same constraints in all of them: fixed ceiling lights, building delivery rules, limited storage and the need for every piece of furniture to earn its place. A condo that's a pied-a-terre for a client who lives most of the year elsewhere gets a different plan than a full-time home, with easier-care fabrics and a design that feels ready the moment you walk in.
Condo living rooms in the city often serve as dining room, office and guest room too. We like furniture that changes roles: a console that becomes a desk, a sofa that sleeps a guest, a round table that seats four for dinner and holds a laptop at noon.
- Elevator and loading dock bookings planned into the install
- Lamps and plug-in sconces where wiring can't move
- Furniture with storage built in
- Pied-a-terre plans that are ready to live in on arrival
