Dig rugs

Jordan Heres has visited more than 50 countries, many in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. There, he learned to love rugs. While offering humanitarian aid and disaster relief around the world, Heres gained perspective on floor covering artisanship and quality. He decided to share his rug love by starting Weft & Wool, an online […]

Small wonder

Once a forlorn little building—roughly 400-square-feet little—on Valley Street, Scottsville’s switching station recently got a second life thanks to the vision of interior designer Carmel Greer. A D.C. transplant, Greer and her husband took an interest in transforming a few of Scottsville’s abandoned buildings into short-term rentals (they’re renovating another nearby to include three additional […]

Forever fun

In the early months of the pandemic, Matt and Julie Thomas began working on perhaps the most important job of their careers for their most important clients yet—a playhouse for their three kids.  School was out for the summer and indoor playdates were still a no-no, so the Thomas kids spent most of their time […]

Go with the flow

While there’s something to be said for in-your-face, beachy décor—you know, seashell artwork, knotted rope, anchors galore—sometimes less is more. In Crozet, a garage loft renovation showcases how subtle, water-oriented design details can make waves. The homeowners and their two sons are lovers of all things active and outdoorsy. With a growing collection of gear, […]

We call fives

Not every house needs a formal dining area. But what to put in its place? While refreshing a North Downtown home last year, Betsy Kraft made a bold suggestion. “It is very important to me that a home feels authentic to the family. In this case, the homeowners are laid-back, unfussy people. They told me […]

American shoji

Joanne McNergney’s garage wasn’t doing her much good. It was built decades ago and too small for her car. She had turned it into a storage unit, parking her car in an adjacent carport, but as a shed, the space was neither functional nor fashionable. An avid gardener, McNergney wanted a well-organized, properly situated place […]

Get on the list

Regional homebuilder Atlantic Builders announced in January that its two new townhome collections, the Kenridge and the Ashton, are open for pre-sales. Part of a larger project in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville to build out the Southwood Mobile Home Park community, the townhomes were designed in collaboration with current residents.  The […]

Cracked the code

The Center of Developing Entrepreneurs (CODE) Building earned a 2023 Architecture Award from the American Institute of Architects in March, for its “potent combination of desirability and practicality,” the organization notes in its writeup.  A mixed-use development at the west end of the Downtown Mall, the CODE Building opened at the end of 2021 and […]

Dream room

Sleep over at this 8-year-old’s house, and you get the coolest bed in the place: Not only are guests given the top bunk, but thanks to a clever design from DGP Architects’ Roger Birle, they utilize a slide—an actual slide!—to get down.  “Initially we were planning on simply a ladder, but once we saw the […]

Dueling designers

Zach Snider and Dan Zimmerman have been trading design ideas since the beginning. As co-owners of Alloy Workshop, they’ve been constant collaborators since they started out. But when the longtime colleagues launched their own home renovations last year, they took different approaches. Where Snider went the way Alloy sends its clients—fully designing the renovation before […]