The Portland Symphony Orchestra's 12th Annual ShowHouse

REMARKABLE - NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007

By Joshua Bodwell

Photography Darren Setlow

Girl's Bed & Bath

Debra Smith

Cottage Road Casual Home Furnishings

Lori O'Neil

Sea Cottage Studio

pso_gs2.jpgWhen designing for a six-year-old girl, you usually can’t go wrong by including a heaping splash of pink. Debra Smith and Lori O’Neil had the same thought in mind when they designed the girl’s bedroom and bathroom respectively.

Smith, the owner of Cottage Road in Yarmouth, didn’t pull any pink punches when it came to the girl’s bedroom. The room is awash in a multitude of pink hues, from the shimmering, glazed pink walls to the dresser, mirror, chairs, and assorted fabrics. At the center, a hand-painted, teal iron bed anchors the flurry of pink. “I wanted the room to have a dreamy quality that makes it ‘little girl,’” says Smith, “but I also wanted it to be sophisticated enough that she can grow up with it.”

Nary a single piece of the bedroom’s décor escaped Smith’s custom-touch—for instance, she bedazzled the ceiling light with gems and trimmed a wicker side table with a patterned pink fabric. “I felt everything needed to be a little special for this house,” she says.

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In the girl’s bathroom, O’Neil brought a similarly keen eye for minutiae.

O’Neil, who most often works as a decorative painter and muralist through her Sea Cottage Studio, got her wish when she suggested that the original bathroom be stripped back to the studs and built anew. This top-to-bottom renovation led to the inclusion of radiant heating in the floors and a stunning walk-in shower.

Today, the diminutive bathroom feels bright and fresh thanks to O’Neil. Though the homeowner was leaning toward the popular Italian Carrara marble for the bathroom, O’Neil recommended the light-veined Imperial Danby from nearby Vermont. “It just feels softer and more feminine,” she notes.

The delicate console sink may be a thoughtful nod to the home’s former life, but the sconces O’Neil selected from Fogg Lighting, the dainty dressing table she designed, and her three original paintings are pure princess.


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