showhouse showcase: wallscapes

North Shore Jewish Community Center Showhouse
Swampscott, Massachusetts

Blue and white. This classic duet has longevity, reinventing itself time and again from its centuries-old Chinese porcelain roots. Interior designer Dennis Duffy created his own interpretation of the beloved color combo for this dining room.

The space’s high wainscoting, recessed paneling, and generous but not-too-grand proportions sold him on the project. His vision—a room that highlighted the existing architecture yet appealed to modern sensibilities—would be realized by artists who could create magic with paint. “I wanted to torque the room up to something edgy with movement,” says Dennis.

Taking his color cues from the original blue-tile fireplace surround, he devised the idea of a heavily textured background above the wainscot, overlaid with a graphic silhouette of blossoming dogwood.

A round fruitwood table anchors the room and is surrounded by vintage chairs from the 1940s covered in cotton velvet. The multi-arm chandelier with its amber glass shades is a nod to the lemon-gold ceiling finished in pearlized metallic paint. The ivory sideboard, designed by Dennis and made of cherry with ivory lacquered drawer fronts, was inspired by 1930s Hollywood glamour.

Design:
Dennis Duffy, Duffy Design Group Inc., 530 Harrison Ave., 2nd Floor, Boston, MA 02118; 617/542-2074, duffydesigngroup.com.

Photographs by Bruce Buck
Text by Krissa Rossbund
Produced by Estelle Bond Guralnick