Artist and homeowner Nevra Ledwon doesn’t mince words when she talks about the genius of designer Danielle Sigwalt (daniellesigwalt.com). For Ledwon’s four-bedroom, 3,600-square- foot McLean home, Sigwalt created a masterful mix of livability and function. “She has an amazing ability to combine different—often unexpected—colors, with bold patterns and diverse textures,” says Ledwon, who shares the home with her husband and son. “She effortlessly mixes old and new, minimalist and ornate, loud and understated, and, ultimately, she creates something unique.”
Sigwalt, whose own home was featured in Better Homes & Gardens earlier this year, helped Ledwon furnish the interiors of the house over time. The project began shortly after the home was purchased in 2014.
“The art in the open foyer became our jumping-off point for the overall color palette—creams, browns, ochres, blacks and whites,” says Sigwalt. “We also added in a few pops of red.”
The large canvas had been purchased for the entry space from artist Aydin Hamami, one of Ledwon’s cousins; her mother, Lual Latham, was also a lifelong artist.
“When I lived and worked in San Francisco as a young adult, I’d regularly see Pablo Picasso’s artworks at galleries on Sutter Street; after I began my own exploration with art later in life, I made reproductions of his master paintings, hoping to learn something,” says Ledwon.
Her passion for Picasso is evident throughout the home—both in her personal collection of reproduction paintings—but also in the home’s decor.
“The simplicity of his work was inspirational for us when decorating our house,” she says, “from the simplified use of colors and shapes to the black outlining of the windows.”
Meanwhile, Sigwalt created a gallery-like feeling in the white-walled open floor plan, with choice artworks and sculptural furnishings taking center stage. For example, the lipstick-red Arne Jacobsen’s iconic Egg chair stands out in the living room; the lacquered chartreuse papier-mache chandelier draws the eye upward in Ledwon’s art studio.
“We also used a lot of black-and-white for
high contrast and to counteract the yellow tones in the wood flooring,” says Sigwalt.
Throughout the home, furnishings are minimal and clean-lined: an eclectic mix of contemporary pieces and—often ethnic—vintage furniture or accessories, like the Suzani fabric pillow and Moroccan wedding blanket layered on the living room’s L-shaped tufted sectional.
“To me, a home is like a canvas,” says Sigwalt, “and design is about incorporating elements of color, style, form and function to achieve what the homeowner wants.”
