Designer Dixon serves up feast for the eyes

Decorator's tricks include mixing high-end with modest, old and new

JURA KONCIUS

- The Washington Post

The 1907 estate in Warrenton, Va., where designer Barry Dixon lives, works and raises chickens, goats and llamas is a visual banquet, a rich layering of old and new, formal and informal, objects that are rare and those that are not: weathered French garden orbs, books Dixon read as a child in Tennessee and armloads of willow branches from the garden. Engravings of de Medicis mingle with flea market candlesticks. One favorite touch: antique apothecary jars filled with ordinary lemon drops from Target.

"The important things in a room are the essence of what you hold valuable," says Dixon, 49. "Things that define who you are. A room should start a conversation before people actually start exchanging words."

The 20,000-square-foot Elway Hall, which Dixon bought with his partner Michael Schmidt in 1991, is a sprawl of rooms beginning with a vast foyer coated in chalky white (Farrow & Ball's Lime White) that leads to sitting rooms and libraries painted citrine, chartreuse and gold. There are 17 fireplaces and 10 bedrooms.

One of Washington's best known decorators, Dixon is a regular on House Beautiful's list of top designers and in the pages of magazines such as Southern Accents, Metropolitan Home and Traditional Home. He has decorated for Diane Sawyer and former Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist. In the past three years, Dixon has designed more than 50 sofas, ottomans and chairs for Tomlinson/Erwin-Lambeth. He is also working on other collections of rugs, fabrics and trims. These days he is shuttling between Washington and Beijing, where he's completing an unnamed client's residence in time for the Olympics. In September, "Barry Dixon Interiors," written by Brian Coleman, will be published by Gibbs Smith.

Dixon brings seasoned sensibility -- layering color, pattern and decorative objects -- to clients' lofts in Tribeca, new houses in suburban Washington and sea captains' cottages in Nantucket.

"Walk in and you think a room by Barry Dixon is beautiful, but the longer you spend in one of his spaces, the more you notice that everything there has a meaning and a purpose and a place in how the room works," says Karen Carroll, editor in chief of Southern Accents magazine. "He is enormously talented, and he is one of the most gentlemanly people I have ever met."

Dixon's philosophy is rooted in a confident mix of high and low: "I'm not shy about spending a small fortune on something rare that has character and personality," he says. "But I must earn the right to do that by supplanting it with other, less expensive things. It takes the pretension out of the mix." (Recall those bright penny candies in an antique glass jar.)

Dixon, son of a metallurgist, spent his childhood in such places as India and South Africa, giving him a lifelong interest in other cultures. "If you want to be creative, go someplace -- any place. Drive to Harpers Ferry or get on a plane to Morocco. You will come back with an idea."

Barry Dixon's look, and how to get it

ACCESSORIES Beautiful objects in abundance: Barry Dixon uses all the space in a room, not just the floors, and likes to display objects at all heights. "Think in three dimensions, not just two," he says.

COLLECTING A tapestry of color moves from room to room. The plates on the oak plate rack in his kitchen -- in gold, yellow, orange and chocolate brown -- reflect colors of other rooms on the main floor.

PAINT Dixon likes to paint the walls and ceiling of a room the same hue to expand the space, bring the eye up and make the room look taller. "I like to have color on the ceiling, especially in a bedroom because you wake up and you want to see the whole room saturated with color."

ART Art hung with frames touching makes a stronger impact. Small prints that might look insignificant alone are given a commanding presence.

COLOR Dixon decorates rooms around color themes. "Swathing a room in one pattern makes a small space look bigger," he says. A strong color can unify disparate items. MANTELS Dixon often anchors a mantel with a large object at each end. Between them, he always places an odd number of items for a more interesting sense of balance. FABRIC Using fabric to upholster walls and headboards softens the room and absorbs sound, especially when people are trying to sleep. Dixon says headboards in unusual shapes are an inexpensive way to add drama.