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By Andrew Cunningham
Photography by Patrick Wiseman
A Cape-based interior designer captures the seafaring spirit of a Brewster home in her winning room makeover for HGTV’s Designers’ Challenge.
Interior designer Irina Weatherley, owner of Pastiche of Cape Cod in West Barnstable, was paid a huge compliment when she was chosen to participate in HGTV’s Designers’ Challenge, and an even larger compliment when her design won. Irina was one of three interior designers vying to convince the owners of a house in Brewster, Dion and Nancy Dugan, that her design for a makeover of a room was the best choice.
This energetic single mother of four knew from an early age that interior design was her calling. The daughter of a father in the textile industry—and an artist—and a mother who was involved with antiques, interior design seemed a natural choice for her. “How could I not go into interior design?” says Irina. “You have to embrace who and what you are. Sometimes it’s a leap of faith. We are all given a set of gifts. We should focus on what we’ve been given.”
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Under Producer Laura Patterson’s supervision, an HGTV camera crew tapes Irina and the homeowner on Sandy Neck Beach, where Irina and her staff
typically gather rocks to use in botanical arrangements, such as the hydrangea botanical pictured in the living room’s completed design on page 89.
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Irina lived all over the world as a child. However, the family always vacationed on Cape Cod, which became home to her. Over the years, she watched the Cape change, but her love of nature kept her coming back. “It’s still beautiful,” says Irina. “So I settled here.”
She began her career by doing floral design and creating botanicals for weddings. After taking on private clients, her business began to expand to the point that, in 1994, she opened her own store in West Barnstable, focusing on gifts, botanicals, and home furnishings. She then opened a store in Dennisport in 2004. Pastiche also sells online, and is expanding to the Newport, Rhode Island area.
Irina says she is passionate about what she does, and that passion is evident in the store’s mission statement: “To improve the quality of life for our clients and bring beauty into their homes.”
“We all need a ‘safe harbor,’ even just a corner of a room,” she explains.
But it’s the interior design that most excites Irina. “Interior design is like breathing,” she explains. “I envision what a space could look like. The more I know about a client, the more I see.” She adds, “I can’t not do it.
“We give workshops to show people how to be just as passionate about their own home and life,” says Irina. “We try to show people how to de-stress and celebrate their home. During the holidays people hire us to decorate; it takes away some of the stress and makes them feel good.”
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Irina describes her design style during a taped interview inside her West Barnstable store. (below) One of three vying designers, Irina had to come up with a plan for the homeowners’ living room, which, as these before shots illustrate, was a modest yet historic space without much personality. (right) Beside the fireplace was a small amount of space that normally would have been used for a closet; however, Irina decided it was a “hidden treasure” and should be used for a bar.
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Designers’ Challenge came about for Irina through an ad placed in the newspaper by HGTV, as well as an article about the program. “My assistant called, but I didn’t pursue it,” says Irina. Then a few months later she got a call from HGTV, asking for more information. “It was crazy,” says the designer. “They called on Wednesday and needed a ton of information by the end of the week. But somehow we got it to them.” She then put it out of her mind until the day she received a call with the news that she had been chosen.
One of HGTV’s highest rated shows, Designers’ Challenge has been on the air for over five years. Designers’ Challenge segment producer Laura Patterson says, “Sometimes we target a city or an area, and in this case, we contacted the newspaper to do a write-up that we were looking for potential clients and designers. This is also how we found our homeowners.”
Choosing the three designers is an arduous task. “We research the backgrounds and specialties to find the best match for the project,” explains Patterson. “On the average, we speak to at least five to ten designers and homeowners before making our final decision.”
Patterson says that she was surprised by the number of talented interior designers on the Cape. “At first we thought we would have to use Boston designers, but there is such a signature style to the Cape, it was wonderful working with the local designers.”
“We chose this project,” says Patterson, “because we liked that the house had a history to it. It’s an old sea captain’s home from the late 1700s.”
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The next step in the process for Irina involved watching a video of the room needing the makeover. The room in question was the living room of the Brewster home.
Before submitting her ideas, Irina learned the history of the family, as well as the history of the home. Each of the designers had their own ideas. Irina felt that while the traditional route would be one way to approach the room, traditional would be stagnant in this case, so she chose to focus on what would be fun.
“The wife’s idea was for the room to have a piano, seating for eight, room to entertain, as well as some personal space for her,” says Irina. “Unfortunately, there was no room for a piano.”
Instead, in Irina’s design, the room ended up with seating for nine. She designed two curved mini-sofas, a cocktail table with three ottomans stacked underneath, and space behind the fireplace for a “ship’s closet”—a dry bar and beverage center. The homeowners have a history of the sea in their family and Irina sought to make that a part of her design, in the form of a “quartermaster grating” end table and an old sea captain’s chest.
Even the windows felt the designer’s touch. “The wife loves bows,” comments Irina, “so we put bows in the window treatment.” Continuing the sea history theme, a compass rose was painted on the coffee table. Yet another unique feature in the room is a wall mural painted by muralist and decorative painter Mary Webster of East Falmouth. It depicts a cranberry bog, tall ships, and the gristmill in Brewster, all part of the homeowners’ family history.
However, before any part of her design could become a reality, Irina had to be chosen as the winning designer, and that took time and had to fit around a production schedule. “We give the designers about a month to meet with the clients and put together their presentation,” says Patterson. “Then I come out from California with a video crew for a three-day shoot. The first day is interviewing the homeowners and shooting the project room. The second day is interviewing all three designers, and the third day is the “pitch” day, where the designers make a presentation to the clients.”
Since the homeowners foot the bill for the work to be done, Patterson says that they alone make the decision as to which designer wins. They chose Irina. After the work was done, the Designers’ Challenge crew returned for another two days to film the completed room and get footage of the Brewster area.
The prize for winning the Designers’ Challenge is prestige. “The show is wonderful exposure for designers like Irina,” says Patterson. “Irina was a pleasure to work with. She is a talented designer and a professional businesswoman. We have tight deadlines, and she made sure the room was completed on schedule.”
| (opposite) When closed, the Dutch door beside the fireplace looks like a built-in storage unit, but when open, it reveals the custom bar, whose secret existence is a sure conversation piece for guests. Above the fireplace, Mary Webster used old photographs to paint the house “as it appeared when it was first built,” she says. (above) Webster’s custom mural depicts tall ships and Brewster’s herring run and gristmill, blending the past with the present. The interior design harmonizes the home’s overall nautical theme with more feminine touches, such as the floral-patterned custom curved sofa. |
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Irina feels that she was successful in meeting the family’s desires, and the most enjoyable part of the project was putting it together. “Going through the design process was the most fun,” she explains. “I was able to celebrate the history of their home.”
And the most difficult part of the process? “The construction,” answers Irina. “It was an odd shape, and like many old houses, it wasn’t level. However,” she adds, “it may have been difficult, but it makes it more rewarding in the end—putting form and function into a successful result.”
Andrew Cunningham is a freelance writer and regular contributor to Cape Cod Life and Cape Cod & Islands Home who lives in Falmouth.
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