Your Handy-dandy Designer Crib Notes for the 2008 Richmond Symphony Designer House

There are magnificent mansions and then there are truly magnificent mansions. And anyone with two functioning eyes can tell that Mrs. Philip Minor's stunning, white Tara II falls into the latter category. Even the blind could feel the sheer beauty of this luxurious pad with its posh interior textures. After all, five very talented designers just redecorated the Cary Street home for the 13th annual Richmond Symphony Designer House. That's right---it's time to tour another gorgeous home! This year, the house will be open from September 15 to October 12. Of course, that means that you have to buy admission tickets (if you haven't yet, the easy solution is to buy them online here: http://www.richmond.com/local-directory/listingdetail.aspx?listingId=398063 ) but all for a worthy cause: all proceeds benefit the distinguished Richmond Symphony Orchestra League.

If you can't wait to discover the who's who of this year's Symphony house, here's a brief cheat sheet for each of the five participating designers (listed alphabetically). Now you can learn more about their tastes, experience, and how to contact them all ahead of time:

Designer: David Allan Ballas, independent interior designer
Company: David Allan Ballas Interior Design, 3115 W. Cary St., Richmond, VA 23221, (804) 355-9658.
Education: Virginia Commonwealth University
Signature Style: "Eclectic with a mix of antiques and consignment and thrift store finds"
Design Inspirations: Going shopping and finding a "piece that attracts me and that I can do something different to---repurpose."
Favorite place(s) to shop for home furnishings: Fantastic Thrift, Diversity Thrift, and Salvation Army on Hermitage---much more local but also checks out selection in Petersburg and Fredericksburg when convenient.
Do they make any of their own home furnishings?
How is his home designed? "Very eclectic" and full of flea market finds; all eight rooms are painted different colors.
Which room he's designing in the Symphony House:
The salon. "I don't want to give away too much about the room!"
Why they became a designer: He always loved "taking lots of different things you wouldn't normally put together."
Favorite thing about designing: How it's "very individual."
Bragging rights: two awards at the 2006 International Window Covering Expo; featured in the May 2006 issue of Window Fashions magazine; mentions in Housetrends, Richmond magazine, the Midlothian Gazette, The Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Styles Weekly; and more!
Website: http://davidballas.com

Designer: David Crow, interior designer
Company: Forbes Design Group, 8 South Thompson St Suite 115 Richmond, VA 23221, (888) 381-0604.
Education: University of Oklahoma
Signature Style: "If I could pick a word, I guess...eclectic, but my personal style is not all that I do. Like with the Symphony house, I gave the bathroom a feminine direction, which is not what I would've done to my own bathroom."
Design Inspirations: the Neo-Classical Age, Egypt, and Napoleon
Favorite place(s) to shop for home furnishings: In Richmond---auction houses, antique shops (like Libby Place Antiques). Outside of Richmond: Christie's, George Smith, places in London, and really all over.
Do they make any of their own home furnishings? Yes.
How is his home designed? Eclectic, antiques, Neo-classical
Which room he's designing in the Symphony House:
Lady's Bathroom.
Why they became a designer: "My whole life, I always wanted to do it. I don't know why."
Favorite thing about designing: "How you do it---it's never the same [way twice]."
Favorite past project: Dover Hall because of the "scale and kinds of things I got to use. It was huge and there were lots of antiques."
Website: http://forbesdesignva.com/forbesdesigngroup.asp

Designer: Herb Pulliam, painter and independent interior designer
Gallery: 1510 B Porter St., Richmond, VA 23224, (804) 467-5353
Education: Virginia Commonwealth University, William and Mary, and training seminars in the industry from manufacturers
Which room he's designing in the Symphony House: what he calls "an artist's space"
Signature Style: "Eclectic, contemporary, Mid-century, and traditional. It depends on the customer and space involved. I have to work with their environment."
Design Inspirations: "How lines all blend in a room, artwork, and lighting---lighting is very important." He also cites fabric textures, weaves, and print as factors that interest him when designing a room.
Favorite place(s) to shop for home furnishings:
Does he make any of his own home furnishings? Yes; as a trained painter, he creates artwork for the rooms he decorates and also repurposes metal structures, industrial pieces or otherwise.
How is his home designed? "Very eclectic, Mid-century, with Asian antiques. It's both traditional and contemporary."
Why they became a designer: "I hated math and have been into the arts since first grade. When I learned more about interior design as I got older, I decided that, with my knowledge of color, it was what I wanted to do."
Favorite thing about designing: "Creating something nobody else has done, like a painting. I'm not influenced by other's designers. I make my own, like a work of art."
Favorite past project: Working to design the home of a former classmate, a mother with her three daughters, over a span of two years. "All four [the mother and daughters] had a different approach to the house but in the end we decided upon something that considered scale, color, style, and functionality."
Website: http://herbpulliam.com

Designer: Tayne Renmark, interior designer, daughter of Ron and Carole Renmark---the founders of Renmark and Associates
Company: Renmark and Associates, 7 North 25th Street, Richmond, Virginia 23223, (804) 222-9002.
Education: Simmons College in Boston
Which room she's designing in the Symphony House: The Library
Signature Style: She does not want her personal tastes to interfere with the client's preferences and lifestyle. "We design for the client---it's extremely personalized."
Design Inspirations: "The client, they are our inspirations...we don't follow trends."
Favorite place(s) to shop for home furnishings: Primarily individual showrooms, such as Brunschwig and Fils.
Does she make any of her own home furnishings? She and her team conceptualize furnishings but hire others, such as local artisans, to actually make them.
How is her home designed? "Classic Paris 1940's look---but none of my clients seem to want that."
Why they became a designer: Because her parents are designers. "Nobody could teach me better than [them]!"
Favorite thing about designing: The opportunity to be "creative and use business skills."
Favorite past project: Decorating half a million square feet at the Laurel Park Racetrack "because of the---no pun intended!---free reign. The final result exceeded our goals and was beautiful. We got great feedback."
Soundbite: "I don't use the word 'home.' I use the word 'house.' You have to make something feel like home."
Website: http://renmarkdesign.com

Designer: Beverly Rivers, journalist (former editor of over 40 issues of Better Home and Gardens) and storeowner
Store: River's Edge Interiors, 20 W. Old Street, Petersburg, VA 23803, (804) 722-0505.
Education: University of Missouri
Which room they're designing in the Symphony House: The Dining Room
Signature Style: "Mix and match!" She believes in "blending what you already have and love with things you collect when you travel. She also encourages adding "things that are current so your house always appears fresh."
Design Inspirations:
Favorite place(s) to shop for home furnishings: Her own store in addition other local places, like Glass Boat. Because she travels frequently, she likes to pick up things "from every corner," too. The International Home Furnishings Center in High Point, North Carolina is a personal favorite.
How is her home designed? A collaboration between her and her husband, the house features a blend of their very different tastes.
Why she became journalist with a focus in interior design: Every since she was little, she could remember her mother constantly redecorating the house. When she was a small child, she discovered her own passion for "color, beautiful fabrics, and shapes." Journalism combines her interests in writing and business.
Favorite thing about designing: "Getting to pick out things! [My husband, Jeff and I] enjoy the hunt for unusual pieces." She describes herself as someone who could shop for 24 hours.
Last note: "Come visit us in Petersburg!"
Website: http://www.riversedgeinteriors.com

5511 Cary Street
Richmond, VA 23226
Phone: (804) 282-4328