Interior Design Studio Blog

Saturday, March 06, 2010
By Patricia Sheridan, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Photos By Rebecca Droke/Post-Gazette
Source: Post-Gazette.com

It’s a home within the home show — minus an exterior.

The Dream Home at this year’s Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show consists of eight rooms hidden behind a 16-foot-high black curtain, kind of like a house in a dream. But this dream house on the second floor of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center has some of the latest advances in home technology and furnishings and showcases the work of manufacturers, retailers and designers.

The project was coordinated by Christine Jones and Jen Leffler of CJ Interior Design Studio. Both women are members of the local chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers, which also created the rooms in the Designer Showcase at the other end of the second floor. The organizers aimed to make this exhibit feel like a real home.

“We did a lot of research prior to the show because we wanted the most current things available in our home,” says Ms. Leffler. “The people we chose to showcase their products we feel are the best in the city. We fondly refer to them as our dream team.”

To add a sense of realism and help demonstrate some of the space’s unique features, actors have been hired to portray a family living there. So you might find the father making a snack in the kitchen or the teenage son hanging out in the home theater room, one of the highlights.

Ms. Leffler designed the room around its amBX LED lighting system, which responds to and interacts with movies, games or music. A 96-inch projection screen, Anthem projector and surround sound by Audio Communications make this a high-tech baby sitter. You will always know where your children are.

“amBX came from overseas to install it for us,” says Ms. Leffler.

For adult entertaining, the living room boasts an EcoSmart fireplace provided by Material Witness Studios and furnishings from Hot, Haute, Hot and Artifacts. Turning heads are a grand chandelier from Cardello Lighting and a water feature/fireplace surround by Tile and Design and Outlaw Studios.

It is hoped visitors won’t interrupt anything between the mother and father in the master bedroom, which has a fireplace constructed by Gilligan’s Custom Carpentry. CJ Interiors worked with Designs by Susan to create a cozy elegance here with elegant window treatments and a 6-foot headboard.

“The master bedroom and the master bath are my two favorite rooms,” says Ms. Jones.

The master bath is awash in innovation with a mirror containing a small LED television over the his and her vanity and sink. An SICI glass mosaic panel by Tile and Design stands between his and her shower columns. The only things they might have to share here are the concrete soaking tub built by Outlaw Studios and an Infra Red sauna from Pine Run Pools.

“The flooring in here is really a wow factor,” Ms. Jones says.

Tile and Design’s Janelle Spilman found a porcelain tile with a wood look for the bathroom and meditation room.

One place the entire family is sure to congregate is the kitchen. Kitchen and Bath Concepts supplied the contemporary German cabinetry, and Hillmon Appliance finished off the kitchen with Miele appliances. Crescent Supply provided the Kohler sink and Karbon faucet centered between the refrigeration and freezer columns.

If you can pull yourself way from the cool kitchen, be sure to check out the dining room and home office.

“We worked with wonderful vendors and products to build this dream home,” says Ms. Leffler.

Patricia Sheridan: psheridan@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2613.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 15th, 2010 at 9:54 am and is filed under 2010 Home and Garden Show Dream Home Pittsburgh, CJ in the Press. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.