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Annie Elliott Design, Washington DC

Annie Elliott Design

Greater Washington DC

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Rugs

Striped rug in a kitchen

5 Things You Need to Know About Rugs

Annie Elliott | November 9, 2025

Last call, Gentle Readers! This Tuesday, November 11 (Veterans Day) at 7:00, the writer Jason Reynolds and I will be having a conversation at Politics & Prose Union Market about my new book*, working together, and all things home. You may have heard me say, Gentle Readers, that unless your rugs are crawling up the baseboards, they’re not too …

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» Rugs

How to layer rugs as safely as possible

Annie Elliott | February 26, 2024

A TikTok viewer recently asked how to layer rugs without creating a tripping hazard. The unfortunate truth, Gentle Readers, is that there is no way to layer rugs 100% safely. In fact, experts evaluating older people’s homes for safety generally suggest removing ALL of the rugs. Now, this can be a great look, especially in …

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» Rugs

Quick Q+A: The perfect rug for a sage green room

Annie Elliott | November 6, 2022

Dear Annie, What are the best rugs to pair with a sage green color wall? – Izzy via TikTok First, let’s clarify what we mean by “sage green.” I tend to think of this color as a light grayish green, popular at Pottery Barn (along with cranberry) in the, what, mid-aughts? So my first question …

Read more »Quick Q+A: The perfect rug for a sage green room
» Q+A, Rugs
Colorful stripey rug

Quick Q+A: Best, most durable rugs for front halls

Annie Elliott | September 5, 2022

Dear Annie, Several years ago, I found a bright and colorful wool rug that I really liked for our front hallway. The first day that we had it, a friend stopped by with her young twins. They wanted to tell us that there had been a fire down the street, and as the young twins excitedly entered …

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» Rugs
Room with leather chair and ottoman and blue oriental rug

Rugs: Size Matters (Thanks, Baltimore Magazine!)

Annie Elliott | July 16, 2018

Gentle Readers, here’s another item for your shopping list: the July issue of Baltimore Magazine, which features interior designers’ “insider tips” for decorating (the article, alas, is not online.) I was delighted to be invited to participate. My tip? Don’t buy a rug that’s too small. Unless we’re talking about an intentionally small area rug …

Read more »Rugs: Size Matters (Thanks, Baltimore Magazine!)
» Rugs

Start with the rug…or not!

Annie Elliott | November 6, 2017

Gentle Readers, if you have been reading bossy color blog faithfully since 2009 (!!!), you know that a tenet I hold near and dear is this: START WITH THE RUG. If you’re hating a room but you just can’t figure out what to do about it, start with the rug. Except when you don’t. We just …

Read more »Start with the rug…or not!
» Rugs

5 favorite finds at High Point, via CocoCozy!

Annie Elliott | October 28, 2016

Gentle Readers, I promise to update you on my kitchen asap, but we’ve been pretty busy here in bossyland! After last week’s photo shoot, we went down to North Carolina to High Point Market, the must-attend, semi-annual furniture fair. We were thrilled to spend some time with COCOCOZY, who happens to be a dear friend of …

Read more »5 favorite finds at High Point, via CocoCozy!
» Furniture + upholstery, Rugs
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Apr 3

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Q: What is one thing you can do to elevate a room❓💬 The first thing you see when you walk into a room needs to look great. In your office, get a nice, big vintage desk. In a living room, paint all the walls a dark color. Avoid satin brass hardware, pills on sofa fabric, and fake wood!#interiordesign #dcdesigner #decorinspo

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Apr 1

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This will come as no surprise, but I think about window treatments a LOT. Especially during the transition from winter to spring, with the change in temperature and light…I’m reminded what a critical design element window treatments are. And then I get to thinking about window treatments through the ages. Who invented drapes? Did the Romans *really* invent Roman shades?I decided to do some digging. Check out my blog to see what I discovered!📸 @stacyzaringoldberg📸 @jennverrierphoto#windowtreatments #drapes #interiordesign

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Mar 25

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It’s Wallpaper Wednesday! Today we feature Brunschwig & Fils’ Les Touches. @brunschwigfils introduced Les Touches in 1965, and the pattern soon became a Brunschwig classic. (Interestingly, “touches” translates to “keys” or “strokes…” I guess that’s close to “dabs,” which is what I’d assumed.) According to handwritten records, Les Touches is inspired by post-WWII black and white photographs, but the connection between this inspiration and the pattern remains a mystery. Referred to most often as a stylized animal print, Les Touches is a staple of the Le Jardin Chinois collection.Today, Les Touches comes in 18 colorways, but the blue colorway remains iconic. I’ve used Les Touches for window treatments and upholstery, but I can’t wait to try it as wallpaper!

annieelliottdesign

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Mar 23

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Here’s what ✨ I ✨ would do… Instead of matching everything, you balance it. Pull one color. Shift the scale. Let each piece do something different. Here’s what ✨ I ✨ would do… Instead of matching everything, you balance it. Pull one color. Shift the scale. Let each piece do something different. Bonus: Change the rug! Suddenly you’d make a completely different window choice.Did you guess it?!Watch part 1 for the challenge context and part 2 for what doesn’t work.#interiorsandhome #fabricdesign #romanshades

annieelliottdesign

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Mar 23

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Let’s talk about what fabric doesn’t work ❌ for the Roman shades in this teenage girl’s bedroom with 2 big windows and a statement ceiling. Even though these fabrics are beautiful on their own… they don’t work here. Biggest mistake: repeating the same motif (moths, butterflies, etc.) across the room. It starts to feel themed instead of designed.Watch part 1 for the full context, and watch part 3 to find out what I would choose.#interiordesign #wallpaper #interiorsandhome

annieelliottdesign

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Mar 23

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Here’s the challenge: a teenage girl’s bedroom. Not huge. Two big windows. Statement ceiling. White walls.Which fabric would you choose for the Roman shades?There’s a right answer… a safe answer… and a couple very wrong ones. Comment your pick before you see part 2 👇#interiordesigner #wallpaper #romanshades

annieelliottdesign

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Mar 20

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Behind the scenes at an AED photoshoot! 📸. It is all hands on deck — even Tilly did her part! Shoutout to @stacyzaringoldberg #interiordesign #dcdesigner #interiorsandhome

annieelliottdesign

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Mar 18

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The star of today’s Wallpaper Wednesday is Schumacher’s Acanthus Stripe. If you’ve studied Green and Roman architecture, the Acanthus motif is an old friend: Acanthus leaves were a common ornament on Corinthian capitals as early as 500 BC. Celerie Kemble’s interpretation of the motif in her Acanthus Stripe wallpaper is streamlined and clever, with the leaves serving both as capitals and as the columns themselves. @schumacher1889 has created three types of Acanthus Stripe wallcovering: paper, vinyl, and sisal, with the latter my favorite by far. The sisal roughs up the pattern a little bit, making the paint a tad uneven and the edges of the design blurry in parts. It’s a little more real, a little more appropriate for a spiky leaf rendered in stone exposed to the sun and wind for thousands of years.Acanthus Stripe Sisal in Fog and Chalk is classic (ask Mabel from the show, *Only Murders in the Building*; she didn’t want to go too crazy redecorating her aunt’s apartment, I guess), but my favorite colorways are Turmeric and Mocha. In these colors, on this material, the design couldn’t be more elegant.#wallpaperins #interiordesign #onlymurdersinthebuilding

annieelliottdesign

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Mar 17

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Does your kitchen backsplash inspire you? It should! Try using patterned or textured tiles, mix bold colors, or partner with an artist to create a special design. If you have a great view or no wall at all, you won’t need a full backsplash, of course ;) Just wrap the countertop material up 4-6” to protect the wall.#dcdesigner #backsplash #kitcheninspiration
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