In the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, DC, designer Christopher Boutlier embarked on a very personal project: the complete renovation of a 1,700-square-foot home – last updated nearly 30 years ago – into an approachable and inviting gallery-like setting that he would call home. “Designing for yourself is an interesting experience,” Boutlier shares, noting this was the first home he’d worked on for himself. “I had an immense amount of gratitude and excitement . . . but I also found doing my own home to be very challenging. The sheer vastness of what is possible can be exciting and overwhelming at the same time.”
To keep himself in line, Boutlier went back to the fundamentals of design school and created a “parti” – an organizing thought that can be used to direct decision-making. In this case, the designer had just read the biography of Sam Wagstaff and was romanced by the domestic lives of Wagstaff and lover Robert Mapplethorpe. “I was interested in the gallery-like homes and studios they created as a backdrop for their lives and careers,” Boutlier recalls. “There was something about the coldness of a white box, the warm seduction of black and the unfolding of art between those two extremes that I found incredibly relevant.” One by one, as decisions came up about paint, stain, materials and furnishings, Boutlier analyzed based on that concept, and anything that didn’t contribute to that dialogue was nixed.
“I became really interested in the artist studio/living space that emerged in the late 70s and 80s in New York – old loft spaces artists could rent or purchase for very little money and transform into live/work hybrids. This became the model for the modern gallery space: white walls, concrete floors, tall ceilings, industrial accents.”
The designer notes the emergence of what we think of as a gallery space — the loft-like space, high ceilings, concrete floors — was born out of a financial need for artists and gallerists to find inexpensive spaces to work and live. “With massive industrial spaces being utilized, the scale of the art increased dramatically,” Boutlier describes. “My house isn’t a commercial space, but these thoughts and ideas about space and its relationship to art were very much the driving force behind the design.”
Instead of preparing drawings for the project, Boutlier made all decisions in the field. “I would just come in and draw on the walls or spray paint onto the subfloor to map out details,” he explains. “My contractors hated me, and I would never do that for a client, but it worked for me and for this house, which was less about practicality and more about a feeling.”
Beyond suiting the desired vibe, everything in the house needed to serve multiple purposes, and durability was a top priority. “We are busy professionals, have three dogs, cook daily, and live in the house fully,” the designer explains. To maximize the home’s functionality, all the fabrics are performance, the built-ins hide storage, the dining table is metal and glass and can simply be wiped clean, the chairs are made of an eco-leather that can be washed, the light oak floors hide dog hair and furniture edges have been rounded to avoid accidents. “There is this thought that children or pets create an environment that is hostile to a gallery-like space,” Boutlier contends. “I think the opposite is true. The open and clean nature of our house allows for play spaces, and the hidden elements allow for easy cleanup and storage. I designed the space to be lived in, and at no point am I ever concerned about things being damaged.”
With so many decisions to be made, the designer notes that among the project’s biggest challenges was fighting against the outside opinions that attempt to dictate what should or should not be done.
“I know from the outside a gallery-like space can seem cold or unwelcoming, but it’s really the opposite for me,” Boutlier expresses. “I find myself most relaxed and at home in spaces that are clean and crisp; the lack of clutter allows my eyes to focus on the objects that give me joy, and there is a real warmth in that experience.”
Photography by Jennifer Hughes.
Styling by Kristi Hunter.
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