New York designer Alexa Hampton once traded in her Volkswagen Jetta for a custom-built, down-filled club chair from the best upholsterer in Manhattan.
Not a surprising $5,000 exchange from the daughter of the late Mark Hampton, the design legend who brought Bush Blue to the White House in the 1990s, worked with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Pamela Harriman and created one of the first successful designer furniture collections.
When her father died in 1998, Alexa Hampton took over his prestigious Madison Avenue office. Now, at 35, she has brought the business into the new century, furnishing lofts in Manhattan, delving into licensing of lighting and furniture, appearing regularly on two PBS design shows and making Architectural Digest’s list of the top 100 designers.
Hampton also is designing the interior of Trowbridge House, the official guest house for former presidents on Lafayette Square. The privately financed townhouse will be linked underground to Blair House, the president’s 112-room guest house next door, which her father decorated with Mario Buatta.
Her client roster includes billionaires and hedge fund moguls, but her favorite people to design for are her 15-week-old twin sons, who have a beige and white nursery in the two-bedroom Upper East Side apartment Hampton shares with her husband, banker Pavlos Papageorgiou.
Hampton lectured at Antiques in Alexandria, Va., recently and spoke to the Washington Post after her appearance.
Q. How has having twins changed your ideas about decorating?
A. You don’t want to set up anything that would be dangerous for kids to be around, but that said, as a child I was not forbidden entry into the living room (but) was taught not to destroy things. So I’m going to still live in a beautiful home and teach my children how to behave. I might eat my words, though.
Q. What can you tell us about Trowbridge House?
A. Right now, we’re in a holding pattern. It’s hard to raise money when you’re at war. What are you going to say: “Hey, we have some decorating to do?” But architectural plans have been submitted. I am waiting for the project to be a little further along to kick into high gear.
Q. How do you deal with all the changing technology in homes when you decorate?
A. I build in backsplashes on closet countertops with lots of outlets for my clients’ devices to recharge. If someone wants to turn an antique armoire into a media center, I carefully remove the back of the piece and store it away. It’s much better than drilling holes in it.
Q. What are your top three decorating tips?
A. All bedrooms should have wall-to-wall carpeting. After all, it’s a room dedicated to living barefoot.
If you don’t have a budget for good curtains, don’t cheap out on the fabric. Just leave them blank and put up some bamboo blinds.
If you are moving, vow not to bring any piece of furniture that you don’t really love over your new threshold.
Q. Will you share your favorite paint colors?
A. My favorite dark brown is Benjamin Moore’s HC-68 Middlebury Brown. I also love, from that same Historic Colors collection, HC-144 Palladian Blue. The Benjamin Moore Classic Colors line has my favorite reds, numbers 1300 and 1301. For ceilings, I do a 50-50 mix of Benjamin Moore 925 Ivory White with their Basic Super White.
Tags: Modern Furnishing
