Family Matters

Flea market finds, hand-me-downs, and grandpa’s suits complete a masculine Ballantyne townhome.

- Adam Rhew

Donna Sikorski points above the fireplace mantel to a painting of a tall ship at full sail in the middle of an ocean. It’s dated 1904 and, at first glance, appears to be the kind of scene one would find hanging on the walls of a golf club or inside an upscale men’s store. The painting, she says, was the inspiration for the living room in this Ballantyne townhome. It also happens to be a family heirloom, passed down from her father to her 24-yearold son, R.J.

Shades of blue and pops of patinaed brass make appearances throughout the space. A second painting, of another ship under sail, hangs on the opposite wall, beneath three brass mirrors. Two are portholes; the other is a Federal-style piece with convex glass. Sikorski found them, as she usually does, by hunting: at an antiques store in Virginia, in a relative’s attic, and at her “new favorite place, Sleepy Poet Antique Mall. I love it.”

Sikorski, who lives in Bristol, Virginia, and has been designing homes for 20 years, didn’t feel the need to deviate from her usual approach when R.J. asked her to help him furnish his first home. “I don’t like to do showroom decorating, where you go in and buy the showroom and it’s like, ‘Here you go,’” she says. “It would be easy to go to market and load up, but that’s not how I work. I like for it to reflect my client’s personality and not mine.” 

Of course, when the client is also a son, the lines blur.