Plain2Pop owner Tracy Farasy entered the world of interior design from an unexpected place. She spent several years as the dance coach for the Baltimore Ravens. Later, she founded a cheerleading and dance event production company, which later expanded into clothing manufacturing and design. This opened the door to a whole new career, along with her passion for styling friends’ homes.
When a client from her cheerleading days asked her to redesign a Park Heights house that was first built in the 1910s, she was quick to take on the challenge. Collaborating with the homeowner, she brought the house into the modern era with plenty of fun and quirky touches.
Farasy worked on this build for two years, putting a significant amount of work into the design.
“I feel like I could take an entire afternoon to walk around and tell you everything I loved about it,” she notes. “When you spend so much time in a house, you really develop a very personal connection to the space.”
Wall-to-wall wonder
One of the most notable details of the house’s new design is its use of statement wallpaper. While its walls are primarily painted white, some rooms have wallpaper that adds a pop of color or texture and immediately guides the viewer’s eye to it. These accents range from bathroom walls covered with dragons and flowers to a textured pattern spread across the kitchen.
“I named my company Plain2Pop because of my love of wallpaper,” Farasy notes. “You take a plain wall, put wallpaper on it and all of a sudden, you’ve got a full room transformation. The wallpaper was definitely a focal point, and paved the way for the new version of the home.”
Some of the specific patterns chosen were selected because of their significance to the homeowner, an artist who was painting Asian-inspired pieces while the home was being designed. The dragon motif also ties into this overall theme.
Animal kingdom
Animal imagery is repeated throughout the house in ways both obvious and subtle. The house features custom carpet with a cheetah pattern, which Farasy says is a timeless design element. It was created by furniture designer Jonathan Adler’s company and utilizes a pattern called “King Cheetah.”
The house’s sitting room is a very neutral space, but it also has some wild touches in unexpected places. The ends of the drapery rods are carved to resemble elephants, which the owner wanted to incorporate as a tribute to her mother-in-law.
“We wanted to take a really fun approach to updating [the building],” Farasy says. “I love bringing an element of whimsy into spaces.”
