Samantha Lane entered the world of interior design from an unexpected place. The interior designer and co-founder of design firm Ann Lane Home initially pursued a career in politics, majoring in political science and working in the political world for a few years before ultimately realizing that her passion lay elsewhere.
She first became interested in interior design while working at the Rouse Company, which once designed and developed shopping malls and community spaces.
“It wasn’t just about making the space look good, it was also about trying to balance all these different program requirements that each department had while maintaining a consistent look,” Lane says of her work in the company’s interiors department. “I really thrived in that, so I ended up getting my master’s at the Corcoran [School of the Arts and Design] at The George Washington University.”
In 2010, Lane and her former boss and business partner, Ann Angelella, opened Ann Lane Home, which consults on and orchestrates full-scale renovations.
One of her most recent projects combined a kitchen and dining room into a larger entertaining space, transforming an outdated kitchen into an open, naturally lit area well-suited to both family dinners and large parties.
“The initial idea was that the family had been there for a long time and the kitchen wasn’t functional for them,” Lane recalls. “[The client] liked being in the kitchen with her kids, whether they were making Christmas cookies or hosting a dinner for their volleyball team. So the idea was to take the dining room and extend the whole thing, creating an island that you could do all those things around. It really became a centerpiece of entertainment.”
A Step(ladder) up
One of the quirkier parts of the newly renovated cooking and dining space is the addition of a wood ladder against a display of shelves, providing an accessible way to reach high-up cabinets as well as a unique decoration.
Lane credits this idea in part to her client, who had actually owned and held onto the ladder for a while in hopes that it would eventually be useful.
“The ladder was a big deal; it makes it feel unique and not like everyone else’s kitchen,” she says. “It added something romantic and fanciful, like everyone’s having fun in the kitchen, rather than it feeling like everything had to be functional and utility-focused.”
It also matches the natural walnut stain used for the wall panels, which contrast with the white cabinets and their brass fixtures.
Under the Hood
The true focal point of the room for Lane, though, is the hood. For this project, she mixed different textures, materials and colors, using a neutral color palette to bring everything together. The hood combines plaster with a stone backsplash.
“We did a French range hood. Making that our focal point was kind of a big deal because it commands attention,” Lane says. “The plaster was a big portion, because it contrasts with the texture of the cabinets and the kind of paint-grade finish they have.”