Showhouse filled with influences from around the globe

The sophisticated elegance that stems from successfully melding cultural influences is giving visitors to this year's Charleston Symphony Orchestra League Designer Showhouse something to see.

Accessories from locations around the world reflect designers' mandate to decorate the house as if it were inhabited by people who spend much of their time indulging a yen for travel. Larger pieces in the home reflect an affinity for the things of Charleston.

"Windows to the World" is the theme for the 31st annual showhouse, which includes items such as Chilean pillows, Moroccan-inspired mirrors, chair upholstery resembling crocodile skins, Indonesian wood sculpture, beaded and fringed South African tiebacks, and baskets from several cultures.

Entire rooms in the house, which sits across from the Ashley River at 108 Murray Blvd., reflect an appreciation for furnishings that are as artistic and elegant as they are useful. Fourteen spaces in the 5,000-square-foot, three-story house were decorated by 13 designers.

The master bedroom features a Colonial planter's bed with silk drapes made of fabric that was hand-painted by South African women. A British Colonial Campaign chest made around 1850 is used instead of a bedside table. A piece that spent time on a Spanish galleon during the 1400s is displayed on the wall behind the bed. The sophisticated space was created by the design team of Judy Schmidlapp (an allied member of the American Society of Interior Designers) and Jessica Schmidlapp of Island House of Charleston.

Easily one of the most stunning pieces in the house is the hand-blown glass chandelier from Cynthia Levy on the second-floor landing.

The cobalt blue lighting fixture, in the space designed by Mike Ruegamer of Group 3, is organic, striking and provides a great reason to pause between floors.

The dining room and adjacent patio were decorated by Horack Patch & Associates' Donna Horack, a member of ASID, and Britney Cooke, an allied ASID member.

It features Rothschild Bird dinnerware purchased in the Cayman Islands, a CR Currin custom buffet that is certain to become a conversation piece and a Copernicus chandelier by Summerville-based artist Mike Reid Weeks.

Many will recognize the image on the buffet as the historic courthouse at Broad and Meeting streets.

Horack sketched the image for the buffet painted in silver leaf, sepia and black with a clear-coat finish. The brushed nickel chandelier inspires reflections on Copernicus, the 16th-century astronomer famous for putting forth the idea that the sun, not the Earth, is the center of the universe.

The league's showhouse is a major fundraiser for the symphony.

The house will be open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Sundays through April 13.

In addition, the showhouse will feature a boutique, designer sales items and cafe with al fresco dining 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. daily. All the furnishings in the house are for sale. Tickets are $20 at the door.

For more information, visit www.csolinc.org.

Reach Wevonneda Minis at 937-5705 or at wminis@postandcourier.com.

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