House Magazine - Long Island's premier design architecture & lifestyle magazine

As Time Goes By

To see Susan Vanden Heuvel of SVH Interiors today, is a far cry from the woman who reluctantly closed her location at 144 Main Street in Port Washington, while dealing almost simultaneously with the death of her father and the turbulent decade of 9/11.

While working at home she traveled through Port Washington to see clients, she yearned to return to the place she felt was home. After seven years, she finally did.  "I always believe that when something difficult happens, if you trust and put in the footwork, another door will open for you," she remarks.
And it did. The new location at 135 Main St is probably the biggest and most beautiful location she has had. It is exactly across the street from her original location well known for its white porch and extensive seasonal window decorations.

"I returned to work here just like I had come many years ago – in the middle of a recession. The difference today is that my daughter, Jennifer, has joined me. She runs the day-to-day operations which free me up to design and forge ahead with new ideas and applications," says Ms. Vanden Heuvel.   
Some of the photographs here are from work done previously and some very new. None of them has been published before.

Looking at this living room makes one feel they have walked into an English Sitting Room. The client previously had purchased many of the furnishings and antiques.Ms. Vanden Heuvel's job was to complete the room by designing the opulent draperies that define the spaciousness of the room
Colfax and Fowler, an English fabric company, provided the fabric for the draperies.  Bullion by Lee Jofa and, finally, the exquisite silk trim by Scalamandre- the manufacturing were done by Edith Ann De Floria.  The installation was done on a gold leaf pole with rings, under the supervision of Ms. Vanden Heuvel. 

This totally remodeled master bath exudes quiet luxury.  Emperador polished marble on the floor, shower and vanity are perfect foils for the rest of the colors in the room. The linen vanity and ceramic wall tile both mix exceptionally well with the Harlequin wallpaper which has not only these two colors but also introduces blue used as a secondary color for interest.  Polished nickel is the finish of all the fixture components and the four-leaf clover design of the overhead light.  The Roman shade, providing light diffusion also brings the blue and beige together in a dot design.  A perfect transitional bath.

The client that hired Ms. Vanden Heuvel to work on their master bath also remodeled their bedroom.  Here, they were looking for the same clean, sophisticated look.

"All the elements of this room fell together almost at the same time.  I had been waiting to use a wonderful Schumacher linen with a bold transitional floral print, somewhere for some one. It is gorgeous in look and feel. As soon as the client talked about an upholstered platform bed and headboard in neutral linen, the Schumacher clicked in my mind, which worked wonderfully as simple drapery panels," said Ms. Vanden Huevel.

The geometric wool carpet of taupe and ivory was the third decision. To really make the room fly, black furniture was chosen with a silver chest.  The crystal lamps were perfect accents, clear with angled bases. To finish the job, the walls were painted taupe, moldings in linen white and the ceiling in pale blue.

The room is not only an outstanding look on its own but once again combines colors with the bath so there is no break when going from room to room.