Rooted in Nature: The Design Concept Behind Our Show House Room

There is a particular kind of pressure that comes with a grand room. The soaring ceilings, the architectural details, the sheer scale of it all can push a designer toward formality almost by default. When Diana Vicenti, Amy Spearing, and Will Chambers of U-Fab Interiors first walked into the Living & Dining Room at Foundry Manor, they felt that pull immediately and chose to resist it.

Designer Diana Vicenti’s watercolor rendering captures the earliest vision for the Living & Dining Room at Foundry Manor, a lush, nature-inspired space that would eventually become a reality.

"I knew that despite it being such a grand, formal space for entertaining, it is the heart of the home and it should be inviting and comfortable," Diana says. "A place where guests feel honored and excited to be invited into, and discover something new each time."

Amy's first impression was equally immediate. "When I first saw the room it felt very voluminous and cold. The walls and trim were a creamy white that had yellowed over time. The details were astounding, with the lighted vaulted ceiling and the dentil molding. I instantly knew the room needed a warm, deep color drenching the whole space."

Will put it simply: "Most rooms that size are so formal and too grand that they become unlivable and uncomfortable. Our goal was to create an inspiring, comfortable, and completely livable space. A room where you want to stay, curl up, and hang out."

Inviting. Intriguing. Comfortable. Those are the three words Diana uses to describe the finished room, and they guided every decision along the way.

The Landscape as Inspiration

Foundry Manor sits on 25 wooded acres overlooking the James River, and for Diana, that landscape was never just a backdrop. It was the inspiration.

"I spent my childhood exploring woodland settings with my father, so the landscape feels so natural and comforting to me," she shares. "From the beginning I wanted to bring the landscape into the room, hence the wall color, drapery fabric selection, and decorative elements in the room."

Amy approached the same idea from a different angle. "The natural setting of the property inspired me to use natural elements in our design: wood, branches, moss, flowers, and other natural details throughout the room, especially in our accessories and staging."

That shared instinct, to look outward at the land and bring it inside, became the thread connecting every element of the room. It is there in the color on the walls, in the fabric on the windows, in the handcrafted objects on the shelves, and in the found-object deer bust that Diana assembled from natural materials gathered on the Foundry Manor grounds themselves.

Thibaut's Albero, the botanical print that started it all. With its whimsical pattern of trees and foliage and a color palette rich in greens and peach, it was, in Will's words, "perhaps the easiest decision in the room."

The Starting Point: Thibaut's Albero Print

Every room has a moment of clarity, and for this one it arrived in fabric form. Thibaut's Albero, a richly colored botanical print featuring whimsical trees and foliage, was the first decision and the one that unlocked everything else.

"I immediately loved it for the space," Diana says. "It felt elegant yet whimsical and we loved the color palette."

Amy was equally drawn to it. "We were drawn to the drapery fabric both for its color palette in greens and peach and for its depiction of trees, which are so plentiful on the property."

Will describes the moment the team landed on it with characteristic directness. "The color, the scale, and the collective gasp prompted the decision. It kind of felt like a no-brainer. We all agreed. Perhaps the easiest decision in the room."

From there, the design followed naturally. The fabric's lush greens pointed toward the wall color. Its warmth informed the mix of furnishings. Its botanical character set the tone for everything that would follow. To read more about how the Albero fabric led directly to the decision to color drench the room in Benjamin Moore's Cedar Path, visit our last post.

The Approach: Livable, Purposeful, and Full of Story

With the concept established, the team turned to the question of how to make a room of this scale feel genuinely livable. "These grand rooms can be daunting, but spatially speaking the layout for this space is obvious," Diana explains. "We wanted the space to be welcoming and have an easy flow from one area to another. The pieces we selected needed to be comfortable and purposeful, engaging, and tell a story."

Will echoes that thinking. "Livability, comfort, function, and intention were front and center. It can be pretty, but it must also have a purpose and a reason for being in the room."

Amy found the solution in contrast. "The space being both the heart of the home and an entertaining space created a unique challenge: to make the space casual enough to be comfortable but elegant enough to invite guests over. A way we accomplished this was to use both high-end elements, like custom window treatments and custom upholstery, alongside inexpensive details like old books and items found in nature. We also mixed very rustic elements, like the dining table and bar hutch, with new."

The result is a room that feels collected rather than decorated, assembled with intention and full of the kind of layered detail that rewards a second look. Among the pieces visitors will find: an art collection composed of donated works from the designers and their friends, spanning abstract, modern, sculpture, landscapes, and vintage traditional art, alongside Amy's personal contribution of a framed Hermès scarf. Will's mother's china has a place at the table, out in the open for all to see for perhaps the first time. "Growing up, I only saw it displayed in a China hutch and had dinner with it one time," Will shares. "I'm delighted to have it out in the open. It's such a simple, elegant, and timeless pattern."

The Collaboration

A project like this one, with three distinct creative voices working in close quarters on a single space, demands a particular kind of trust. The U-Fab Interiors team brought exactly that.

"I love collaborating and am a 'the more the merrier' personality," Diana says. "Amy and Will are both very talented and it was great fun bouncing ideas off of one another. Will's extensive experience with the Design House has been such an asset. Communication, honesty, and having an open mind is critical for success."

For Will, the collaboration felt organic from the start. "At U-Fab we work together every day to help clients, solve problems, and develop solutions, so collaboration felt natural. Diana and I have collaborated many times before and we've been working together for over 10 years. This is the first time the three of us have worked on a project together, and it all fit together so nicely. Amy's addition to the design team has really rounded us out. Her eye for color and love of pattern, fabric, and design have really inspired me. It has been a real privilege working with these two talented women."

Amy speaks to what collaboration makes possible in a room like this one. "The collaborative process often results in a richer, more creative room than if only one person had designed it. We bring thoughts, ideas, and perspectives that might have been missed otherwise."

The room is richer for it. Eclectic, warm, and inspiring, as Amy describes it. Fabulous, stunning, and inviting, in Will's words. And in Diana's: inviting, intriguing, and comfortable.

Come see it for yourself. The 2026 RSL Designer Show House at Foundry Manor is open daily from April 14 through May 10. Tickets are available at richmondsymphonyleague.org.