Designing a home when designing is your life
Q&A with Pum Lefebure
Pum Lefebure, the co-founder and chief creative officer of the Washington graphic design and branding agency Design Army, joined staff writer Jura Koncius last week on The Washington Post’s Home Front online chat. Koncius had reported on Lefebure’s blackand-white themed home. Here is an edited excerpt. Q: How do you keep your white sofas clean with a dog? A: If you have a dog, nothing is ever clean! Luna does not get on the white couch very often, she’s mainly in the basement with [husband] Jake. But to cut back on a fur overload I suggest you get some nice throws that are the same color to cover your couch; this way you keep the design intent and your couch clean. Q: Do you design your home with your favorite color? How did you do it? A: I like colors, but I love shades of white. I’m in a graphic design business and I work with color and patterns all day long. So when I get home I need to cleanse my palette. Coming home to a calm, white space and waking up to a clean slate is very important to me. We used Benjamin Moore’s Bonifant White DC-03 throughout the house. It has a good balance for direct sun or shade. Q: Did you find it hard to stick to black and white? I notice you do have a lot of color in your artworks. Do you find it limiting? A: I love a limited color palette. It’s more constrained, but also more powerful. I like my entire house to read as one large space. The house feels much bigger because it is not being divided up by different colors or themed rooms. As you move from floor to floor there is continuity with each room you enter. White is also a nice foundation to let all my art shine (a museum approach). By sticking to black and white, it gives me an opportunity to play with the tone, shade, texture and then add a pop of color to stand out - and draw you in. Q: Do you keep to black and white in your table settings? A: Most of the time, we do use white plates and let the color of the food shine. For place mats, we use cream. I love a white and cream combination. And, of course, we have black utensils. We like to have a strict color diet. However, the dinner table is also where we play with color and texture. For a Thanksgiving dinner or summer party, I always use very colorful porcelain from Florence. They all are different colors and feel more festive during the holiday. Q: Black floors are beautiful, but are they difficult to take care of? Do your dog’s nails scratch them? A: We went with black floors knowing they would scratch and wear over time, but it’s more cost-effective to repaint them versus refinish and we do not wear shoes in the house, so they stay fairly clean (except for dog hair, but everyone has that problem)! Q: How did you get the nice black gloss on your floors? A: The key to a deep black is to stain them first, install, then stain them again and seal it with gloss. It holds up really well and when you do get a scratch the deep stained wood does not show “scratch” lines. Q: Do you have a mentor? If so, how did that relationship begin and what value does it bring to your career? A: Yes, I do have design/advertising mentors. I think it’s important to keep learning and not to be afraid to ask advice from someone you respect. A good mentor can point and connect you to the right person, direction or solution. Building an authentic relationship with a mentor is invaluable. On the flip side, I know that I also serve as a mentor to other creatives. I’ve realized long ago that mentorship is never a completely one-sided. When you mentor someone, you learn so much about their point of view. You can gain so much by giving. Q: Do you design your home with design or art? If so, how do you place them? A: I collect art; a lot of art and all types. I have a collection of 19th-century portrait paintings and still life that I get from Paris flea markets every year. They usually are set with gold frame but I take them out of it, as I prefer to see the sides of the raw canvas (it’s more natural and of the moment.) For the formal areas of the house, we frame them by simply placing the painting in the middle of a matte board. The frame is always white and modern to offset the old.