London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Oct 18, 2025

Whimsy And Sophistication Beautifully Collide in This Virginia Home

Whimsy And Sophistication Beautifully Collide in This Virginia Home

The House of Whimsy is adorned with color, quirky patterns and enchanting furniture.

You might not expect a house brimming with woodland-inspired whimsy to be located just outside of the Virginia headquarters of the CIA. You also might not expect such a playful home to be owned by two lawyers. But Atlanta, Georgia-based interior designer Gina Sims created just that with her client’s McLean, Virginia home, which is charmingly dubbed the House of Whimsy.

The whimsy-evident in everything from the formal living room’s cockatoo chairs to the crocodile print tile in the kitchen-was an aesthetic specifically requested by Sims’s clients.

“I think everything that they saw there was kind of buttoned up, way more traditional,” says Sims of the hoemowners, who previously lived in a townhouse. “Really simple, very stately, which is beautiful and wonderful. But it just wasn’t them, which is interesting because they’re attorneys, so you think that would kind of fall in line with that kind of thing. But she’s very artistic. She paints. Her family paints. So, a lot of the art in the house was stuff that her family had done.”

Having begun work on the House of Whimsy fall of last year, Sims and her team were struck with an unexpected hurdle: a pandemic. Thankfully, the seemingly gargantuan feat was overcome thanks to a few FaceTimes and a handful of 11-hour workdays on site.

“When it was time to come check on things we couldn’t because COVID happened,” Sims divulges. “So, we just had to do a lot of FaceTime…It was a lot of crazy logistics we were learning on the fly. But at the end we were so organized. It went great.”

Tour the wonderfully whimsical residence below.


Sunroom




The home's sunroom blends indoors and out, while a pair of matching rugs keep the space flowing. “There’s a living space on one side and the dining space on the other,” says Sims. “They're tied together by these rugs, the outdoor rugs. We wanted it to feel like a living space, but also a little bit of an outdoor space, so we used some rattan and some outdoor rugs.”


Kitchen




Described by Sims as “the most dramatic” change to the home, the kitchen is vibrant and unusual. The most noticeable change in the kitchen is due to the removal of a large hood that rested directly above the island.

“They reoriented the entire island. And we took the hood [off],” Sims explains. “Before it was this giant thing that was kind of oppressive.”

In addition to opening up the space by removing the hood, cabinet doors that were once covered with dark millwork now flaunt a sparkling white hue. Giving the whole space a certain element of je ne sais quoi is the crocodile print tile that adds subtle flair to the backsplash.


Formal Dining Room




Given that the House of Whimsy was a near gut renovation, few vestiges of the original home remain. Fortunately, the light fixture that hangs elegantly above the dining room table was one item salvaged by Sims and crew.

Adorning the wall adjacent to the curved dining room table is a Brianza round mirror from Uttermost. Behind the large mirror, a textured, iridescent wallpaper lends a soft glow to the space.


Formal Living Room




Similar to the bedroom and a handful of other spaces in the House of Whimsy, the formal living room easily balances sophistication and whimsy, blending classics like a navy sofa with unique accents such as a cockatoo chair comprised of wood and lacquer.

Meanwhile, some creative design solutions make for another interesting accent in the space. "We had the lamp color matched to the wall, but then I felt like it was still kind of flat,” Sims divulges. “So, one of our folks was like ‘Hey, what if we tie these beads around it?’ I’m like ‘Oh my gosh, it really changes it.’”

Main Bedroom




"She’s always said, ‘I have always loved green bedrooms for some reason,'" recalls Sims of her client's color request for the bedroom. "We didn’t want to do a ton of saturated color in the wall because we wanted to keep it really light and airy. We took the really light color on the walls."

To balance the pale pink and other, softer colors, Sims added a flock of gold and black birds that appear to take flight over the bed’s headboard.

Guest Bedroom




One of the more uniquely shaped rooms, the guest bedroom proved somewhat difficult regarding the placement of lighting. With the bed placed directly below a dramatically slanted ceiling, Sims installed adjustable lights to flank it.

A true guest bedroom, Sims ensured that this space was equipped with all the necessities for an ideal guest stay.

“These are kind of things that I think every guest room should have,” she says. “Storage. I want to be able to put my stuff away. I’m one of those people who wants to unpack. A fan if you get hot. Here’s a carafe with a glass on top that you can fill it up for your guests and then they have a glass of water. And a little tray and a lamp. And that kind of stuff I think is so nice to have.”

Office




Another dramatic change made to the home was in the office, where a wall of wooden paneling and shelves was turned into a large window.

“The whole point of buying this house is so that they can have a great view and see outside,” says Sims. “And she was like ‘So, why not be able to see outside?’”

Of the handful of furniture pieces the homeowners brought from their townhouse was a dining room hutch that was given new life in the office.

“We took this hutch, that’s obviously a dining piece, and then put it in the office, so that it’s more of a book storage,” she reveals. “And it totally changes the look and feel of that piece. Because there wasn’t a place for it and it wasn’t right for the dining room, but it’s still a really pretty piece." Sometimes reinvention is the best creativity!

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
×