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Deborah Dyste, ASID, Registered Interior Designer

Company: Dyste Design
Decatur (Atlanta), GA 30030-4731
Phone: (404) 288-2448
Email: dyste@bellsouth.net
Website: www.dystedesign.com

Designer Profile

THE DYSTE DESIGN PROCESS
... so you'll love to come home!

I established Dyste Design to provide a uniquely personal style of interior design services. My primary objective is to learn how you want to feel as you live in the spaces we create. I work in close harmony with you to create remarkable interiors customized to capture the preferences of each client.

"In every case, she looked and listened, providing design recommendations that made our rooms work better, not just look better. Her work has dramatically changed the way we live in our house. Deborah is creative, flexible and unerring in her judgment about what’s right for individual clients and their lifestyles. Jeannine F. Addams
Atlanta, GA.

"At my house in Atlanta, Deborah did extensive work, the results of which were that my wife and I feel as if we are in a new house. Deborah's vision of what a space can be is nothing short of extraordinary. As far as I am concerned, Deborah is the best.”
Robert Coram
Atlanta, GA

"The creative powers of Dyste Design utilized not only Deborah’s talents, but she focused on what I wanted and translated that into a delicious design of lasting value."
Barbara Hightower
Atlanta, GA

•Over twenty years in private practice as an Interior Designer
•Registered Interior Designer with the Georgia Board of Architecture and Interior Design
•Professional Member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID)
•Recipient of several ASID Design Excellence Awards
•Teaching Residential Studio and Decorative Art History at the Intercontinental University and the Art Institute, plus Professional Practices at the Atlanta College of Art
•Study of architectural history and decorative arts on location in England, France, Spain, Italy and Greece
•Bachelor of Science degree, Master of Arts degree and countless Continuing Education Classes
•Study of Feng Shui with a school oriented to Western sensibilities

Services Offered

•New home selections including interior and exterior finishes (paint, brick, etc.) surface materials (flooring, counters, tile, etc.), light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, appliances, hardware (doors and cabinetry)
•Decorating: furniture floor plans including window treatments, bed dressings and reupholstery
•Kitchens and bath renovations
.Lighting plans
•Custom cabinetry design
•Custom furniture design
•Fine art selection and framing

Areas of Service: Beach homes in Florida and Alabama and a penthouse on the beach in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Ski lodge in Colorado. Apartment in NYC. Homes in St. Louis and Kansas City, MO, Dallas, TX, DC, Tennessee, Santa Barbara (Montecito) and La Jolla, California plus in Georgia from Gainesville (the lake and in town) to Macon and many Atlanta suburbs: Alpharetta, Avondale Estates, Buckhead, Brookhaven, Brookwood, Conyers, Decatur, Dunwoody, John’s Creek, Marietta, Peachtree City, Smyrna and Vinings.

Awards & Publications

ASID Design Excellence Awards:
2001 - Kitchen
2002 - Singular Space (Kitchen)
2003 - Historic Preservation (Bathroom)
2003 - Kitchen & Bath (Kitchen)
2007 - Historic Preservation (Living & Dining Room)

The color scheme, silk draperies and Tibetan rug create a cacooning living space while the large windows let in the sunshine. ASID Design Excellence Award for Historic Preservation.

The creative powers of Dyste Design utilized not only Deborah’s talents, but she focused on what I wanted and translated that into a delicious design of lasting value.
Barbara Hightower
Atlanta, GA

ASID Design Excellence Award.

This Big Canoe project was a beautiful collaboration with the clients, the architect, Scott Zanardo and me, the interior designer. Zanardo designed a beautiful Arts & Crafts style home in the north Georgia. My role was to place their furnishings and art, select all finishes, design the kitchen and all cabinetry and design the lighting plan.

ASID Design Excellence Award for Historic Preservation - During our first meeting the client described meeting the artist (gilded abstract) and how purchasing the painting was a turning point in her life so the painting became the focal point of the room. The ideal that guided this Inmann Park project was to respect the bones of the home, restore a major architectural element and tailor the restoration of those elements to accommodate the art, furnishings and equipment of a 21st century client.

Previous owners of this 1904 Arts and Crafts bungalow had removed the wall between the front parlor and dining room and the two original mantles so that raw brick with a plaster shaft remained. (Please view the 'before' shot, next, of this room.) The decision was made to not restore the missing wall. Creation of the new fireplace millwork and cabinetry is what drove this project. English ‘dust-pressed’ tiles, circa 1900, form the vertical frame of the rectangular opening. Travertine slabs, reminiscent of limestone, were used for the breast-pieces and the hearths. Shaped travertine tiles surround the composition. A blacksmith forged the frames of fire screens. Columns on the four corner were faux finished in the ‘Italian’ style, where-in if it’s not real let that be known.

This ‘pedestal/chest’ to the right of the fireplace houses a media center on the parlor side and shallow storage for stemware on the dining side. A mechanical turntable allows the sculpture to slowly revolve between the parlor and dining room. The parlor side faux-drawer-front is retractable. The client’s art was accentuated by the placement of the varied beam spread halogen lights.
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BEFORE shot of the previous photograph. 2 of 3

Big Canoe Kitchen. The client had three primary requirements for the kitchen in her modified-Craftsman-style, retirement home. She wanted to: 1) be able to talk with her guests while cooking and baking, 2) have everything she needed easily accessible but out-of-sight and 3) have the kitchen open to the dining room with limited, visible kitchen mess.

The strategically placed island solved a number of requirements. Guests, perched on the bar stools converse easily but are out of the way. By placing the ‘cave’ for the second microwave on top of the island a 45” high screen was formed between the dining area and the kitchen. The top serves as an art pedestal. (The key drawers beside the cave face the mudroom/garage entrance.) The island’s two 36” cabinets with generous storage are just a pivot turn from the range wall. The marble counter top is a baker’s delight.

Various design features keep the counters clear. The right pair of doors, under the wall cabinets flanking the range, opens to a pass through to the pantry where a large appliance, used daily is stored. The left pair is fake. The TV is behind butterfly doors above the refrigerator. On the wall perpendicular to the sink, the two flanking wall cabinets have no floors(the countertop is the floor) so small appliances can slide out easily but remain hidden when not in use.

The corridor into the kitchen, from the main entry hall, provides additional storage space with a closet parallel to the main pantry. The tall cabinet to the left of the refrigerator serves as the dry goods pantry.

The taller center cabinet on the wall perpendicular to the sink balances the verticality of the range hood. It also parenthetically, with the refrigerator cabinet, frames the window wall. A sculpture niche’ (not visible), to the left of the refrigerator, mitigates the refrigerator mass.

Drawing from the rug in the great room adjacent to the dining area, color and texture are woven to create a stimulating pallet. While historical respect is paid to Craftsman era cabinetry (stain, wood, style) it is tweaked by detailed oak millwork, (stained and glazed). This detail is repeated on the stucco hood. The blue island harmonizes with the wall color (used throughout the public areas) and is delineated with white framing columns and marble countertop. Handmade white tiles reflect light, as does the polished, granite counter top used with stained cabinetry. A Turkish runner punctuates the space with red and Turkish blue.

The sink windows flood the room with light. Ambient lighting is from recessed, incandescent PAR lamps. Halogen accent lighting focuses on the heirloom buffet in the dining area, the bird sculpture and the niche beside the refrigerator. Xenon lighting is hidden behind the millwork of the polygonal tray in the dining area adjacent to the kitchen and under the wall mounted cabinets to illuminate the counter tops. The hood vent has a halogen light. 1 0f 3

The original plans for this Atlanta Bathroom had thirteen, unbroken feet of vanity counter. The design for an armoire in the center, flanked by his and her vanity stations renders a more graceful and visually appealing wall. Additionally, the storage space was greatly increased. 1 of 3

Large family kitchen in Marietta, Georgia. The cook wanted to be able to see into the breakfast area, den and pool beyond the windows while she prepared meals. Moving the cooktop from the back wall to this pivotal position make that happen.1 of 2. ASID Design Excellence Award.

Large family kitchen in Marietta, Georgia 2 of 2. ASID Design Excellence Award

This 1990's Buckhead kitchen in crisp white still makes the owners smile.

A large Campe canvas of Atlanta architecture hangs in the entry to this gentleman's townhome in downtown Decatur. 1 of 3.

Galley Kitchen Gallery in Decatur, Georgia. A French door replaced a solid door, large windows replaced smaller ones and the double window was once two seperate windows. Greatly increased day light and fine art by Chris Shockly, Lois Carlyle and others enliven the space. This project received a Design Excellence Award. 1 of 3.

The green louvered doors hide the laundry that was brought up from the basement. Design Excellence Award. 2 of 3.

Sunlight floods this imtimate breakfast area in a Decatur kitchen. Design Excellence Award. 3 of 3.

Previously the kitchen in this Decatur Bungalow was all white with a green and white vinyl floor and 2 1/2 molding. An environmentally sustainable bamboo floor was selected, moldings were increased to match those in the rest of the house and the size of the window was increased. New cabinetry was designed around existing appliances and a granite counter was selected. The lighting is variable from general to task to accent. The Butler's Pantry & Bath/Laundry adjacent to the space are shown in the next photograph. 1 of 2.

Decatur Bungalow. Kitchen, Butler's pantry & Bath/Laundry. 2 of 2.

Bath renovation in French style home in Buckhead.

Druid Hills Attic Bath. Historic preservation Award. 1 of 2.

Druid Hills Attic Bathroom. Historic Preservation Award. 1 of 2.

An African textile and a watercolor/pen & ink by Irizarry, a Decatur architect, are enhanced by the terra cotta colored walls in the living room of this townhome in downtown Decatur. 2 of 3

The contrast of the pastal rendered water by Liana Rapass on the old brick wall makes dining at this Shaker style table a calming activity after a hectic day. 3 of 3

The door between the bookcases on the left lead to the master bedroom in this Buckhead home. The door on the right is fake; just there for balance. 1 of 2.

A large chinoiseri coffee table anchors this conversation corner. 2 of 2.

The lovely, antique Sarouk rug was the basis for this color scheme of coral and French blue in a Buckhead dining room. 1 of 2.

Antique French art-posters flank the graceful window treatment. 2 of 2.

The three pen and ink drawings of school children at their desks above the settee were drawn by J. Leroy Jackson who was an art teacher at Grady high school for many years. This is in the bedroom of a former reading specialist.

Did you know that orange is the color that draws people together most successfully? Silk draperies, an Oushak rug and Directoire furnishings make this Dunwoody dining room one where guests linger long after the meal.

While gray can be industrial and cold the right tonality can be magical. Soft grays take on the characteristics of a neutral color and are not as predictable as the ubiquitous beige. This light filled guest bedroom in Inmann Park is simple and serene; just what the client wanted.

This bedroom was a challenge because three pieces of existing furniture had the same broken pediment: the headboard, the mirror over the dresser and a tall boy (chest)… boring! Only the tall boy still has the broken pediment. The mirror was replaced and the headboard was ‘reconfigured’. Now the tall poster bed has a comfy upholstered panel, much better for reading in bed. A crisp, English chintz fabric adorns the windows and bed. A watercolor by Chris Shockley sits atop an antique chest and antique prints are hung above the bed.

A masculine bedroom with the whimsical delight of the Karen Hollinsworth canvas above the bed. This was a new construction project. Only the headboard and loveseat where existing.

In this French style home the second-floor, guest-bedroom walls cant with the lines of the Mansard roof. The Aubusson rug and arabesque wall covering and window fabric echo the 18th century and inspired the headboard’s painted panels. An antique textile and a taffeta plaid skirt dress the bed. The whimsical lamps play with the ‘Joie de vivre’ of that time. Finally, a great comfortable, cuddly reading chair is a must in every bedroom.

An empty white room when we started! The tile in the adjacent bathroom set the stage for a mossy palate and the client's art suggested adding red. While this space has elements of the Mission style, which the Inmann Park home is, the client's love of contrasting textures made it a bit more elegant. One side of the duvet cover is the same silk as the draperies and the other side is the same tiny cotton print as the rear pillow shams for a winter or summer look. I was quite jazzed when I found a tapestry weight upholstery fabric for the chair that harmonized so beautifully with the cotton fabric for the bed skirt. The vintage green marble chandelier was the finishing element.

This room was created twenty years ago for the fourth child in the family and the first girl. The existing furnishings were wonderful and the mother had many beautiful antique textiles. My role was to arrange the furniture and ‘dress’ the space with drapery and upholstery fabrics. If you look to the room off to the right you’ll see a ribbon and spray of flowers on the ceiling.

The concept for this bathroom came together when the client, the client’s architect/contractor (Simone Feldman) and I met at the tile showroom. When the client purchased this Craftsman bungalow the first priority was to return the bathroom to harmony with the rest of the house… at minimum expense. The colonial doors were replaced with five panel doors; exact copies of the doors in the majority of the home. Vintage, bronze, door hardware was purchased. Stone-mosaic, floor tiles were selected that created a sense of a 1904 bathroom. Subsequent decisions sprang from the floor tile and door hardware selections.

This tiny bathroom (8’x3” x 6’-3”) is adjacent to the master bedroom. The existing vanity and linen cabinet were faux finished with Venetian red undertones. Like the door hardware all metal elements are bronze. The shadow-producing light fixture over the sink was eliminated and two sconces now frame the face with dimmable 120 watts on each side. A granite remnant (less expensive) was used for the new counter. The same shaped tile that was used for the shower walls was used to create a more authentic, period, beveled mirror.

The location of the water lines was not altered so the sink, shower and toilet remain as they were. The existing shower enclosure provided no privacy for the toilet. The knee wall implies a water closet space. Seamless glass was used for the balance of the shower to create the illusion of more space. The wall tile in the shower compliments the floor tile. The horizontal line of the rhythmic border lessens the feeling of being in a small phone booth.
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