How show houses keep visitors on the straight and narrow

Washington

THE silver-plated Christofle knife rests glitter on the dining room table at the 2015 DC Design House. Originally created in the 1920s by sculptor Edouard-Marcel Sandoz for the lavish first-class dining room of the SS Normandie ocean liner, the set of eight antique Art Deco animals can be yours for US$2,000.

The knife rests (yes, that used to be a thing) are part of the US$55,000 dining room that designers Jeff Akseizer and Jamie Brown put together for the show house, a month-long showcase for top local interior decorators and designers. Their room includes a 1930s silver coffee set from Spain, hand-painted plates by Anna Weatherley (the same designer who did White House china for Laura Bush), antique napkin rings and an oversized Annie Leibovitz photography book.