By FRANCES JAQUES, Staff Writer

As the second owner of a house built in 1992, Janet Wright decided it needed a face lift when she bought it five years ago.

Before she was finished, every room was given a new look with freshly painted walls, decorative artwork and her signature expression, pickled pine ceilings.

As a designer and builder, Ms. Wright likes to make use of her distinctive touches or “trademarks” as she calls them when remodeling rooms or furniture pieces. The pickled effect, which is done with special paints and rags, she uses on high ceilings, built-in shelves, fireplace mantels and cabinets.

This technique is especially used in the living room of her Riva Trace home. The cathedral ceiling, the mantel and the built-in shelves on either side have all been given the pickled look.

“People seem to like it,” she said. “It’s done by thinning paint with mineral spirits, putting it on with a brush and washing off the paint with a rag.”

The homes in the Riva Trace development are built in the style of cottage residences with small yards bordering common areas. Although small in size compared with many of the grand sizes of new development houses, the Wright home has been distinctively decorated with the addition of ceiling woodwork, window treatments, and light furniture and glass topped tables.

The sunken living room is the core of the house and features a fireplace on the outside wall and a glass wall of windows overlooking the garden. Ms. Wright has chosen to use a circular white upholstered sofa as a divider between the living and dining areas. In the corner between the rooms is an antique baby grand piano that at one time belonged to her mother who lived in Philadelphia.

The dining room is part of the open space of the first floor. Ms. Wright has created the illusion of a larger area by giving the walls a light coat of paint and using a pedestal table with a glass top. The upholstered chairs have a leaf pattern on a dark orange background matching the pillows on the white sofa.

Imported textured rugs are in the living and dining rooms. The living room rug is vegetable dyed and woven in Afghanistan. The dining room rug is Iranian.

The kitchen with its dinette complete the garden-side rooms. The ceiling in the dinette area has a rounded high ceiling above a palladian window. The ceiling is finished with Ms. Wright’s favored pickled wood. The rounded dining table also has a glass top set on a wrought-iron base. Plants, flowers and greenery flourish near the high window.

Flooring is of terra-cotta tile squares. The maple cabinets have a hand-rubbed polished patina. Walls between the cabinets and the counters are finished with ceramic tiles.

The front room on the main level is used by Ms. Wright as her office. But of all the rooms on this floor, she is most proud of the powder room which has limestone floors, a tumbled marble wainscoting and the vanity set in an old washstand topped with granite, The wall hanging is a cast bronze sculpture done by waterfowl artist Bob Winship.

On the second floor are the master and guest bedrooms. Both have been detailed with coordinated accessories, draperies and wall hangings. The master bedroom walls are finished in deep gold which is picked up in the plaid of the sofa, bed pillows and draperies around the rounded window.

The floor is carpeted in a beige shade. To carry out these Southwest colors is a painting by the Navajo Indian artist R.C. Gorman of a Navajo woman. A second Gorman painting is in the dining room, picking up the colors there in the upholstered chairs.

The guest bedroom has blue walls with traditional furniture that includes a four-poster bed with blue coverlet.

Ms. Wright has given close attention to her landscaped yard, the deck and patio. She added a pergola grounded with numerous pillars above the patio and adjacent to the deck. A pond with small waterfall is set behind the house next to the deck.

She likes to “putter around” the garden and adds annual plants for summertime color and enjoyment. She also collects old kitchen and garden tools.

Ms. Wright is owner of Bay Builders which specializes in new homes, renovations, architectural design and construction. Her earlier career was as an urban land economist.

Designer creates

s the second owner of a house built in 1992, Janet Wright decided it needed a face lift when she bought it five years ago.

Before she was finished, every room was given a new look with freshly painted walls, decorative artwork and her signature expression, pickled pine ceilings.

As a designer and builder, Ms. Wright likes to make use of her distinctive touches or “trademarks” as she calls them when remodeling rooms or furniture pieces. The pickled effect, which is done with special paints and rags, she uses on high ceilings, built-in shelves, fireplace mantels and cabinets.

This technique is especially used in the living room of her Riva Trace home. The cathedral ceiling, the mantel and the built-in shelves on either side have all been given the pickled look.

“People seem to like it,” she said. “It’s done by thinning paint with mineral spirits, putting it on with a brush and washing off the paint with a rag.”

The homes in the Riva Trace development are built in the style of cottage residences with small yards bordering common areas. Although small in size compared with many of the grand sizes of new developmenthouses, the Wright home has been distinctively decorated with the addition of ceiling woodwork, window treatments, and light furniture and glass topped tables.

The sunken living room is the core of the house and features a fireplace on the outside wall and a glass wall of windows overlooking the garden. Ms. Wright has chosen to use a circular white upholstered sofa as a divider between the living and dining areas. In the corner between the rooms is an antique baby grand piano that at one time belonged to her mother who lived in Philadelphia.

The dining room is part of the open space of the first floor. Ms. Wright has created the illusion of a larger area by giving the walls a light coat of paint and using a pedestal table with a glass top. The upholstered chairs have a leaf pattern on a dark orange background matching the pillows on the white sofa.

Imported textured rugs are in the living and dining rooms. The living room rug is vegetable dyed and woven in Afghanistan. The dining room rug is Iranian.

The kitchen with its dinette complete the garden-side rooms. The ceiling in the dinette area has a rounded high ceiling above a palladian window. The ceiling is finished with Ms. Wright’s favored pickled wood. The rounded dining table also has a glass top set on a wrought-iron base. Plants, flowers and greenery flourish near the high window.

Flooring is of terra-cotta tile squares. The maple cabinets have a hand-rubbed polished patina. Walls between the cabinets and the counters are finished with ceramic tiles.

The front room on the main level is used by Ms. Wright as her office. But of all the rooms on this floor, she is most proud of the powder room which has limestone floors, a tumbled marble wainscoting and the vanity set in an old washstand topped with granite, The wall hanging is a cast bronze sculpture done by waterfowl artist Bob Winship.

On the second floor are the master and guest bedrooms. Both have been detailed with coordinated accessories, draperies and wall hangings. The master bedroom walls are finished in deep gold which is picked up in the plaid of the sofa, bed pillows and draperies around the rounded window.

The floor is carpeted in a beige shade. To carry out these Southwest colors is a painting by the Navajo Indian artist R.C. Gorman of a Navajo woman. A second Gorman painting is in the dining room, picking up the colors there in the upholstered chairs.

The guest bedroom has blue walls with traditional furniture that includes a four-poster bed with blue coverlet.

Ms. Wright has given close attention to her landscaped yard, the deck and patio. She added a pergola grounded with numerous pillars above the patio and adjacent to the deck. A pond with small waterfall is set behind the house next to the deck.

She likes to “putter around” the garden and adds annual plants for summertime color and enjoyment. She also collects old kitchen and garden tools.

Ms. Wright is owner of Bay Builders which specializes in new homes, renovations, architectural design and construction. Her earlier career was as an urban land economist.

Designer creates

s the second owner of a house built in 1992, Janet Wright decided it needed a face lift when she bought it five years ago.

Before she was finished, every room was given a new look with freshly painted walls, decorative artwork and her signature expression, pickled pine ceilings.

As a designer and builder, Ms. Wright likes to make use of her distinctive touches or “trademarks” as she calls them when remodeling rooms or furniture pieces. The pickled effect, which is done with special paints and rags, she uses on high ceilings, built-in shelves, fireplace mantels and cabinets.

This technique is especially used in the living room of her Riva Trace home. The cathedral ceiling, the mantel and the built-in shelves on either side have all been given the pickled look.

“People seem to like it,” she said. “It’s done by thinning paint with mineral spirits, putting it on with a brush and washing off the paint with a rag.”

The homes in the Riva Trace development are built in the style of cottage residences with small yards bordering common areas. Although small in size compared with many of the grand sizes of new developmenthouses, the Wright home has been distinctively decorated with the addition of ceiling woodwork, window treatments, and light furniture and glass topped tables.

The sunken living room is the core of the house and features a fireplace on the outside wall and a glass wall of windows overlooking the garden. Ms. Wright has chosen to use a circular white upholstered sofa as a divider between the living and dining areas. In the corner between the rooms is an antique baby grand piano that at one time belonged to her mother who lived in Philadelphia.

The dining room is part of the open space of the first floor. Ms. Wright has created the illusion of a larger area by giving the walls a light coat of paint and using a pedestal table with a glass top. The upholstered chairs have a leaf pattern on a dark orange background matching the pillows on the white sofa.

Imported textured rugs are in the living and dining rooms. The living room rug is vegetable dyed and woven in Afghanistan. The dining room rug is Iranian.

The kitchen with its dinette complete the garden-side rooms. The ceiling in the dinette area has a rounded high ceiling above a palladian window. The ceiling is finished with Ms. Wright’s favored pickled wood. The rounded dining table also has a glass top set on a wrought-iron base. Plants, flowers and greenery flourish near the high window.

Flooring is of terra-cotta tile squares. The maple cabinets have a hand-rubbed polished patina. Walls between the cabinets and the counters are finished with ceramic tiles.

The front room on the main level is used by Ms. Wright as her office. But of all the rooms on this floor, she is most proud of the powder room which has limestone floors, a tumbled marble wainscoting and the vanity set in an old washstand topped with granite, The wall hanging is a cast bronze sculpture done by waterfowl artist Bob Winship.

On the second floor are the master and guest bedrooms. Both have been detailed with coordinated accessories, draperies and wall hangings. The master bedroom walls are finished in deep gold which is picked up in the plaid of the sofa, bed pillows and draperies around the rounded window.

The floor is carpeted in a beige shade. To carry out these Southwest colors is a painting by the Navajo Indian artist R.C. Gorman of a Navajo woman. A second Gorman painting is in the dining room, picking up the colors there in the upholstered chairs.

The guest bedroom has blue walls with traditional furniture that includes a four-poster bed with blue coverlet.

Ms. Wright has given close attention to her landscaped yard, the deck and patio. She added a pergola grounded with numerous pillars above the patio and adjacent to the deck. A pond with small waterfall is set behind the house next to the deck.

She likes to “putter around” the garden and adds annual plants for summertime color and enjoyment. She also collects old kitchen and garden tools.

Ms. Wright is owner of Bay Builders which specializes in new homes, renovations, architectural design and construction. Her earlier career was as an urban land economist.