For the Goldsteen family of five, which includes three teenage daughters, the bespoke neon sign on their basement wall is like a beacon: “This must be the place.”
“We wanted a more sophisticated room,” mother Kimberly Goldsteen says of the transformation that took the Bethesda basement from kid-friendly art room and all-purpose space to a game-centric zone where family and friends could gather. Kristin Harrison of Georgia & Hunt Design House (formerly Bungalow 10 Interiors) in McLean, Virginia, designed and managed the makeover, which was completed in May 2023. “I wanted an edgy, fun look,” Goldsteen says, “and Kristin brought it together well.”
Harrison removed the art room wall to create a single open space roughly 35-by-20 feet. One side is a game area; the other has a television (not pictured) and comfy sectional Notch couch from Crate & Barrel with Iron-color velvet fabric. The existing sink area became a snack bar niche with a mini-fridge below and an electronic dartboard mounted in a custom cabinet above. Flanking the niche are two Skee-Ball machines.
“My husband and I love playing Skee-Ball,” Goldsteen says. “When we had kids, we introduced them to it, and always played it at boardwalk arcades on the beach.”
Brite Lite New Neon of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, crafted the sign that hangs above a lighted 12-foot-by-20-inch shuffleboard table custom made by Hudson Shuffleboards of Santa Ana, California. The table fits neatly against the long wall to allow circulation space. The doors of the dartboard cabinet match the table.
A mural that fills the shuffleboard wall and dartboard wall is from Phillip Jeffries of Fairfield, New Jersey. Its “Bloom” pattern comes with large or small flowers in assorted colors; Harrison says she chose large flowers “to make the wall feel expansive.” Goldsteen opted for gray and black because “the fun neon sign pops the most off of that.” The gray-tone Mohawk carpet completes the neutral background.
“We all use the room. We have family game nights here, watch movies, relax. The girls bring friends here. It’s a fun place to be,” Goldsteen says.
This appears in the March/April 2025 issue of Bethesda Magazine.
