Photographer: Ryan Shapiro Photography
Every home tells the story of the family who lives there. At Mudan Interior Design, we believe the best interiors begin not with a style, but with understanding — how a family gathers, how they entertain, and how they want their home to feel ten or twenty years from now.
Mudan Interior Design is a boutique interior designer in Bethesda, Maryland, specializing in luxury custom homes, whole-home renovations, kitchens, bathrooms, and furnished interiors for families throughout Washington, DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia. Every project is guided personally by Principal Designer Esther Chi, who combines interior architecture with thoughtful furnishings so each home is as functional as it is beautiful.
Top 100 Faces of Design, Modern Luxury Interiors (2026) · Best of Houzz for Service (2023–2026) · Maryland Certified Interior Designer · NCIDQ Certified Interior Designer · LEED Accredited Professional
Before a single fabric or finish is chosen, we start by understanding three things: the family who will live in the home, the architecture that’s already there, and what the project is meant to achieve.
A family with young children has different priorities than empty nesters preparing to downsize. An older Colonial in Bethesda asks different questions than a new-construction home in Potomac. A kitchen renovation solves different problems than a full-home furnishing project.
Good design is rarely about finding the perfect answer. It is about making thoughtful trade-offs that best support the home, the client, and the way they live.
That’s why we don’t begin with a predetermined style or a standard package — modern luxury interior design in Bethesda, done well, rarely looks the same from one home to the next. We begin with a conversation about how you live now, how you’d like to live in the years ahead, and what your home needs to support that.
Only once we understand the full picture do we begin designing. It takes longer to start this way, but it is the reason our clients’ homes continue to work beautifully for their families long after the last box is unpacked.
PRINCIPAL DESIGNER
A small selection of recent work reflecting the breadth of what we design — custom homes, whole-home renovations, kitchens, bathrooms, and furnishings — for families throughout Bethesda, Potomac, Chevy Chase, McLean, and the greater DMV.
Bethesda, MD
A newly built home was a blank slate in every room — the risk of feeling like a builder’s model, not a family’s own. We gave the children’s bedroom, the study, and the entry foyer each a distinct personality, so the house reads as one family’s home, not a showroom.
Mclean, VA
Unable to find a home with two main-level primary suites, this couple built their own. Every layout decision was planned around comfortable, single-level living — proving thoughtful planning can support changing needs without sacrificing elegance.
Bethesda, MD
This family had outgrown how their home worked for them — an unused basement, a primary suite that still felt like a guest room. We turned those spaces into a basement retreat, a children’s playroom, and a primary suite that finally feels like theirs, built around furniture they already loved.
Good design rarely happens by accident. A custom home or whole-home renovation involves hundreds of decisions, and one of our responsibilities is organizing them into the right sequence so you can make thoughtful decisions with confidence rather than feeling overwhelmed. We believe architecture, interiors, and furnishings should be considered together from the very beginning, allowing every decision to support the home as a whole.
Every project requires a different level of support. Some homeowners need guidance on a single decision, while others want a trusted design partner from the earliest planning stages. We begin with a complimentary Virtual Meet & Greet to understand your needs before recommending the service — and corresponding investment — that best aligns with your project.
As an interior designer in Bethesda, Mudan Interior Design serves homeowners throughout Washington, DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia, including Potomac, Chevy Chase, McLean, and Great Falls.
Bethesda interior design has to account for a lot of variety: every neighborhood in this region has its own architectural character. A prewar Colonial near downtown Bethesda asks different questions than a new custom home in Great Falls or a rowhouse renovation in Washington, DC. What stays consistent for us, across the whole region, is the same approach — understanding a home’s architecture and a family’s lifestyle before recommending a single finish.
Many of our Bethesda interior design clients choose their neighborhood for its schools, community, and convenient location. Rather than moving, they invest in transforming the home they already love. We create timeless, thoughtfully designed homes that support the way families live today and for years to come.
Earlier than most homeowners expect — ideally as soon as a lot is purchased, an architect is engaged, or a renovation starts to feel like more than an idea. Decisions made in the first few weeks, like how a kitchen relates to a mudroom or how much storage a family will actually need, are far more expensive to change once construction begins. Bringing a designer in alongside your architect and builder, rather than after the drawings are finished, means those decisions get made once, in the right order, instead of revisited under pressure later.
Whether you’re planning a custom home, renovating the one you already love, redesigning a kitchen or bathroom, or furnishing a house that still doesn’t feel finished, the first step is the same: a conversation. There’s no obligation and no pressure — just an opportunity to find out whether working together feels like the right fit.
“Working with Esther was a pleasure. She immediately understood what I was looking for, even when I didn’t. She is meticulously organized and respectful of time and budget, and she helped make difficult decisions so much easier, making me feel decisive and confident.”