It’s as fresh and fun as a new hairdo. This is a little aquamarine valentine, and there is lots to love at Serendipity Salon, the new business home of Capitol Hill hairstylist Suzanne Whitt.
Yes, Whitt did my hair all funky-girly and gave my daughter her first crop, but then she disappeared after ‘Do closed, or at least I couldn’t find her among the little upper-floor burrows along upper Pennsylvania Avenue SE where she nestled for some months. She also recently rented space at Randolph Cree which is located atop Dawn Price Baby and near her new location.
Well, Whitt’s summery smile and sharp scissors are back at a salon all of her own, located at 323 7th St., SE. Serendipity is perched on top of Monkey’s Uncle. To get there, go through the little alley alongside Monkey’s Uncle, and up the stairs to the second floor. The walls are painted a tart French blue, with walnut-brown wood planks running vertically along the lengthy space and dark wood furniture at each station set off by a clutch of bright daisy-like flowers standing pert in wall sconces.
Serendipity is done up in high-flea market meets local hardware store chic, with those meringue-colored tin-roof style mirrors at each station you’ll recognize from the weekend market along 7th Street, a long church pew, same provenance, where waiting clients can sit and reverently browse through a People (leave the rosaries at home though, with Brad or Jen or John and Kate on the cover). A stained wooden ladder rests against a wall and the extra toss of granny fabric and salon-smooth smocks on smart, black Anthropologie hooks adds more ambiance. There’s even a pints-sized table and chair set stocked with play food, dress-up dolls, crayons, books and an etch-a-sketch and a chalkboard for the young set waiting for their parents’ blowouts and updos and cover-the-gray hi-lights. Whitt will do kids’ hair if Mom or Dad or caregiver is already a client.
Whitt says it was quite a struggle to get the laborious permitting process through the city, but she did it herself, and with her husband, bought the fixtures, decorated the place, drove in the nails and screwed in the screws.
Now for the hair, which Whitt colors, tints, razors and cuts to your liking. She has carried over a number of clients from her years of styling on the Hill, but new clients can snatch some sunshine of their own with an appointment . Contact info is 202-309-5974