Preview Party Pics: North Shore Design Show

A corner of my vignette “A Modern Family Mudroom” being featured

through May 20th at the Wenham Museum’s North Shore Design Show

Getting to the opening night of a design show is quite a journey. Given just under one week to completely set up our 8 ft. x 8 ft. spaces at the Wenham Museum – which often includes building a wall or two (thank you, Howell Custom Building Group), painting, wallpapering, supervising deliveries, installing light fixtures, prop styling and last minute design decisions – by the time the Gala Preview Party rolls around, the designers and museum staff are all ready to celebrate!

With North Shore Design Show Honorary Chair Stacy Kunstel 

Last Friday evening the 13 designed spaces were unveiled to a full house, hosted by New England Home editor/ designer/ blogger Stacy Kunstel. It was such a pleasure to have Stacy at the show! She is always so gracious, and has a great eye for design. We all appreciated her support of and visit to the charming gem that the Wenham Museum is to all of us on the North Shore.  

This indoor/outdoor potting sink was the inspiration piece behind my design. Manufactured by Stone Forest, it is by far my favorite item from the Designer Bath showroom. It looks like soapstone, but is actually honed black granite. The terrarium was designed by my across-the-board-talented friend Laura Thomson and the tiled chalkboard was a project I collaborated on with a favorite North Shore resource, Tile by Design.

Beth Gujral and Laura Thomson relaxing amidst furnishings

from Circle Furniture and lighting by Lucia Lighting.

There is a lot more to see in my space – you know how I love details –  but I don’t want to give it all away just yet! For now, I will leave you with some snapshots from the Gala, but am saving others taken that evening for a later post.

This Thursday night there will be an on open house at the Museum hosted by Landry and Arcari (who provided the gorgeous carpet in my space) with a presentation by Wilson Kelsey design. They will change their current Belgian-style vignette (see a peek of it here) to a modern looking space right in front of our eyes! Check out this link for more details.

Maybe I will see you there?? 

With Susan Howell from Howell Custom Building Group and

friend Chris Joy. Susan is on the Board and Leadership Team

of the Merrimack Valley Habitat for Humanity Builders Blitz.

With Kevin O’Connor, host of This Old House

During the evening, I did get the chance to chat with Kevin O’Connor, host of This Old House, who happens to call the North Shore home. We discussed the upcoming Habitat for Humanity Home Builders Blitz which is taking place across the country in June. I had told Kevin that Steve Thomas, former host of This Old House and current spokesperson for Habitat International, would be visiting the Merrimack Valley Habitat build site in Lawrence on June 9th. Kevin shared some positive stories from his own experiences helping out on Habitat for Humanity projects. I am really excited to be a small part of telling the story of this wonderful organization that pulls together so many professional builders and generous volunteers to help provide affordable housing for those in need (see current issue of New England Finery Magazine : )  I tried to get a photo of my husband (who is also in the building trades) alongside Kevin, but John was being camera-shy. I did manage to get one picture of him in my space though ...

If you make it to the show, be sure to check out the amazing chandelier from Lucia Lighting that is hanging above my vignette. John installed it for me from the cathedral ceiling (and made it look easy!) That is what the show is all about, though, presenting decorating and design ideas that visitors can imagine in their own homes while connecting them with the design professionals who can help achieve “the look.”

The North Shore Design Show is the major fundraiser of the year for the Wenham Museum. All proceeds support the Museum’s continued efforts to provide educational exhibitions and enrichment programs for children and families as they have been doing for over 90 years. I am truly honored to participate once again in this year’s event! More vignette photos and designer introductions to come ...

For show hours plus visitor information, click here.