Kips Bay Show House: #Blogfest2013 part 3

Kate Moss photographed by Russell Young

Lounge designed by Luis J. Garcia-Maldonado 

As part of #Blogfest2013, attendees were given an entire morning to visit the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club 41st Annual Decorator Show House in New York City. We had the Upper East Side multi-story luxury townhouse – owned by NY lawyer Richard Sharp, it’s valued at over $16 million – completely to ourselves. We were encouraged to take as many photos as we would like to later share with our readers and followers. Typically, photography is not allowed when visiting a show house, so this was a real treat for all of us design bloggers! The show house runs through June 4th so schedule a visit if you are able – it’s certainly worth the trip! All proceeds go towards supporting the Boys and Girls Club of Kips Bay mission:

“To improve and enhance the quality of life for all young people 6 – 18 so they can realize and achieve their potential for growth, development and attain skills necessary to succeed.” 

As I am currently working on a couple of spaces for a show house myself, I was thrilled to see how NY designers pull it off. They had just one month to transform their rooms and the results were incredibly glamorous!  

More from the gray and ginger lounge by Luis J. Garcia-Maldonado: Fabulous art, rich textures and come hither seating.

Avant garde photographs graced most rooms including the entry area by Andrew Sulvalsky. Paired with a turquoise ceramic lion that is by comparison quite demure.

More turquoise in a highly lacquered powder room also by Sulvalsky. Brass fixtures and ebony bowl make for a striking combination. 

Lacquered walls were a common thread throughout the show house. This dining room by Kristin McGinnis was eye catching in so many ways from the uniquely organic light fixture to the artist battered side boards to the silver leaf ceiling. So stunning!

“Your boyfriend is hot” reads a concert goer’s T in this well chosen art installation for the hidden bar off the dining area. Space by Joan Dineen.

The second floor drawing room by the mother-daughter team of Mariette and Brooke Gomez is Upper East Side elegant. How I would love to host book club in this dedicated-to-entertaining space that easily seats over a dozen guests.

Show stopping seating areas like this golden velvet sofa in the atrium, designed by James Huniford, invite curl up and get comfortable conversation. Just outside this room, the courtyard provides an additional stop and sit for a spell incentive. This is one designed space that many of us in the suburbs or city could probably achieve: boxwood border, pea stone floor, one great statement piece of outdoor furniture.

Back inside, an underwater story is told via pitch black wallpaper from Kravet patterned with sea-life illustrations by Fornasetti paired with coral colored silk damask from Fortuni and liquid blue drapery panels. The feeling in this fourth floor sitting room by Jack Levy is one of being pleasantly ensconced in the deep, dark abyss of the ocean. I could spend some serious time in this room!

Another favorite space of mine was the Modern Family Room by Eve Robinson. I am a real fan of Modern Family interpretations, but this sophisticated game room is a little outside of my comfort zone as far as young family livability. Even so, it would be a nice place to play pretend.

Sparkling amethyst bar: yes, please!

The Kips Bay kitchen was designed by Christopher Peacock. I wasn’t able to get a really good picture of the full space since this central location is where all of us Blogfest bloggers gathered to enjoy a lovely brunch set by Doodle Home. Doodle Home is an online resource that helps designers by handling the ordering and tracking and large amounts of paper trails that are associated with the completion of design projects. While the company started out geared toward the general consumer, they quickly discovered that they could be of great value to the independent designer who knows what they want, but could use a more streamlined method of project management. The end result is more time to design. Sign me up!     

Another view of the jewel-toned entryway by Andrew Sulvalski.

The golden stairway serves as a photo gallery, arranged with black and white images of Boys and Girls Club guests paired with their thoughts on what Kips Bay means to them: “It is home” one exclaims. Photos taken by Monica Rich Kosann. Stairway designed by Judy King.

A lady’s writing room by Stephen Mooney was the closest to traditional New England style design that I saw at the show. 

Bravos “Million Dollar Decorator” Kathryn M. Ireland designed the master bedroom incorporating traditional-meets-bohemian fabrics from her new collection for Scalamandre.

This whirlpool tub is obviously part of the original decor of the home, however the artwork and color palette were quite beautiful. Lounge bath by Luis J. Garcia Maldonado.

This soaking tub is more my style. When you work at a bath showroom, these are the types of images one falls in love with! Can you imagine having a roof-top deck with this installation? Across from the tub was a koi pond. Everything about the space was breath-taking (or perhaps “meditation inducing” is a better way to describe it?) Kudos goes to West Chin Architects.

Designer show houses are a great resource for window treatment ideas. Sitting room above by Barbara Ostrom. Tasting room below by Dineen Architecture and Design.  

There are a wide variety of online reviews of the current Kips Bay Decorator Show House (from my fellow #Blogfest2013 bloggers and otherwise), but I particularly liked the perspective of this article from The New York Times ...

House of Your (Vivid) Dreams by Penelope Green

The New York Times // May 8, 2013

Room as artist's canvas ...

Michelle Nussbaumer’s work as featured on 1st Dibs,
photograph by Miguel Flores-Vianna


“I see myself as an artist and the client’s home is my canvas and all the furniture, antiques, textiles and artwork are my palette.”– Michelle Nussbaumer

One of the design themes of my space at the upcoming North Shore Design Show: Favorite Spaces is how decorating a room is just like creating a work of art. Colors, textures and objects combine to paint an emotional picture. A lot of designers feel this way. Take a look at this 1st Dibs interview with Michelle Nussbaumer of Ceylon et Cie where she expresses the same sentiment. While you are there, check out the impressive list of Style Compass interviews with top designers and trend setters, some of whom I have met in my travels like Iris Apfel, Barclay Butera, Nate Berkus, and Kathryn M. Ireland. Plus there are lots of inspiring stories (with amazing photos!) from other prominent decorative artists, many of whom I would love to meet in the future ... wouldn’t you?!

Inspired by ... celebrity designers

I love this color combination of a strong red with a grayish blue background (see flower arrangement in my last post). I took this photo at Studio 534 in the Boston Design Center which was host to Kathryn M. Ireland for her book signing on Tuesday, November 3rd.

While some people are fascinated with sports figures or high-profile celebrities, I find myself getting giddy over seeing “design stars” in person. I really respect what it takes to make it as an accomplished designer in this business, whether one is designing for big movie-star type budgets or for homes that are more modest in comparison. For me, being able to design for others is like being commissioned to create a work of art. My client’s home becomes the canvas, and I get to play artist. It is an honor (and pleasure) to be invited to make someone’s house “a home.”

Today at the Boston Design Center, Kathryn M. Ireland spoke on Easy Elegance and Comfortable Living, The Art of Creating a Home. She was there to promote her new book titled Creating a Home, which is also available online. Check it out (and definitely visit her website) to see some of her amazing work with textiles, patterns, color and scale.

Interior design by Kathryn M. Ireland
photographed by Miguel Flores-Vianna
as seen in Veranda magazine, Sept. ’09

Ireland’s visual language is well studied and appeals to the artist in me who loves bold patterns and vivid colors. She is known for her Bohemian chic approach that combines California’s easy living with the grandeur of world-traveled influences. Although she is a huge fan of saturated color combinations, she is also able to achieve the same richly varied look in a more subdued color palette (when asked!).

Fabrics from her newest collections.

Despite the fact that I was just a wee bit jealous of her well traveled life (Ireland used to take her three boys on trips and they would ask, “How many planes is it going to take to get there?” while my husband and I are basically afraid to plan a long – a.k.a. over 20 minute – car ride with our brood of four boys), I did appreciate her take on fearlessly surrounding oneself with color and beauty. Although after just peeking around the corner into my family room, I think we have achieved the same result as my boys apparently had a battle with a purple feather boa from the Halloween costume bin ... and the boa lost.


This pattern Fez Palm in Olive Green from Kathryn Ireland’s newest fabric collection would be right at home in one of my boys rooms, which boldly incorporates all of these colors (some day I will post images from it when it is “photo shoot” clean ...)

I am sure I could probably learn a lot from Ireland on how to live a stylish life while surrounded by a bunch of boys, but I did not have the luxury to sit down and chat with her today. She did share some funny stories, however, about making a huge outdoor trampoline that did not jive with her design aesthetic mysteriously disappear while her boys went to school, and I especially liked how she admitted to offering one of her reluctant sons money to participate in a magazine photo shoot since this is a trick I have been known to use around December 1st for holiday photos.


While my friends and I were waiting to meet with Kathryn, I had the opportunity to say hello to one of my favorite designer-bloggers, Erin Gates from Elements of Style. She was hard to miss as she is model gorgeous and was dressed very stylishly even for the Design Center (sorry, I wasn’t ready with my camera this time, and besides she probably thinks I am stalking her!) Be sure to visit her blog to read her take on today’s lecture since she mentioned that she would be posting about it, too. She has a refreshing take on this business of design that I find laugh-out-loud entertaining. She is also great at spotting design trends, and I predict she will soon be setting them, too.

Below are a couple of pictures of other designers who have inspired me lately ...


Nancy Faye Glass of Glass House Design and Linda Hentschel of Renaissance Interiors who I met through our design collaboration at The Stevens Estate in North Andover. (I had them pose today in front of the New England Design Hall of Fame Allee of Trees – just for luck). They have both been very generous in sharing their design stories and advice with me (plus we have a great time going to events like this together).

Check back tomorrow for my post on last week’s lecture at the BDC presented by Barclay Butera ...

“Barclay and I” at the Kravet showroom
or “I love this job!”

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