Kips Bay Decorator Show House 2010

Photo courtesy The Washington Post

A lot of drama was associated with this year's 38th Annual Kip's Bay Decorator Show House, a fundraiser for the Kips Bay Boys & Girl's Club. The first property chosen to host the showhouse was sold and the new buyer wasn't interested in letting a bunch of decorators have at it in his multi-million dollar abode. Can't blame him. The annual event, which is usually open for one week in April, eventually found a new host home – a six-storey, 25-foot wide mansion, which is listed for a cool $28.8 mill. Ouch! Taxes alone are $100,000 a year!

The recently rehabbed 1876 limestone townhouse, located at 106 East 71st Street was the blank canvas for 18 hand-picked design firms (in addition to artists, photographers and landscape designers), which outfitted 17 spaces in the 10,000 square foot house overlooking Park Avenue. The show house will be open through November 11th, so any New Yorkers (or visitors to New York) still interested in going should check it out this week!

We went a few weeks ago. Overall, I thought everyone did a great job – it's always fun to see what designers do with spaces when there is no client and they have the opportunity to realize their vision without any restraints. I always think some of the rooms could be pushed a little further, though. A few designers go all out and make a splash, while the majority create nice, reasonable rooms in which most people could imagine themselves living. Let's take a little stroll through my favorites! (Unfortunately, photographs are not allowed – and I wasn't invited to attend the pre-opening as a member of the press. Humf! – so I've selected images from other publications.)

While every room is vastly different, common threads always pop up. This year's designers really thought about all surfaces – ceilings included. Almost every room had a ceiling treatment of some sort, whether it was a shimmery gold or silver leaf, lacquered or hand-painted. There was also a good showing of hand-blown glass pieces and lots of contemporary artwork.

I'm often drawn to some of the smaller spaces because they tend to feel the most finished and precisely styled. These little gems are usually tucked away in basements, side rooms, or in odd little hallway nooks, but the designers transformed many of them into showstoppers. Case in point:

Katie Ridder's entry foyer (above) welcomes visitors with in with boldly painted coral doors and mouldings and walls covered in her own Pagoda wallpaper (available through Holland and Sherry). Talk about doing a lot with a little; she really makes this little area sing! I wish more rooms in the house had such pizazz. (Photo courtesy NY Times)

Brett Design created a fun little office on the ground floor, using their own wallpaper and acrylic Niedermaier furniture, although the choice of brown carpet was a little odd. I like that they didn't shy away from putting art on those already busy walls. A repeating pattern tends to recede and often makes a great background on which to layer imagery without becoming too busy.

Photo courtesy Brett Design

Aman & Carson designed one of those rooms that gets better and better, the longer you explore it. It was a fairly small space, envisioned as an art collector's room, that was packed with details and special moments. Note the glossy ceiling paint and bookcases with mirrored backs to enlarge the room, and, of course, a variety of art to enjoy.


Photos by Laurel Petriello for Daily Fix

Rod Winterrowd drew the first and second floor stairwells and landings, which he transformed expertly. The stairwells on the upper levels of the house were completely overlooked and bland. Mr. Winterrowd's were warm and inviting, with well-curated collections of art and photography on the walls, mouldings and managed to carve out interesting beautiful niches in the hallways:

Photo courtesy Heather Clawson

In the tub, Coffinier Ku Design hung a glass installation by Suzan Etkin Enterprises & Zoli Change, and Glenn Palmer Smith created a cloudy-bubbly mural on the ceiling:


Photos courtesy Daily Fix (top) and NY Times

Nancy Boszhardt Inc. created a real gem with her small-ish sitting room, made more luxurious by drapery at the door:



Robert Verdi and Deirdra D'Elia created the coziest little nook out of a fourth floor landing featuring hand-blown glass sconces by Lindsey Adelman, a gorgeous cane-patterned rug, black lacquered ceiling with sunburst light fixture, and textured black walls with tacks. Note the use of contemporary art, as well. And the peacock toss pillows on the blue velvet sofa.

Photo courtesy NY Times

Of course, the highly sought-after larger rooms are worth mentioning:
No stranger to luxury, Noel Jeffrey created a warm and inviting bedroom with an array of subdued textures and patterns to feast our eye upon, but I'm always disappointed when rooms are roped off so visitors can't walk through and look closely at things.

Photo courtesy Daily Fix

I did appreciate the use of drapery throughout, which softened the corners of the room, making it feel a little more enclosed – a risk in a New York home, where every square inch counts. I think it was a successful element, and the softness of the sheer curtains played off the drape-y lightness of the chandelier above. Again, all this softness was offset by dramatic artwork.

Sherril Canet's fifth floor sitting room is nothing short of awesome. The photo really doesn't do it justice. There are so many subtle details worth looking at.

Photo courtesy Daily Fix


We spent a good ten minutes in there, discovering different elements that made the room really stand out. First off, I love the use of blue paint with stripes created by applying a clear gloss over the underpainting. I am completely stealing that idea in our next place. The Missoni-esque rug is a great contrast in scale, and the zig zag is enlarged as trim on the roman shades. I don't love the art over the sofa, but generally, the room has so many great accessories and pieces of art.

I'll conclude this little tour with Nina Helms', Sculpt Du Fleur, a plaster sculpture applied to the curved wall leading into Darren Henault's his-and-her dressing rooms:

Photo courtesy NY Times

Rising star/tastemaker Nick Olsen recently went on record to predict that raw plaster is a trend on the upswing. I think he's onto something; there was no shortage of plaster art in the show house this year, from wall applications to busts to figurines.