After the unfortunate misfire the first time round, I wasn’t completely sure that I wanted to participate in the Kips Bay showhouse again. However, that all changed when I was shown the townhouse at 106 East 71st Street in Manhattan where it will be held from October 14th.
I was blown away by the living room. The beautiful paneled room speaks of an elegance and a formality from another era. And I felt that it would be a great way to show our work in what is a very traditional, dark room. My aim is to bring a sense of freshness, humor and lightness to it. The size of the room is approximately 29′ x 21′, a size which could intimidate some because of the overwhelming quantity of wood in it, but thinking of ying and yang, dark and light, formal and casual, I think that I could make this work. It was designed by the time I got back to the office after seeing it.
To me it was a very obvious plan, but it’s all going to be very white. I got a beautiful rug from Doris Leslie Blau and I want it to have formal elements, but with lots of very mid-century elements in it. As soon as I’m allowed, I’ll post pictures of the room empty so you can see the before and afters.
Here’s the official statement from Kips Bay:
The 38th Annual Kips Bay Decorator Show House is coming to the Upper East Side this fall with a magnificent and newly-renovated limestone mansion at 106 East 71st Street selected as the venue. Next week, top designers, including Vicente Wolf, Jennifer Post, Robert Couturier, Katie Ridder and Noel Jeffrey, will begin a seven-week renovation in which they will re-imagine each of the 17 rooms in the six-story, 10,000-square-foot townhouse to showcase the best in interior design talent and trends. With six bedrooms, seven baths, five fireplaces and a terrace that overlooks Park Avenue, the show house — the most high-profile renovation project in America — will delight design enthusiasts and anyone looking for inspiration in decorating their own living spaces. The show house will be open to the public from Thursday, October 14 to Thursday, November 11.
#1 by Heather on August 21, 2010 - 3:01 pm
I look forward to seeing the results of your vision.
#2 by melissa on August 21, 2010 - 3:53 pm
wow, imagine living in a home like that???
I wonder what the history of the house is???
one would never have to leave the city, for a country home!!!
love to see the room on the blog when you are in the process of your vision..
xxoo
melissa
#3 by Teresa Hatfield on August 21, 2010 - 7:53 pm
Can’t eait to see this home when all is completed.
Keep us posted!
Teresa (Splendid Sass)
#4 by Ann @ Rose et Lis on August 22, 2010 - 1:16 am
Looking forward to Round 2. Will you be challenged by the amount of time or is this fairly normal?
Can you tell me a bit about the photo you have posted? I am especially intrigued by the large wall’s images; they have a gobo feel.
Thanks,
-Ann
#5 by ashlina on August 22, 2010 - 3:43 am
WOW i would absolutely die to see that in person. I am sure you will ROCK it! xoxo
#6 by Lindajane on August 22, 2010 - 1:49 pm
Glad you’re going to be involved in the Kips Bay Show House. I’ve gone for several years and enjoy seeing the work in magazines and now on the Kips Bay website they have, so it’s helpful to the public to see innovation in design and train our eye in what’s beautiful and stylish. I use images from the website for continuing education interior design classes I team teach with a designer to show what’s new in design–by the way we feature you and your books as a “designer of the week” in our design classes and review some of the principles you teach. We’re all envious that you can hop a plane when you want inspiration to go somewhere exotic and are inspired by the color of a piece of paper on the street–I joked to the class that yeah, I was inspired by a McDonald’s wrapper on the street in Danbury, CT. But we like thinking that you can do that. The class, composed primarily of 30-50 something home owners, likes your rooms, advice on design and life story. After looking at your rooms, I always feel like my eyeballs got a massage–the texture is so soothing for the eyes…probably never had anyone tell you that before and I probably shouldn’t have…
#7 by Angie on August 24, 2010 - 1:26 pm
I live for the Kips Bay event! So glad you are participating, despite Round One’s mishap. I’m terribly curious, as a designer who is trying to get her foot in the door, how does one become involved in Kips Bay? And, more importantly, who pays for the items/materials used in your room? They are always so grand and gorgeous, but I can’t imagine the designers paying out of pocket for such a temporary fixture.
#8 by Vicente on August 25, 2010 - 2:21 pm
I think that when you become the client, your thinking process is really fast. I don’t think that it took me more than a few days to design the whole thing – utilizing a lot of the items from VW Home and my own apartment. The paneling set the mood and suppliers like Jim Thompson has been very generous in providing me with furniture, materials and lighting fixtures. It’s been very easy – I saw the room finished when I entered the space empty.
Now let’s hope that my vision was correct!
The image I used shows a full wall moving projection we installed for a previous show house.