Designer Spotlight: Design Inspiration at the Kips Bay Decorator Show House
Where do interior designers get their inspiration for their designs? We posed that question to the interior designers who participated in the annual Kips Bay 2007 Decorator Show House here in New York and the answers ranged from the fun to the sublime.
The Kips Bay Boys and Girls Group is a charity organization that hosts a decorator show house every spring to fundraise for New York City's disadvantaged children. This year, the interior designers were invited to transform a six-story Beaux Arts mansion in New York's Upper East Side. Each designer was allotted a room to design any way they like.
If you have a client longing for fun and escape amidst the city chaos but no time for an actual holiday, David Barrett imagined an indoor veranda for them to relax in and enjoy a drink. His "Cocktails in a Townhouse Potting Shed" green room provides comfortable lounging areas amidst fountains, flowers, and topiaries. Barrett chose lively furniture such as the butterfly chair to accentuate the escape to a nature fantasy. A hidden speaker system mimicking nature's sounds of birds, rain, and other forest life add to the atmosphere.
If your fantasy leads you to imagine a more glamorous life in the city, then Rixner's urban apartment and the Gentleman's bathroom from Salvatore Inc. reflect the height of city sophistication. James Rixner imagined a globe-trotting young couple with varied interests in art and architecture who needed a living space to reflect their travels and tastes. A beautiful mahogany paneled wall unit houses their collection of sculpture and vases. Steps leading up a wall of windows frame an Asian bust. Up above a Swarovski crystal chandelier echo the original fixture from the Metropolitan Opera House.
Scott Salvatore was inspired by a type of elegant gentleman with needs for his own retreat amidst city life. His "Gentleman's Bathroom" showcases a massive bathtub made of Port Laurant marble positioned over a raised platform. Behind the bath, ceiling height windows overlook the city skyline. An extensive custom-made vanity from Sherle Wagner is created from tiger's eye, wenge wood, and burnt cowhide. Hidden in this vanity is every man's wish: a state-of-the-art audio and video system. For the more traditional gentleman, a silkscreen of movie star Sophia Loren, graces the wall.
Some designers draw their creative juices from historical periods. Victoria Imperioli reflected the Beaux Arts era in her "La Dolce Vita" salon. She envisioned what a typical well-to-do family of the turn of the 19th century would require of their social spaces. The lady's sitting room by Imperioli imagines an owner who is interested in the arts, music, and travel. A harp with musical score sits in the corner awaiting a player. Classically-inspired moldings, art and sculpture create an atmosphere of culture and refinement. Richly upholstered settees and chairs with fabrics by Dedar invite guests to relax and enjoy a cozy tete-a-tete.
Interior designer Amy Lau was inspired by the Bauhaus artist, Josef Albers and his paintings. Her "Rites of Spring" living room transformed the painting's colors of ocean blue-greens, and citron to a room evocative of driving down California's Monterey coast. The serpentine sofa by Milo Baughman traces the meandering drive. Splashed on the walls behind the sofa is a mural painting abstracting Albers' colors. A vine chandelier by Jeff Zimmerman with shoots of light globes hang above the room. Ceramic sculptures of petal clusters by Jennifer Prichard climb on the wall evoking the sea mollusk creatures of the ocean's depth.
Another designer, Jed Johnson, was inspired by an art collection of the 1960s. A cheeky wall graphic, "Forbidden Secrets" by McDermott and McGough, tops the American oak modernist bed. A Diane Arbus photograph grace the ebonized desk nearby. Warhol's prints and "Brillo Pad" table complete the eclectic bedroom.
Mariette Himes Gomez found her design muse in Hollywood star, Audrey Hepburn. Her "Intermission" secluded dining alcove displays gems of decoration. Bow shaped plaster sconces light up rose de roi wallpaper by Tyler Graphics. Louis XVI French doors with etched glass peek behind an elegantly appointed table. Adding a modern touch are the lacquer bookcases framing the dining alcove. A little modern and a touch old-fashioned, just like the star.
For the ultimate fun fantasy, Jamie Drake of Drake Design created a bedroom for the "ladies who lunch", the pampered set. This pink frothy fantasy room boasts velvet upholstered and studded bed, moire fabric walls, and fur rug. And no fantasy bedroom is complete without a fantasy dressing room. Custom made shelves for a collection of shoes, dresses and bags fulfill any storage demand.
All the interior designers agree: there's an endless source of ideas from the dreams and fantasies of everyday people whether from the present or the past. It just requires a little digging and great imagination.
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