Kips Bay Show House

The most anticipated event each spring in New York is the Kips Bay Decorator Show House, a launching pad for new designers participating and a creative canvas for well known designers. This is my first time attending and I've decided to do so by volunteering, telling each guest who enters a bit about the rooms. The list of designers participating this year have just been released and it’s an exciting group and I'm eager to see their work! I’m most looking forward to seeing what Susan Ferrier has done with her room. Working alongside Bobby McAlpine, she brings added sophistication and drama to the pairs designs and I'm excited to see that in person. I also enjoy seeing what the up and coming new designers put together. Definitely mark your calendars and make your travel plans for May!

Kips Bay Decorator Show House

125 East 65th Street

New York, NY 10065

May 1st to June 2nd Admission $40

This year’s list of designers includes:

Robert A.M. Stern Architects

Robert Stilin

Dineen Architecture & Design

Powell & Bonnell

Lichten Craig Architecture + Interiors

Richard Mishaan

Susan Ferrier of McAlpine

Neal Beckstedt

Ken Fulk

Kate Singer Home

Bakes and Kropp

Nick Olsen

Janice Parker Landscape Architects

Kirsten Kelli

Billy Cotton

This by far is my favorite room. I was fortunate enough to be a docent on the fourth floor where this wonderful room, designed by Billy Cotton, is located. Billy Cotton created a fictional story to aid him in designing this room. As the story goes, an aging, ill stricken socialite becomes a recluse and decides to live out her last years in her Manhattan apartment. As a kind gesture, her friend decides to decorate her apartment to bring comfort to her. The rotary phone on top of stacked books, a partially written letter on the writing desk and a record player sitting nearby on the floor are all details that make this space feel personal and intimate. There's even a used sponge attached to the bathroom wall by a silver chain for baths, as well as faux prescription pills laying around in random areas, all to bring the story to life. I personally love the play of patterns in the wallpaper, drapery and carpet.

Robert A.M. Stern Architects are well known for their classic approach to architecture, but the firm also has a lesser-known interior design arm. Two framed Andy Warhol wall coverings in yellow and hot pink, not pictured, served as a jumping-off point for this living area, where contemporary art and cheerful colors play off of the room’s original wood paneling.

The kitchen room and sitting area go together, but were designed by separate firms. The sitting area is the work of Kate Singer Home. The kitchen was designed by Bakes and Kropp.

An entry foyer was elevated into a seating nook by Powell & Bonnell. A painting by Thrush Holmes lights up the dark corner.

Inspired by the great French salons of the 30s and 40s, Nick Olsen created an informed and merry melange of styles and eras. Channeling the sophisticated global mix in Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé’s Paris apartment, there are references to Jean-Michel Frank for Nelson Rockefeller (the birch marquetry walls),

An eclectic sitting room by Kirsten Kelli aims to maximize the home’s natural light. The firm painted the townhouse’s dark original mantling white, whitewashed the fireplace surround (pictured above), and brought a cyan blue to the ceiling beams in attempt to enliven the stuffy space. A painting of a diamond by artist Kurt Pio stands in for a mirror

Ken Fulk’s whimsical dining room was inspired by the factitious story of an eccentric Upper East Side socialite who keeps a secret menagerie in her backyard. The story comes to life through its hand-painted wall coverings, a collaboration with lauded British firm de Gournay, and its resplendent furnishings and Hermès dinnerware.

(All photos taken by me)