Those with a love of thoughtful – and daring – décor know to keep the Kips Bay Decorator Show House in mind.
Each year, a select group of interior designers transforms a luxury Manhattan property into an elegant exhibition spotlighting fine furnishings, art and technology.
And this year’s edition – the 46th – is another showstopping journey into the heady world of interior design, from unexpected luxurious touches (think a fur-edged lampshade) to breathtakingly bold moves filling seven floors of a Lenox Hill townhouse.
WAG was invited to take a pre-opening tour April 27 and came away – as we have every year we’ve toured the event – dazzled.
We were again impressed with the confident twists on tradition from veteran designers such as Juan Montoya, Barbara Ostrom, Bunny Williams and Alexa Hampton for Mark Hampton. We delighted in the enthusiasm and creativity from first-time participants, including Sasha Bikoff, who turned the staircase into a tour-de-force of color and pattern; Wesley Moon, who took the workmanlike wet bar, butler’s pantry and elevator landing to another plane, an oasis of clever design; and B.A. Torrey’s decadently lush room called “The Afterparty.”
And, of course, we delighted in meeting Marcia Tucker ,whose Greenwich-based Marcia Tucker Interiors created a sophisticated dressing room and master bathroom.
Touring a show house such as this can lead to sensory overload – which was what made Charles Pavarini III Design Associates Inc.’s penthouse space even more inviting.
The veteran New York-based designer’s Home Wellness Retreat is a study in subtle hues, spa amenities and a sense of calm.
“This is our wellness retreat for mind, body and spirit,” he said.
And it truly was.
The 46th annual Kips Bay Decorator Show House is open May 1 through 31 at 110 E. 76th St. in Manhattan. Special events include chef demonstrations and book signings with Lidia Bastianich (May 9), Seth Raphaeli (May 13) and David Burke (May 16). There will also be a May 17 design conversation and book signing with Alessandra Branca, Jamie Drake, Alexa Hampton and Juan Montoya; and on May 22, a “Fresh Faces & Young Patrons Committee” cocktail party featuring first-time participating designers Sasha Bikoff, Dan Fink, Wesley Moon and B.A. Torrey.
The Kips Bay Decorator Show House & Shop is at 110 E. 76th St. in Manhattan. Admission is $40. (Children over 6 accompanied by parent or guardian are admitted free on Family Saturdays). All proceeds from Kips Bay Decorator Show House benefit the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club.
For more, visit kipsbaydecoratorshowhouse.org.
– Mary Shustack
