THIS YEAR’S KIPS BAY DECORATOR SHOW HOUSE PALM BEACH EXPLORES THE SECRETS OF THE SEA AND VOYAGES DEEP INTO THE JUNGLE.
Reimagining a 1920s Mediterranean Revival estate where 24 designers each lay claim to a different space is no easy task. But the Kips Bay Decorator Show House Palm Beach managed to once again transform a historic home into a modern-day fantasy, leaving no ceiling unturned and a cohesion of creativity that bewitched the residence, gardens, pool and guesthouse. Benefiting the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County, the showhouse presented a menagerie of flora, fauna and marine life to delight the senses and spark curiosity. Here’s an enchanting peek inside one of the design industry’s most anticipated events and the creatives who brought it to life.
AMANDA REYNAL INTERIORS
BEDROOM TERRACE/“BREEZY BREAKFAST HIDEAWAY”
A vignette on Amanda Reynal’s terrace feels like it could be tucked indoors, but the latticework reminds guests they’re on a breezy Palm Beach veranda.
Walking out onto Florida- and Iowa-based designer Amanda Reynal’s citrus yellow, palm green and pale pink terrace just off a bedroom on the second floor is like walking back in time to old Palm Beach. Through come-hither custom armless sofas in a Schumacher floral, pastel pillows, a cotton candy-colored cocktail table from Oomph, a shell-encrusted chandelier and an oversize woven rug, this space was transformed into a tropical outdoor haven with all the comforts of the indoors. Lemon-hued draperies and a light green awning cocoon the terrace and protect from the elements. With all the layers of color and texture set against the lush green backdrop of the tropical landscape, it begs you to slow down and linger here with a refreshing glass of lemonade. Spirit optional.
PEARL DESIGN INTERIORS
PATIO/“AFICIONADO’S DREAM”
Pearl Design Interiors created a fireside seating area that invites cocktails and conversation, with a sophisticated palette and punch of pink.
A perfect Palm Beach perch for dining, cocktails, conversation and cigars starts with an outdoor fireplace and barbecue that can be enjoyed all year long. Designers Alecia Johnson and Charles Johnson of Pearl Design Interiors in Houston freshened this one with Benjamin Moore’s Alabaster and Soot paints, and then followed suit with a monochromatic black-and-white color scheme that wouldn’t compete with the surrounding landscape. Pink flamingo napkin rings from Pioneer Linens and accent pillow fabric from Stroheim add pinches of Palm Beach flair along with fringe detailing that give wicker barrel chairs a fashionable boost.
TISH MILLS INTERIORS
GUEST BEDROOM-OFFICE/“THE PERFECT HOME OFFICE HIDEAWAY”
Tish Mills turned the guest cottage bedroom into an office that can read beachy or chic at one glance.
Much like most interiors she designs, the guest cottage bedroom-turned-office by Atlanta designer Tish Mills acts as a calm oasis—a breath of fresh air that allows you to exhale. That state of relaxation begins with the palette of whites, beiges, blues and lavender, inspired by Palm Beach surf, sand and sunsets. Phillip Jeffries’ textural Ripples wallpaper recalls wave-washed shorelines. A quartz fireplace surround replaced the previously existing mirrored closet. And a mix of playful art from Holden Luntz Gallery, leafy lighting from Currey & Company, a settee wearing Perennials’ sunny acrylic velvet and a vintage Jacques Garcia writing desk for Baker create a space that is as beachy as it is metropolitan and glam.
PHILIP GORRIVAN INTERIORS
SITTING ROOM AND PATIO /“SALA EXOTICO”
Philip Gorrivan gave the fifth wall extra-special treatment with a three-dimensional installation on the ceiling
New York designer Philip Gorrivan’s “Sala Exotico” sitting room is another space that makes it tough to choose a favorite moment. Between Fromental’s botanical Bruyère wallpaper, the tobacco-colored, three-dimensional Italian modernist ceiling installation, the tiger-print poufs, Erik Lindstrom’s berries-and-cream-hued rug, lighting from Saint-Louis, Rose Cummings’ woven silk on the sofa and Italian tables from Gary Rubinstein Antiques, there’s something to delight the eye wherever you turn. Outside on the terrace, through Roman shades by The Shade Store and drapery in Classic Cloth’s Simplicity in Meringue, the piece de resistance moment awaits: a surface painting by artist David Paul Kay and a sculptural table by James de Wulf.
THE LEWIS DESIGN GROUP
CLOSET/“THE CLOSET REIMAGINED”
Barbara Lewis, who also has studios in New York and Connecticut, transformed the dressing room.
Juno Beach’s Barbara Lewis wasn’t about to let clothing get in the way of her design of the closet. With a refreshing take on the wardrobe and dressing room, she treated the space as she would any other interior and created a place where you’d want to linger: wrapped in a handpainted periwinkle-palm tree wallpaper by Aqualille. Featuring Lucite shelving that displays fashion accessories like art. With windows dressed in Schumacher fabric thanks to The Shade Store. Lit with plaster pendants by AERIN for Visual Comfort from Circa Lighting. And outfitted with a curated mix of one-of-a-kind antiques, upholstered furnishings and several spots to conduct everyday activities from morning rituals to makeup sessions to Zoom calls and Champagne-filled dress fittings. Where are the clothes, one might ask? Behind custom-mirrored doors to keep this sartorial sanctuary feeling more like an enchanted garden.
PALOMA CONTRERAS INTERIOR DESIGN
SUNROOM/“GREEN GARDENS”
Boxed latticework gives Paloma Contreras’ sunroom a modern makeover
Houston-based Paloma Contreras palomacontreras.com ensured a modernized trellis defines the garden-themed sunroom, which brings the outdoors in through green linen on a Billy Baldwin sofa, a lacquered coffee table from KRB, Samuel & Sons drapery trim and Schumacher’s Dogwood Leaf fabric on the seating. Natural instincts kick in with an abaca rug from Patterson Flynn and rattan furnishings (some vintage, some new by Soane Britain). Overhead, a pendant from Contreras’ new collection for Visual Comfort ups the glam factor. And a console that doubles as a bar joins a backgammon table from Oomph to ensure the room can easily go from daytime leisure to evening aperitif. It’s quintessential Palm Beach, with a twist.
DAMOUR DRAKE
CHILDREN’S ROOM/“TODDLER’S HAVEN”
Robert Bell’s gardens feature a pavilion created using robot-controlled milling machines from Fuller
When designing a room for children, creativity knows no bounds. That’s why Maryline Damour and Mel Jones Jr. of Hudson Valley design firm Damour Drake turned to soft sculpture and fiber artist Sienna Martz to tuft a dreamy cloud installation for their “Toddler’s Haven” bedroom. They’re brought to life with custom furnishings by Jones Jr. and New York Hardwoods along with scalloped window treatments designed by Helen Prior that were fabricated by The Shade Store. The room’s palette takes its cues from the blue sky and verdant palms outside, and the imaginative theme celebrates all of the babies who have been born since the onset of the pandemic.
NIKKI LEVY INTERIORS
PRIMARY BATH/“PETAL TO THE METAL” & SMALL BATH/ “HAPPY YOU’RE A-ROUND”
Nikki Levy brought out the florals for the spalike primary bath
Dorothy Draper, Elsie de Wolfe and Billy Baldwin were the muses for Boca Raton-based designer Nikki Levy’s luxurious primary bath, clad in Artistic Tile’s Penny Lane marble mosaic and glossy Inverso tiles with concave dimension. Unexpected textures come from the Primestones marble countertop, Phillip Jeffries’ marquetrylike wallcovering and golden Kohler fixtures. Then, embellishing the room like little jewels, brass magnolia blossom sconces by Currey & Company complete the spalike feel. Levy also brought her keen eye to the upstairs hallway bathroom, where she played with forms using Artistic Tile’s Moon Cosmati marble tile, Phillip Jeffries’ Collage wallpaper and a scalloped vanity fabricated by Galaxy Marble using a Silestone countertop.
BELL DESIGN
GARDENS/“DARWIN’S DECO”
Damour Drake’s children’s room has its head in the clouds.
The 1920s theater set designs of Joseph Urban. The scenic Zuber wallpapers that Jacqueline Kennedy had installed in the White House. Palm Beach artist Orville Bulman’s mid-20th century oil paintings depicting animals, people and fantastical Haitian-inspired jungles. They all inspired landscape architect Robert Bell, of Palm Beach, Southampton and Washington, D.C., to infuse a contemporary deco-eclectic style into the home’s gardens and outdoor entertaining spaces. From the entry gate’s Gilded Age terra-cotta urns and African Iroko wood planters from Devonshire to the custom-designed Chippendale-style pavilion, to jungle creature topiaries and furniture from Brown Jordan and McKinnon and Harris, the series of gardens pulls guests into a land of enchantment. Frosty silver saw palmetto, black coral snake plants, flowering orchids, Chinese fan palms and elephant ears create a lush, jungly atmosphere. A kinetic sculpture by the late Lin Emery from the collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody and a lifesize backgammon court embedded in the lawn interject movement and play into the design.
CRAIG & COMPANY
ENTRY HALL & STAIRWAY/“THE OCTOPUS’S GARDEN”
Joan Craig infused the entry with a console dressed in sequined embroidery depicting the ocean floor by Cyrielle Leclère and P L Studio.
Imagine an octopus’ den deep below the surface of the sea, glistening with found treasures and iridescent seashells. At once a celebration of coastal Palm Beach living, reverence for marine conservation and a hint of escapism (just like Ringo Starr’s famous eponymous tune), “The Octopus’s Garden” by New York- and Chicago-based designer Joan Craig nods to the curious wonders of the ocean and offers the perfect entrez-vous into this year’s showhouse reverie. An Eve Kaplan gilt chandelier and Marc Bankowsky’s pendants and sconces illuminate an ombre turquoise carpet from New Moon and an underwater muralesque wallcovering by artists Maria Apelo Cruz and Mike Jovanovic of MJ Atelier. Antiqued églomisé mirrors also by MJ Atelier further the aquatic theme.
JIM DOVE DESIGN
COCKTAIL BAR/“MONKEY BAR”
Jim Dove gleaned inspiration from The Monkey Bar at Hotel Elysée in New York City
Handpainted murals of monkeys created by caricaturist Charlie Wala—and later, by artist Diane Voyentzie—adorned the walls of The Monkey Bar at Hotel Elysée in New York City from the 1950s until it closed (temporarily, it’s rumored) due to the pandemic, defining swank and sophistication until the last second. Kitchen, bar and bath designer Jim Dove, based in Palm Beach, conjured this nostalgic hot spot when designing his color-saturated cocktail bar, wrapping the space in terra-cotta and blue handpainted wallpaper, Deco Monkeys by de Gournay. A waterfall bar crafted from Cristallo Sunshine quartzite from Primestones, fabricated by Granite & Marble Factory, anchors the space along with an art deco chandelier from Currey & Company, a deer-print rug underfoot and orange silk taffeta curtains fabricated by The Shade Store and trimmed with Samuel & Sons tape. All perfectly poised for a predinner cocktail or nightcap.
CATHERINE M. AUSTIN INTERIOR DESIGN
GUESTHOUSE DINING ROOM & KITCHEN/“THE JEWEL OF THE JUNGLE”
Catherine M. Austin incorporated Martinique Celebration! wallpaper by Voutsa and CW Stockwell into her stairwell and living room.
If Marrakech, Costa Rica, the Cote d’Azur and Palm Beach melded together to become one destination, it would be the guesthouse entry, dining room and kitchen created by Charlotte-based designer Catherine M. Austin. Textile studio Voutsa collaborated with heritage brand CW Stockwell to reimagine the famed Martinique banana leaf wallpaper and create an Henri Matisse-inspired version called Martinique Celebration! Austin used it generously to climb the stairwell and envelop the dining room, where yellow Schumacher window treatments and a Murano-like chandelier lend a sunny disposition to the colorful casita, and a hanging Mario Lopez Torres cockatoo adds a dose of Palm Beach panache. The galley kitchen was given a like-minded makeover with lacquered lime green cabinetry and a range hood boasting brass details. The walls here feature a pattern by Thibault. But first, guests wander through a garden that leads up to the guesthouse’s front door, transporting them to Villa Oasis, the Moroccan home of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé. What better way to make an entrance?
TIFFANY BROOKS INTERIORS
GUEST BEDROOM/“BLOOM LOUNGE”
Tiffany Brooks created the ultimate creative daydreamer’s escape
Wanting to create a space that would serve as a muse for an artist or a writer, Chicago designer Tiffany Brooks had a daybed covered in minty Fabricut leather suspended from the ceiling and custom canopy via brass chains to encourage daydreaming. Meanwhile, in one sun-drenched corner sits a multitiered bamboo and rattan wing chair from Made Goods that offers a cozy spot for repose. Her color palette of kiwi and sky blue, embodied in the flower and pagoda wallcovering by Thibaut, conjures the nostalgic essence and landscape of Palm Beach.
PETER PENNOYER ARCHITECTS
LIVING ROOM/“DRAWING ROOM”
Alice Engel and Peter Pennoyer’s Drawing Room is ready to entertain at a moment’s notice.
If one were to invite Henry Flagler or John James Audubon over for an evening cocktail, they might raise a glass in a space just like this. The Drawing Room’s cheery, citrus disposition begins with a tangerine Phillip Jeffries grasscloth whimsically embellished with lemon trees at the hands of artist Hayden Gregg, alongside window treatments from The Shade Store. Alice Engel and Peter Pennoyer, based in Miami and New York, imbued the parlor with a mix of custom furnishings and antiques that recall old Florida, and a custom bar cart by Soane Britain.
ROBERT BROWN INTERIOR DESIGN
SALON/“PETIT SALON”
Robert Brown dreamed up an organic, surrealist and abstract take on modernism in the Petit Salon PHOTOGRAPHED BY NICKOLAS SARGENT/SARGENT PHOTOGRAPHY
Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand, Jean Arp, Jean Prouvé and others who blazed trails with their organic, surrealist and abstract takes on modernism: Atlanta-based designer Robert Brown set out to honor them all when he approached the “Petit Salon” near the entry of the showhouse. And so, his first move was to wrap the room in an avant-garde mural by French artist Garance Vallée for Elitis’ artisan wallpaper brand Asteré that does just that. Rust, coffee and navy hues travel through the room via throw pillows from Nobilis and Dedar and textiles from Perennials. The name of Vallée’s mural is L’ivresse, which roughly translates to Intoxication. It’s fitting, since relaxed repartee and revelry are de rigueur in this space.
ASHLEY GILBREATH INTERIOR DESIGN
PRIMARY BEDROOM/“TENTED RETREAT”
Ashley Gilbreath tented the primary bedroom in cognac and cream. PHOTOGRAPHED BY NICKOLAS SARGENT/SARGENT PHOTOGRAPHY
Nautical touches envelop the primary bedroom, with cognac and cream tenting from Schumacher and draperies courtesy of The Shade Store, a navy striped rug from Arsin Rug Gallery and mahogany antiques from Holland MacRae. Silk lampshades, rouching on the bed, a floral pillow and monogrammed linens soften the tailored aesthetic. Drawing inspiration from the tented rooms of Veere Grenney, Ashley Gilbreath—based in Montgomery, Ala., and Rosemary Beach, Fla.—designed a cozy, laid-back yet sophisticated retreat that promotes rest and relaxation.
BAKES & KROPP
KITCHEN/“CLASSIC MERIDIAN KITCHEN WITH A TWIST”
Bakes & Kropp gave its classic kitchen a modern lean with a contrasting palette and brass touches PHOTOGRAPHED BY NICKOLAS SARGENT/SARGENT PHOTOGRAPHY
When Bob Bakes, of fine cabinetry-maker Bakes & Kropp, approached the design of the kitchen, there were a few goals at top of mind: marrying form and function, incorporating fine finishes and polished metals, and maximizing the cubist configuration of the ceiling. With the help of Matt Lewis of Loxahatchee, Fla.-based Salt Country Construction, the end result hit all of these points. The transitional Mediterranean aesthetic features classic, handcrafted cabinetry—including custom panels concealing a JennAir refrigerator, satin brass hardware and a coffee station and floating range hood that embrace the varying ceiling heights. Following Bakes & Kropp’s mantra that every element should have a friend to talk to (fitting for the heart of the home where everyone gathers), its luxury finishes Cinder Walnut 9213 and Black Matte Paint 9017 travel throughout, contrasting Silestone’s white stone countertops by Cosentino. The showhouse gave attendees a sneak peek of the possibilities, as the Michigan-based company is set to open a new showroom in West Palm Beach later this year.
ANDREA SCHUMACHER INTERIORS
FIRST-FLOOR POWDER ROOM/“FLUTTER”
Andrea Monath Schumacher designed the powder room to be a blue-and-white jewel box.
Denver- and Santa Barbara-based designer Andrea Monath Schumacher’s patterned powder room stays true to her signature material mix, bringing the outdoors in by way of art, whimsical textiles and a fluted, wavelike Brazilian quartzite vanity top from Artistic Tile. The coastal Palm Beach-inspired palette melds with vintage finds and touches of Moroccan flair. Wallcoverings and fabric from the designer’s collection, Liesl (inspired by her grandmother’s original artwork), wash the jewel-box interior in blue and white along with Benjamin Moore-painted trim and mosaic flooring also from Artistic Tile. They all make way for the room’s muses: butterflies in flight by Paul Villinski and an oil painting of a native Florida bird from AXIOM Fine Art Consulting.
NOZ DESIGN
UPSTAIRS SITTING ROOM/“NO BAD MONDAYS”
Noz Nozawa’s sitting room offers a cheery space for morning rituals
San Francisco-based designer Noz Nozawa’s upstairs sitting room just off the primary bedroom is affectionately called “No Bad Mondays,” and with good reason. The moment you step foot inside the space, its cheeriness washes over you. It’s hard to know where to look first. Is it the graffiti-esque wallcovering from Porter Teleo? Sasha Bikoff’s Uptown Toile for Vervain in lavender-pink and tomato red? The Stroheim red fringe on the sofa? The intensely patterned area rug from Arsin Rug Gallery? The answer just might be the artwork: a commissioned work titled “New York Love” by NYC artist James Sexer Rodriguez, an alumnus of the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club. Dedicated to morning rituals that help manifest one’s mental and emotional well-being—a daily essential especially since the start of the pandemic and work-from-home culture—the room promises to start your day on the right foot.
SARAH BARTHOLOMEW DESIGN
GUEST BEDROOM/“BRIGHTON BOUDOIR”
Sarah Bartholomew’s guest bedroom transports the imaginary homeowner to Tangier.
Nashville designer Sarah Bartholomew also tented a bedroom, this time in a Guy Goodfellow Collection striped fabric for a fictitious eccentric Englishman’s home in Tangier. “Brighton Boudoir” is part exotic English garden and part nod to King George IV’s British palace, Brighton Pavilion, which marries Indian, European, Moorish and Chinese architectural styles. A worldly mix of textiles, a painted canopy bed and vintage finds create the layered and storied scene Bartholomew envisioned for her dapper protagonist.
BETH DIANA SMITH INTERIOR DESIGN
DINING ROOM /“WONDERLAND DINING ROOM”
Beth Diana Smith’s Wonderland Dining Room is a feast for the eyes
Layered with color, pattern and texture, the “Wonderland Dining Room” by New Jersey-based Beth Diana Smith is chock full of fanciful finds. But if you were attending a dinner party here, it would take you a while to discover them because your eyes would be affixed to the ceiling through the entire first course. Coffered in teal trim and garnished with a jungle-esque wallcovering from The Vale London through Fabricut, this fifth wall serves to introduce color and life into the space. Maya Romanoff’s handmade lokta paper wallcovering would catch your attention next as your eyes made their way to the monkey table by Currey & Company and two sculptures towering at 7 feet tall that Los Angeles-based floral artist Tyson Lee cloaked in dried hydrangeas, ferns and fan palms. And they haven’t even served dessert yet.
JANIE MOLSTER DESIGNS
POOL/“IN THE PINK: A POOLSIDE PARADISE”
Janie Molster created several conversation areas for her pink poolside paradise.
When Virginia-based designer Janie Molster devised a plan for the pool, she wore rose, nay, rosé-colored glasses and created multiple pink vignettes that invite conversation and cosmopolitans. Lush plantings (in collaboration with Robert Bell) line one side of the pool along with pale pink benches and whimsical umbrellas showing off handblocked Indian fabric. A pergola backed by a pink-and-white cabana stripe houses a living wall installation, pink and white chinoiserie-style vases and ginger jars, upholstered poufs, a Sutherland sofa and a John Dickinson coffee table in white plaster. On the other end of the pool sits an entertaining pavilion with boldly patterned swivel chairs and floral fabric-skirted countertops. As Molster describes it, think C.Z. Guest meets Lilly Pulitzer with a good dose of Miami’s South Beach edge.
JOY STREET DESIGN
GUESTHOUSE BEDROOM/“IN REAL LIFE”
Kelly Finley designed a bedroom and bathroom that bridge the gap between the places we inhabit physically and the places we inhabit virtually. A custom bed by Le Jeune Miami supports the duo-chromatic berry color palette.
California- and Atlanta-based designer Kelly Finley of Joy Street Design has taken note of the NFT world—how it has democratized art and given a platform to previously underrepresented artists. That equitable and diverse shift coupled with our dependence on technology and new stay-at-home culture inspired Finley to create a serene bedroom to which guests can retreat while still feeling connected to the outside world. Aptly named “In Real Life,” the guest suite mixes the metaverse with an ombre red-berry-plum-burgundy color palette rendered in cozy fabrics and a custom wallcovering on the ceiling from S. Harris, bed linens from Dea Palm Beach and a rug from New Moon. Fine art, digital art and an NFT piece decorate the walls courtesy Kianne Patrice, Kelly Marshall, Melanated Studios and Minted. A wallcovering from S. Harris’ Orejen collaboration with the Black Artists + Designers Guild clads the closet en route to the bathroom, starring Alison Rose’s Euclid mosaic for Artistic Tile.
GODDARD DESIGN GROUP
GUESTHOUSE LIVING ROOM/“SALON VINGT-TROIS”
Chris Goddard created a colorfully saturated, over-the-top living room in the guesthouse, inspired by a French salon.
If you walk into a room and there’s a three-dimensional ceiling lacquered in Yves Klein Blue-inspired Benjamin Moore paint, and handpainted violet Kravet linen held up by gilded hand hooks, and a chartreuse sofa trimmed with fringe, and an 18th century cabinet of curiosities… chances are that room was conceived by Arkansas-based designer Chris Goddard. (Most telling might be the beehive-esque light fixture by Sasha Bikoff for Currey & Company suspended in the middle of the space, since a bumble bee stars in Goddard’s own firm’s branding.) Known for designing spaces that tell a story, Goddard ensured this over-the-top, whimsical interior would be no exception. A curation of antiques, contemporary art and custom upholstery (including a Pierre Frey woven on the wing chairs) layers together texture and varying styles to make the room feel collected, as though it’s evolved over time. Inspired by a French salon, surely it would have had Gertrude Stein buzzing.
DESIGN MANAGEMENT COMPANY/LLOYD PRINCETON
PERENNIALS AND SUTHERLAND, LLC
Photography by: PHOTOGRAPHED BY NICKOLAS SARGENT/SARGENT PHOTOGRAPHY
