Even designers get stuck.
While I often draw ideas from travel, art and nature, sometimes I get into a creative rut. This is true not only for designers, but for everyone. Living in your home day in and day out, it’s easy to feel uninspired by what’s around you. Even making small changes can feel daunting without a guide.
In these moments, I look to the Kips Bay Decorator Show House. Every year, designers and architects in three locations transform a home. Each room represents the point of a view of a different designer. This year, I’m drawing inspiration from the Kips Bay Decorator Show House in New York City.
Making an entrance
The foyer of the historical Upper West Side home was inspired by its first occupant, an early-1900s actress. The room sets the tone for the rest of the house with sculptural elements like a tree branch-inspired chandelier, black warped glass paneling and a large abstract art piece.
The foyer leads up a grand staircase, which features a hand-painted mural of a meadow surrounding a photograph of two boys standing in a field of flowers. Shades of hunter green, chartreuse and white in the custom rug beneath the mural play up the nature theme.
Wild and whimsical
Inspiration from the outdoors doesn’t stop there. The den – created by the same designer as the staircase described above – connects the earthy rug with the greens in Kravet-fabric-flanked windows. The lotus-shaped chandelier made from Murano glass anchors the room. A nearby family room echoes this theme, with hand-painted botanical wallpaper and plaster leaf sculptures.
Natural elements take a whimsical turn in the mermaid-inspired bedroom, featuring an opalescent clamshell bed surrounded by peach-toned walls covered in clouds. It’s a delightful mixture of unexpected elements: 18th-century French Rococo and early-2000s fashion trends. A crystal chandelier in the shape of a ship completes the fantasy.
Coastal creative
While there are no mermaids in the other bedroom, its shell-adorned wallpaper creates the feeling of a grotto. In the powder bath, a shell-covered stool and rattan seating give a coastal feel. And the East and West coasts intersect in the library, which evokes the feel of both New York City and San Francisco with a jute and wool rug, plenty of bookcases and a two-tone rust and gray plaster paint.
Finding balance
Amid the avant-garde elements, the weathered wood and vintage feel of the drawing room is a bit more approachable. A family room with velvet patterned walls is done in hushed tones. Neutrals appear throughout, balancing the bolder parts of the home. In every room, old and new mix, creating something completely unique that draws on the past yet feels of-the-moment.
Each room of the Kips Bay Decorator Show House reflects the personality and point of view of its designer. In the same way, your home should feel distinctly yours. Every year, these show houses challenge and inspire me with new perspectives.
Visit these homes online (kipsbaydecoratorshowhouse.org) or in person to get out of your own decorating rut – or simply to find the places that make you feel most authentically yourself. This is where you’ll find what you need to start anew.
Celeste Randolph is an interior designer in Los Altos. For more information, visit celesterandolphdesigns.com.
