Decorating & Design
May 3, 2024
The Biggest Looks From The Kips Bay Decorator Show House 2024
Bring on the pattern and layers. More is more! That was the biggest message at North America’s most important show house, the 49th Kips Bay Decorator Show House New York, that just opened. Printed fabrics, murals, oversized patterned wallpapers, and dynamic art were layered and tossed into rooms that were already buzzing with color and embellished architectural details.
Benjamin Vandiver’s bedroom in the imaginary attic of a French chateau is a backdrop for a wildly eclectic collection of original art, French antiques, layered rugs, a velvet settee and Taffeta balloon blinds that we haven’t seen in fashionable rooms for years.
His bathroom featured the best jacquard pattern of pink and blue marble tiles (either real or faux) and more exquisite French antiques. A boho take on Old World style.
Philip Thomas used a fabric mural on the walls of his salon. He was inspired by his childhood memories of growing up in Chile where his mother’s salon played host to artists, writers and thinkers. Lush layers of silk throw pillows on mustard sofas sit in front of the backdrop depicting the Andes Mountains.
Mikel Welch’s “Cotswolds Retreat” continued the theme of Old World character, this time from the English countryside in his romantic bedroom. Lime washed walls hold an oversized tapestry that’s reflected in a huge mirror in a carved, gilded frame.
In his bathroom, the floor is patterned using Dekton in a chequered design. On the walls House Of Hackney’s Plantasia mural wallpaper continues the use of rich patterns.
Patrick Mele’s bedroom carried the same design from the carpet up the walls, to form a canopied bed in bold blues.
Workshop APD did a fabulous sitting room off a principal bedroom suite drawing the eye up to a patterned ceiling wrapped in Fromental wallpaper and back down to plush russet seating and veined marble surfaces.
Aman & Meeks use of pattern was more discreet and strategic in this sitting room-office.
Bold art, mirrored panels and quartz tables are among the layers of texture in the tailored room.
Alan Tanksley’s “Club Room” is a visual delight of pattern and both mid-century and modern furniture. Once again, hand painted wallpaper makes a bold statement and is a feature of this grand room, along with art and richly upholstered armchairs.
Michelle Gerson created a bar in a back room that is magical and mysterious.
The floor is made from Calacatta Viola and Nero Marquina marbles in a slide pattern, with a wall mural drawn on black paint, and veined marble cabinet doors.
McMillen Inc.’s fanciful sitting room is an ode to a historic room that the founder of the firm Eleanor McMillen created for Jacqueline Kennedy. The electric blue trim that sets off the wallpaper by Charles R. Gracie and Sons, plus the matching drapes bring a riot of color to this eye-popping room.
Lucinda Loya’s powder room proves that pattern can also be relaxed and peaceful. The “Ripped Rug” from the Rug Company combines with a custom black and white wallpaper from Flavor Paper to create a strong graphic, yet calm interior.
No one does pattern mixing better than Kit Kemp as she’s proved in countless hotel rooms and principal rooms on both sides of the Atlantic. Her Kips Bay dining room is a jewel box of pattern, boldly painted window casings, area rugs and patterned drapes and upholstery. Totally charming and quintessentially English, as you would expect, and playful in keeping with her signature style.
Nickolas Sargent