A Very Special Guest Post: Kips Bay Palm Beach
How lucky am I to have a stylish friend who is a: a.) professional writer, b.) professional art advisor , c.) design guru, AND d.) frequent flyer to Palm Beach, where she took in the Kips Bay Decorator Show House for all of us to enjoy! So sit back & relax as writer Page Evans Corey takes over the Elegant Mayhem post this week & brings us inside the gorgeous, sun-drenched rooms that interior designers created this year.
SPECIAL GUEST POST BY PAGE EVANS COREY
Sometimes decorator show houses can be overwhelming, leaving your head spinning at the glimpse of any shiny object. And since lacquer and lots of color are still in vogue, my head did a lot of swivelling at this year’s Kips Bay Decorator Show House in Palm Beach. Still, I managed to find some peaceful places to rest my eyes. And it was fun to see how designers struck a nice balance between classical and contemporary.
Suzanne Kasler kept it creamy, with doses of salmon interspersed on smaller chairs and pillows.
She anchored the room with chicly styled bookshelves lacquered in salmon (Benjamin Moore’s Custis Salmon CW-215).
And who wouldn't want to sleep in Alessandra Branca’s beautiful blue and white bedroom?
This blue and white pattern that looks like tile is actually wallpaper.
Aside from paint and custom furniture, much of the flair of these rooms comes from natural sources: plants and trees. I think people often forget the power of plants. And including them in your design scheme instantly elevates any room. I always say, plants and pillows are an easy fix.
A corner of Suzanne Kasler’s room
Designer Leta Austin Foster’s blue and white room with plant (wallpaper by China Seas)
Maybe I like plants because they are green, my all-time favorite color. Which is why I found “the loggia” (where I come from, we call it a covered porch!) by Sherrill Canet Interiors so appealing. It’s got green and a huge tree, so what’s not to love!
Black & white painting by Austin Kerr
As for the art, I found a favorite painting in a room designed by Kevin Isbell Interiors. He paired this pink and yellow abstract piece by Gunnar Theel with hand painted Gracie wallpaper. It was a bold move, but I think it works. Maybe I was drawn to the room because it was designed as a writer’s room?
And after all that writing, it’s time to take a dip!
Landscape design by Lopez Group Inc.
Furniture by McKinnon & Harris
Many thanks, Page, for the shot of inspiration - although it is cold, dark and rainy here in DC, these pictures make me think Spring might actually be possible:) Thank you also to Laura Smith for suggesting this topic!
I’m off to San Francisco this weekend for the Design Influencers Conference with Nate Berkus, Alexa Hampton, & so many other cool, talented people I can hardly stand it. I’ll report back soon with their tips on how we can all make our homes more livable & beautiful - stay tuned!
Cheers,
Lee