Kips Bay Show House Press
Veranda Magazine
Written by Sarah DiMarco
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Step Inside the Exuberant Kips Bay 2020 Decorator Show House in Palm Beach
Riots of pattern, explosions of saturated color, and lavish textiles galore—the 3rd Annual Kips Bay Decorator Show House Palm Beach has arrived in glorious maximalist fashion.
This year, 19 of the world's top design firms transformed the plantation-style South End residence of renowned antiques dealer and interior designer Lars Bolander into a spectacular design haven on Palmetto Lane. Affectionally known as Bamboo Hill, this property features a number of open-air entries and terraces that seamlessly connect the home’s interiors to its tropical gardens.
Each room of the South African and Dutch-inspired home showcases the design moxie and innovative ideas of the industry’s most creative talents. And the best part, it's all in the name of benefitting both the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club and Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County. Below, VERANDA gives a complete tour of the show house along with insider knowledge from this year's participating designers.
“Writer’s Retreat” by Kevin Isbell Interiors
Crossing the threshold of Kevin Isbell’s vibrant space feels as though you just stumbled into Ernest Hemingway’s room during one of his elusive safari excursions—and that's exactly what the Los Angeles-based designer was going for with the design of his writer’s retreat.
“Since the location of the room is a bit more isolated from the rest of the house, I felt that someone could really just settle into this space and be creative,” says Isbell. “I wanted it to feel like a writer lives and creates here.”
To achieve this, Isbell worked with Gracie Studio to create a hand-painted scenic wallpaper that transports visitors to the tropics with its large palm trees and sky-blue background. Playing off of the whimsical walls, Isbell filled the room with other fanciful notes like an 8-foot pagoda daybed from Ceylon et Cie, an agate-inspired rug from New Moon Rugs, and an Eleish van Breems ceramic tiger peaking from under the coffee table.
Elle Decor
Written by Sam Dangremond
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The Kips Bay Decorator Show House is returning to Palm Beach for the third year in a row, with 19 designers lined up to transform the plantation-style home of interior designer Lars Bolander in the South End neighborhood of West Palm Beach.
The designers, who come from several cities across the country including New York, Atlanta, Nashville, Los Angeles, and Palm Beach itself, will each take over an individual room in the house.
"The location is unlike any other house we’ve showcased in previous years, offering a unique platform for the design firms to channel their talent and creativity," says designer and Honorary Show House Chair Bunny Williams.
The Show House will be open to the public from February 1 through March 1 (tickets are $35 and can be purchased here), and an opening night cocktail party will take place on January 31. All proceeds from Show House tickets benefit the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club in the Bronx, New York, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County, which together serve more than 18,000 children from ages six to 18.
Below, take a look at renderings showing how several of the designers plan to bring their spaces to life.
Kevin Isbell Interiors
House Beautiful
Written by Hadley Keller
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What happens when 18 talented designers have just a month to completely renovate an iconic home? A little bit of mayhem and a whole lot of inspiration. That was the case at this year's Kips Bay Decorator Show House Palm Beach, the third annual designer showcase benefitting New York's Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club as well as the Palm Beach chapter. Participating designers have just a few weeks to conceptualize, install, and present their designs...meaning they're looking for as many time and money saving tricks as possible—just like most of us! This year, the designers faced specific challenges given the house: a modernist, multi-building home by architect Lars Bolander. Using a whole lot of creativity they transformed the property into a dream home, with plenty of tips and tricks to take away. Here are the best ones.
Go Overscale
Kevin Isbell's "writer's retreat" is "a tribute to Hemingway," says the designer. To make the Gracie wallpaper in the room look more modern and graphic, he blew up the scale, then paired it with smaller prints, proving that a variety of print sizes makes for a compellingly layered room.