An Insider’s Look at the Kips Bay Decorator Show House 2017

Every year, thousands flock to New York City to visit a trendsetting month-long display of talent and style.

Since 1973, the Kips Bay Decorator Show House has been a design enthusiast’s treat, loaded with must-see exhibits of decor, furnishings, and technology. Proceeds benefit a worthy cause: in its 45 years of existence, the Show House has raised over $21 million for the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club, funding youth development and enrichment for thousands of youngsters in the New York area.

Gifted designers work tirelessly to transform a Manhattan home into an attraction that draws approximately 15,000 visitors annually.

In anticipation of our visit to the Show House, we connected with one of the designers to learn what goes on behind the scenes.

Joan Dineen of Dineen Architecture + Design graciously gave us her time during a most hectic period to educate our readership. As principal designer of her group, Joan – named a Rising Star by IFDA – and her work have appeared in Architectural Digest, Interiors, Interior Design, and the New York Times as well as on HGTV, NY Social Diary, and NBC Open House.

Here’s her veteran insider’s look at the Kips Bay Decorator Show House:

How does one get the opportunity to participate in the Show House?

Designers are invited or may apply to be included and may only participate every three years. We first applied four years ago, sent photos of our work, and were selected to contribute that year. Since then, we’ve been included in several other show houses and are excited to be working on this year’s Kips Bay Show House!

How long does it take you and your team to prepare and execute the design?

It’s a very intense time for us – a little less than 6 weeks from the notification that we were accepted until opening day! To get it done, you need nerves of steel and an ability to not sleep for nights on end. It’s stressful because we want to get it just right, but it’s also exhilarating.

Within the first two weeks, we devise the basic scheme and pick out fabrics, wall surfaces, and carpet. During that same time period, we also had to formulate an idea of which major pieces to include. And it’s not just decor; our room design includes a lot of construction, too.

We’ve had to be very flexible in our choices because we depend on designers and manufacturers to lend their pieces and work to us. We’re constantly amazed by how generous people can be, but we also have to be realistic; it’s not uncommon to only secure 3 items out of your “wish list” of 40 pieces! We’re constantly tweaking the design based on what we can procure. Plus, we do have to remove and return certain elements after the Show House closes.

Do you collaborate with the other designers in the Show House? Is there a central theme?

What’s wonderful about the Show House is that it’s a diverse display of themes and creativity – there’s no central theme. The managing team at the Kips Bay Decorator Show House trustingly gives free reign to the designers!

Can you tell us a bit about what you will be doing for this year’s show house?

We were assigned a bedroom. Like all of our projects, it’s a labor of love and a group effort. We like to combine natural, rough elements with refined elements in a contemporary yet artisanal design, blurring the lines between art and furniture, so you can expect rough wall surfaces, highly refined fabrics, and a lot of artist-created items.

Tell us a little bit about your background and your firm outside of the Show House.

I have a degree in structural engineering and a master’s in architecture. We’re currently a three-person show; the head designer, Alyson Liss Pobiner, also has degrees in architecture and art history. We both started out as architects and gradually grew into an interior architecture and design practice. Our third, Jay Sheth, trained as an Interior Designer at the New York School of Interior Design.

We’re a small firm based in New York City and we like it that way – we’re very team-oriented and work on all projects together. Our design focus is largely warm modern, functional and beautiful.

Do you have a favorite project from the many that you’ve done?

Can you pick a favorite child?!

Every project we work on is our favorite project for the time that we work on it.

Thank you, Joan, for sharing your time and insight with us!

The Kips Bay Decorator Show House is open from May 2, 2017 through June 1, 2017. Visit their site for more details and to book tickets.

If you can’t make it to the show, don’t worry – we’re here with an insider’s view! Take a peek inside the Show House right here at Quality Bath.

A fanciful mix of color and pattern, this sitting room by Nick Olsen proves that you’re most comfortable when you don’t take yourself too seriously.

Billy Cotton Studio created a moody, almost melancholic bedroom based on his profile of the woman who’d live – and die – there: a relic of aged New York high society, no stranger to tragedy, coming to her final home.

A walk in the garden is transformed to an Alice-in-Wonderland experience with Janice Parker’s whimsical landscape, paying homage to the home’s roots as headquarters of the China Institute in America.

Transitional spaces are best for dark drama, and Jonathan Savage’s stair landing executes it perfectly. (Except with that inviting sofa, the landing may not be all that transitional…)

On the opposite end of the light/dark scale, Kate Singer’s sitting room is refreshingly cool and classic. Its subtly nautical blue-and-white scheme is calming and casual – ideal for a safe and relaxing space.

When design team Ken Fulk’s Flower Factory takes on a dining room, you’re guaranteed an unusual experience. Fulk created an eccentric display for his imagined resident, a socialite who’d outlived three husbands and currently houses zoo animals.

This inviting entry nook by Powell & Bonnell is simultaneously comfortable and sophisticated. Rather than embracing the exposed pipes (or ignoring their existence) like other designers, Powell & Bonnell craftily hid them behind a pick-up sticks-inspired sculpture that echoes the lines of the stair railing. In contrast, the front hall is airy and white; the two strikingly different areas complement each other effortlessly.

Kirsten Fitzgibbons and Kelli Ford’s living room provides casual comfort – great seats, fun colors, texture and pattern – with a touch of regalness in its gilded accents. Because who doesn’t want to feel like royalty in their own home?

The sitting room designed by Neal Beckstedt Studio is a showcase of midcentury modern goodness, including 1940s furniture from Fritz Hansen and Pierre Jeanneret, exposed beams, rustic accents, and a fabulous cobblestone fireplace.

Robert A.M. Stern Architects Interiors tackled the living room, outfitting it with a grand piano, unexpected colors, a custom-made green velvet sofa, and pieces by assorted artists including Warhol and Gio Ponti.

A tight hallway and adjacent bathroom were transformed into stylish elegance by Scarpidis Design, who outfitted them with monochromatic texture and jaw-droppingly gorgeous slabs of marble.

Susan Ferrier of McAlpine turned her bedroom into a romantic, dramatic retreat with deep hues, touchable textiles – including heavy drapery – and a multi-armed chandelier with added depth thanks to the gold ring painted on the ceiling around it.

No boring here! Timothy Brown covered his assigned landing with bold colors, velvet midcentury sofa, hand-blocked wallpaper, and a hefty dose of quirkiness.

A refreshing change from the rest of the house, the kitchen, by Bakes & Kropp, is bright, streamlined, and modern, with pops of blue to keep it from being too white.

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