Kips Bay Show House 2018 Exclusive with Bunny Williams Interior Design

If you love design, you’ve got to be there. The Kips Bay Decorator Show House is a can’t-miss exhibit of home design ingenuity featuring brilliant displays of talent, style, and trends.

Introduced in 1973, the Show House celebrates design in its purest form to raise vital funds for the children of the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club. All proceeds directly benefit New York City’s youth, providing safe and healthy enrichment programs in various locations throughout the city.

Talented designers from the New York area and beyond work together to transform a New York home – situated on East 76th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues – into a decorator’s dream. The home, profiled in Architectural Digest, offers 15,000 square feet of blank slate to showcase the designers’ ingenuity as they work tirelessly to enhance the seven levels of luxury townhouse, which features a spiral staircase, soaring ceilings, and generous windows.

To provide our readership with an exclusive behind-the-scenes peek at the Show House, we talked to Show House designer Elizabeth Swartz of the prestigious Bunny Williams Interior Design firm, whose partner is chairing this year’s Show House.

As a partner in the firm, Elizabeth is passionate, ambitious, and ultra-talented. While rising through the ranks at Bunny Williams, she’s accumulated years of experience and countless beautifully-executed projects. She generously shared her time to grant us a glimpse of the inner workings of Kips Bay Decorator Show House 2018.

Congratulations on being chosen for this year’s event! How does one get the opportunity to participate in the Show House?

We applied to participate, which included sending in a portfolio. The Show House committee examines each application and portfolio to choose the participants. Most of the designers are from the New York area, but there are some who come from all over the country to contribute.

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

There isn’t much time to prepare! Once we were notified of our acceptance, we started on the design. Coming up with the preliminary design took about a week and we work on execution right up until installation. Because we are limited in time and space, the design tends to evolve and develop as we execute it.

It’s a time-consuming, high-energy period of time as we pull together the design, and we are anticipating an incredible final result.

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

The beauty of the Show House is that it’s so diverse. There is no cohesive theme throughout the house, so every designer’s creativity shines in a different way. It’s fascinating to see the array of styles on display in every room – the freedom allows for unrestricted imagination and originality.

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

The actual design will not be unveiled until the Show House opens, but I can share some details! It’s a living room and we are keeping it clean and fresh, furnishing it with beautiful pieces of furniture that we’ve sourced from various antique dealers and manufacturers.

I’ve been attending the Show House for years, but this is my first time participating in it. For me, the Show House is an official harbinger of spring – it’s a fun, fresh time of year and I’m excited to be part of it.

Your partner Bunny is chairing the event. What does that entail?

Chairing the Show House is an enormous and multifaceted job. Bunny is involved in choosing the location, selecting designers, overseeing the implementation, organizing the events – the presidents dinner, renovation party, and other gatherings – and procuring sponsors. She’s the driving force behind the scenes.

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

I grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, and graduated from the University of Richmond and the New York School of Interior Design. I have been with Bunny for 14 years, working my way up from intern position to Junior Designer to Senior Designer. Since becoming partner last year, I’ve taken a bigger role in the firm: overseeing the daily running of the office and managing several aspects of ongoing projects.

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

It’s virtually impossible to name a favorite! Every project is so different and becomes very personal as I work on it. I especially enjoy projects in out-of-town locations – I’ve traveled to Florida, to California, to Ohio, to Colorado – because I get to immerse myself in the new settings and learn about various towns and lifestyles.

Thank you, Elizabeth, for sharing your time and insight with us! We can’t wait to see you at the Show House.

Thousands flock to the Show House to marvel at the creativity and beauty showcased by the selected professionals. This year, it will feature the work of:

• Sasha Bikoff
• Alessandra Branca
• Clive Christian
• Jamie Drake
• Dan Fink
• Alexa Hampton
• Michael Herold
• Phillip Mitchell
• Juan Montoya
• Wesley Moon
• David Netto
• Mario Niviera
• Barbara Ostrom
• Charles Pavarini, III
• Katie Ridder
• Scott Sanders
• Stefan Steil
• Brian del Toro
• B. Andrew Torrey
• Marcia Tucker
• Bunny Williams, Inc.