Rooms I Love No. 25 - 2023 Kips Bay Palm Beach Decorator Showhouse - Part III

This is Part III of Rooms I Love from the 2023 Kips Bay Palm Beach Decorator Showhouse. Ahh, aubergine and the Welcome Bar, I don't know which I love more. This amazing space at the showhouse is the masterpiece of Errez Design Studio. Their design philosophy is to treat interiors as biographies - creating spaces that are an extension of their client's self-expression. 

The Welcome Bar can be found at the top of the guest staircase in this showhouse, and this design team grabbed you from the first step. I am loving this concept of a welcome bar to the guest quarters of a home. It's like the exclamation point to the welcome the guests received at the front door! And the coziness of this space tells its visitors to stay awhile, a long while. 

The curves of the sofa give me the feel of floating musical notes and its solid lavender upholstery and patterned pillows the perfect song against the textured walls, the dancers in the art above in harmony with it all. 

Subtle stories of journeys taken told by the accessories are the perfect complement to this fantasy room. My favorite? The busts at the bar, all decked out in their seashell finery bring a smile to my face. I'm envious of the person who played dress up with them. 

The mirrored backwall at the bar captures a reflection of a fabulous light fixture installed on the ceiling that highlights the rippling effect of the mirrored tile. This treatment is repeated in the guest stairway with an added under sea art installation that provides the opening chapter of this beguiling space. 

The many shapes in this space, like the winding staircase that leads up to the welcome bar are in sync with each other. A room that says you can go anywhere your dreams take you. 

Talk about a defining moment! The Welcome Bar at the 2023 Kips Bay Palm Beach Decorator Showhouse brought it, and I picked up what they were putting down. And thanks for yet another new vocabulary word I learned from this experience, "biographical design."

Be inspired!

Sources: Errez Design Studio, Veranda, Architectural Digest, Instagram, Nickolas Sargent Photography 

 

Rooms I Love No. 23 - 2023 Kips Bay Palm Beach Decorator Showhouse - Part No. 1

 

Showhouses, the inspiration juice for interior designers and this year's Kips Bay Palm Beach Decorator Showhouse didn't disappoint. Besides the joy in seeing a celebration of pattern, color, layering upon layering, vintage and modern sitting side by side and tortoise shell; I also added a fun new word to my design vocabulary from Danielle Rollins - "barmoire", love it!

And I also fell in love with Rollins Cocoa Lounge at the 2023 showhouse. This designer turned a stunning vintage Donghia rush and mahogany armoire into a barmoire, but that's not even the beginning of it! One needs to take a long pause and gaze, (okay, gawk) so as not to miss every beautiful detail of this room. It's a journey back to the 70's and 80's, timeless.

There's a secret in this room. In this home, built in 2009 this room was designated as the dining room, but with its long distance from the kitchen Rollins decided to create this space as a cozy and comfortable entertainment area for before/after dinner drinks and conversation - or a quiet escape any time of the day. She stole my heart with the large folding screen to cover the opening behind the barmoire to create a "wall" which added to the coziness.  (I'm a fan of folding screens because of their function to add an architectural element to any space, or as an art form, or as a solution to a design challenge.)

Another reason I love this room is the use of elements that are true classics. Like the black and white floral studies that flank the larger-than-life shell mirror, Batik fabric that covers the slipper chairs and throw pillows, the coconut husk console that holds a study in white treasures, and the x-base ottoman sitting under it. Sisal and raffia at its finest - always the quiet classic in a room, but never overlooked. 

I love this room for Rollins eye for placement of every element. Not one piece in this room appears to be last minute. Not one piece was happenstance. Because I believe it was elements all brought together as a story and the pages of that story were edited to perfection.

The Cocoa Lounge is truly a room of ease. The limestone walls a suitable backdrop for the perfect mix of texture; sophisticated yet welcoming with a coastal neutral color palette that holds its owner's DNA graciously in every nook and cranny.

Welcome back 70's and 80's. Be inspired!

Sources: Veranda, Nickolas Sargent Photography, Glampad, Pinterest, Instagram, Stylebeat