(Q) Tell us a little bit about yourself and your interests
A: I am based in Essex, Mass. But hopefully soon in other places, aka Palm Beach. My space is the upper balcony, and I named it room with a view. The space did not have a ceiling on it, so I covered it with an awning to make it a room. And I have a dining space, a sitting space and a bar.
(Q) What does Kips Bay mean to you? What does it mean to be a designer for this showhouse?
A: Well, I grew up in an all designer family. My mother was a designer, my sisters a designer. I grew up in Atlanta where I was very much a part of the design community. I think Kips Bay has always been the crème de la crème of show houses and sort of the epitome of what you strive for to be showcased in. And obviously also the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club. I mean, I think it’s so important that these children know that people care about them, and I think that gives them self-confidence, which then in turn, I think, you know, gives them a better chance in life. I think all of those things included, it’s obviously just a wonderful opportunity to not only showcase yourself, but also give back to all these New York, Palm Beach and Dallas communities. I’m so thrilled and honored to be part of it.
(Q) When designing this room, what was the most important factor for you?
A: Probably I think the idea of comfort with style so that you don’t feel as if you can’t touch anything. You feel like you can lay down and be comfortable, but it’s still elevated to something that people find interesting. I also always love to add traditional elements with little modern elements, aka the coffee table. I honestly don’t do a lot of marble furniture and I just fell in love with this marble and thought it was sort of the perfect sort of modern, little more masculine feel to the rest of the room, which is fairly feminine, I would say, in a way, but hopefully not too feminine.
(Q) What kind of vibe and aesthetic were you aiming to achieve in the project?
A: I always want really curated pieces. I seriously thought about every single piece that went in this room. I really like the yin and yang of modern and traditional and a little bit funky and just so that it doesn’t feel stagnant. You want the room to flow and for everyone to see different things in different places and that they don’t necessarily all match, but they all feel like they belong together.
(Q) What did the stone help you accomplish in your overall design? What drew you to the stone you selected?
A: I definitely wanted a different texture in the sitting space. I had seen the Ceppo Marble on another piece before, and I had loved the color and that sort of organic design that it has. So it has less of this and more of like almost bubbles, which I love. I think it gave one a little more modern feel to the room and also masculine feel. It balances the sweetness of the sectional and I think really goes well with the same colors that we did in the rug, which I really pretty much took a lot of the colors from the stone and to the rug as well. I love the shape of it, I love the thickness of the marble on the top. I didn’t want a plethora of bamboo or wood. It was the perfect thing to sort of balance out the whole sitting space.
(Q) Were there any surprises that you were pleased to see, any hurdles that you had to get over in this process? Anything you want to highlight?
A: When I got an outside space, I was a little like, how am I going to pull this off? And putting an awning onto a space this large. This is 50ft long, so that was definitely a hurdle. I think we accomplished exactly what we wanted to do, and I think that’s all part of this process. It’s figuring out how to transform these spaces in the best way you can so that people find it interesting. When you were standing out here without this awning, it’s kind of unbearable and I don’t think you could sit out here. I think it’s a perfect way to make this a more livable space. Otherwise, It’s really been such an enjoyable experience all the way around.
