How 24 Designers Transformed a Historic Townhouse into a Modern-Day Party Palace
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."
Scouring home trends on TikTok and other social media offers you a vast quantity of design styles, but when it comes to quality design inspo, there's nothing like having the best interior designers in the country come together to make over a home. At the Kips Bay Decorator Show House New York—one of the most highly anticipated annual events in the nation for interior designers and design fanatics alike—spectators are able to walk through a luxury Manhattan townhouse that's been transformed by 24 top designers into a gorgeous exhibition of what's to come in the world of interiors. And the future of design looks like a whole lot of fun, with lacquered "opium dens," gallery-like "wine lounges" and closets you can nap in. The entire townhouse is innovative, insider-y, and totally inspiring—a preview of what you should start looking out for in decor, wallcoverings, paint styles, and more.
Now in its 49th year, the event has taken over an Upper East Side townhouse at 125 East 65th Street, designed in 1904 by iconic architect Charles Platt. Visitors can expect to see a range of eras portrayed in the home, each updated for today, from a contemporary interpretation of historic Egyptian styles by Jeremiah Brent, to an English countryside jewel box of a dining room by Kit Kemp, to an opulent sanctuary dedicated to 1970s American fashion icon Halston by Nina Seirafi.
If you want to see the show house for yourself, you can purchase tickets here—with proceeds, as usual, supporting the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club—and plan a visit from May 2nd until May 28th. If visiting in person isn't a viable option, fear not—we've spotlighted the top trends we saw here for you to scroll through, so they can excite and inspire you as much as they did us.
For more ideas from past Kips Bay Show Houses:
All the Best Design Takeaways From the 2024 Kips Bay Palm Beach Show House
How to Make Every Awkward Space In Your House Look Totally Intentional
All the Best Design Takeaways From the 2023 Kips Bay Dallas Show House
Suede Wallcoverings
In Jeremiah Brent's "Study of Art and Beauty," he employed a mix of tonal textures and modern pieces to pay homage to the Egyptian deity of beauty, Hathor. Black and white suede by Philip Jeffries covers the walls and ceiling here, bringing beautiful warmth to the room. Elsewhere in the home, interior designer Mikel Welch used a limewash paint in his room to mimic the material, and Shawn Henderson opted for a suede-like upholstered ceiling.
Reflective Ceilings
Nina Seirafi's "opium den for Halston" is a sanctuary of alluring darkness, featuring stained oak panels, sleek black glass bricks, bespoke furniture, and a coat of shimmering silver roof paint for a contemporary twist. Seirafi covered the ceiling and part of the walls in the reflective paint and added a mirrored light fixture to further enhance its shine, bringing flashes of light into the room.
3-D Wall Art
In a living room meant to encourage relaxation, Aman & Meeks strove to create a welcome balance, making the space both inviting and refined. Bold pieces of art, including the three-dimensional scene against the black wall, were paired with tailored furnishings with sleek lines to create harmony. In the home's stairway, Swati Goorha also incorporated a 3-D piece of art, this one featuring blue and white botanicals to symbolize transformation.
Creative Storage
"An homage to joy, the Wine Lounge is a sanctuary for celebrating life's little pleasures and the art of hospitality," says its designer Beth Diana Smith. "This space serves as a canvas for reimagining traditional wine cellar concepts in a refreshingly unexpected manner." One of its surprising and intriguing factors is how the wine bottles are displayed on the wall. Instead of the expected wine rack, Smith created a 3-D display that functions as decor.
Statement Curtains
Another glamorous trend showcased at the townhouse: heavy curtains and drapery. Designer Phillip Thomas created an after-dinner salon full of references to his family and his Latin American heritage. The dark green curtain along the wall adds to the layered textures in the room, bringing warmth and richness to the space. In other rooms, designers Huma Sulaiman, Beth Diana Smith, and Jeremiah Brent also incorporated luxe drapery within their spaces.
Reimagined Closets
As huge fans of redesigning small or unusable spaces, we loved how Shawn Henderson mastered the idea of turning a closet into something more. The designer transformed this space into a daybed niche surrounded by a custom garnet-colored handmade wallcovering which makes the area feel even more intimate. Michelle Gerson's innovative bar room is also an example of this trend, as she turned an entire unused butler's pantry into a chic black and white watering hole.
Mural Ceilings
Ceilings get a lot of love in this year's show house, and the idea to cover them with a gorgeous mural is sure to be a favorite. This unique look by Workshop/APD was created with an "expressive Fromental wallpaper in rich, earthy, feminine tones," according to the room description. Designer Barbara Ostrom also used a mural on the ceiling of her game room, though she went in a brighter, more playful direction and had artist Andrew Tedesco paint flying cranes on that fifth wall.
You Might Also Like
