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While New Yorkers continue to relish early signs of spring, Palm Beach is fully immersed in what could be called the floral season. Admittedly, the Florida coastal community is rarely without breezy warm weather, but this week, it welcomes a somewhat rare type of blossoming: the opening of the 2021 Kips Bay Decorator Show House.
Initially slated for earlier this year, the fourth annual iteration of the tour de force event opens when many are undoubtedly yearning for a spring break hiatus. For those wisely forgoing travel as vaccines roll out, the picturesque show house can nonetheless offer an aesthetic manifestation of the mood that is increasingly in the air: hope, buoyed further by an unabashed embrace of all things beautiful, joyful, and downright happy.
The show house is also chock-full of lovely floral fabrics, patterns, and plantings. From the complex rug in Lorna Gross’s dining room to the enveloping guest bedroom created by Kemble Interiors, many participating designers ran with that idea. And with ebullient descriptions of their creations (given to a handful of AD editors earlier this week on a Zoom preview), those decorators only added to the prevailing spirit of the house.
The repeated use of flowering wall coverings—by Brittany Bromley, Mally Skok, and Alexandra Naranjo in particular—felt somewhat reminiscent too of the Kips Bay Decorator Show House in Dallas this past September. Taken together, they further affirm that within traditional design circles, there’s no statement piece currently enjoying a more prolonged period of renewed popularity than a chinoiserie. Other thematic threads were easy to pull out. The Palm Beach show house is awash with enough pinks and greens that even Lilly Pulitzer would be proud. The palette may be more muted, and the colors may not be seen together in individual rooms, but even a passing glance at the spaces dreamed up by Fernando Wong, Casa Gusto, Nina Magon, Amy Morris, and Ellen Kavanaugh makes this much clear.
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Nonetheless, contemporary design still enjoys its own moments in the sun. (But perhaps not literally, as it’s the enviable outdoor areas by the likes of SMI Landscape Architecture and Anna Braund that take care of that.) A casual living room by Mikel Welch, a kitchen by Mark Williams Design, and a bathroom by Forbes+Masters are prime examples of how more clean-lined compositions can’t help but resonate. In many of these cases—such as a laundry room and pantry area by HW Interiors—savvy additions helped steal the spotlight. In that particular room, a glowing onyx floor was difficult to miss, while contributions from sponsors such as Kohler, Currey & Company, The Container Store, Cosentino, Benjamin Moore, Monogram, and The Shade Store made many a room shine bright. And yet, between the terra-cotta floor tiles seen in Mark Williams’s space and the thoughtful nods to nature featured by Forbes+Masters, the idea of a thriving outside world was never far from mind.
“I wanted to really celebrate luxury in a modern way,” Nicole White told AD, speaking of her primary closet and bath. The same could be said of the house in its entirety, thanks its natural ebb and flow. But with her alternately glamorous and serene spaces, White also strove to achieve something more a bit more meaningful. On that same Zoom call, she noted that her goal was “to celebrate as many creatives as I could.” A worthy mission if ever there was one.
Below, take a look at all 20 interiors included in the Kips Bay Palm Beach Decorator Show House. From a thoughtful composition by Benjamin Deaton to a striking vignette by Harry Heissmann and a primary bedroom by Courtney Giles, they’re all interiors worthy of your attention. The Kips Bay Decorator Show House Palm Beach opens today and will remain on view through May 9.
