House of Dreams

Ah… New York-- the sights and energy have a way of recharging the creative soul!  As my gait was abundant with enthusiasm, I arrived a bit early in the stately Lenox Hill neighborhood. With anticipation, I waited in line along other designers and design enthusiasts. You could easily hear their conversations of fabrics, furniture, and furnishings. I felt like I was among my “creative family”, as we were all passionately speaking the same language. At last the doors opened and we were invited into the home. The selected townhouse was quite special this year, as it was designed by the iconic architect Charles A. Platt in 1905.

Designer show houses are fun in spirit. This year did not fail as the four story neo-Georgian brick home had been decorated by twenty of our nation’s leading interior designers. Each room portrayed the vision and spirit of its creator. Sailing from room-to-room, my eyes moved in a rapid staccato fashion as if a dance marathon had ensued. The colors! The shapes! The imagination! As a fiend of details, I was soon visually intoxicated.

Interior designers, much like architects, can develop an associated style. It becomes their unspoken trademark or identity. This, too, became very prevalent throughout the home. From Susan Ferrier’s monochromatic sensuality-to-Ken Fulk’s energetic play on traditional, it was all there…..like a gourmet buffet bidding one to sample as they desire.  Every room in the house was articulated with a sense of design authority from the smallest closet-to-the grandest salon.