Kips Bay Show House
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to visit New York City, specifically for the purpose of touring the Kips Bay Showhouse. I’d read and heard about this beautiful show piece for years and was thrilled to get to see it in person and all of the amazing designs.
Each year, celebrated interior designers transform a luxury Manhattan home into an elegant exhibition of fine furnishings, art and technology. This all began in 1973 when several dedicated supporters of the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club launched the Kips Bay Decorator Show House to raise critical funds for much needed after school and enrichment programs for New York City children. Over the course of four decades, this project has grown into a must-see event for thousands of design enthusiasts and is renowned for sparking interior design trends throughout the world.
The New York Show House receives as many as 15,000 guests annually from across the nation. Since its inception, the Show House has raised over $21,000,000 for Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, which currently reaches over 10,000 young people at nine locations throughout the Bronx. Today, the club is proudly one of the most prominent and responsive youth development agencies in New York City and a “flagship” of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Three years ago, they began a Palm Beach Show House every February which benefits the Palm Beach Boys & Girls Club.
Visiting the show house was inspiring to see how the different designers used different materials, textures, metals to create equally stunning spaces from room to room. My favorite space was the stairwell. Located in the middle of the home, this spiral staircase was open from the top floor down to the first floor. Brian Gluckstein, the designer, designed a stunning chandelier that hung down from the center rotunda, made up of many, many brass flower petals attached to a thin wire, that made them appear suspended in the air. Stunning!
If you are in Palm Beach in February or New York in May, I highly suggest you take an hour or so and tour these amazing show houses. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Send me an email at jessica@webbercoleman.com.