Kips Bay Decorator Show House, a fundraiser that brings together top designers to transform a space, has launched its fifth run in Dallas. Numerous North Texas pros made the roster of 25 creatives who worked on this year’s project — which is located in a Turtle Creek office building once slated to be a luxury hotel.
The event started in New York City in the 1970s to benefit the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club. Now, 50 years later, the organization hosts show houses in three cities: New York City, Palm Beach and Dallas. Funds raised by the Dallas show house will benefit Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club as well as two local organizations, Dwell with Dignity (a nonprofit that furnishes homes for families struggling with poverty) and the Crystal Charity Ball (which supports Dallas County children’s charities).
The property at 2999 Turtle Creek Blvd. was previously intended to become a Mandarin Oriental hotel. It offered participating designers a 25,000-square-foot blank canvas, surrounded by 2.3 acres of land. For visitors, the location — and its on-site, underground garage plus nearby parking — will help alleviate the issues that caused the show house to have a limited run in a residential neighborhood in 2022.
Designers are given creative liberty as they conceptualize rooms (and, in the case of the project’s landscape designer, the grounds) and bring those plans to fruition. Numerous design brands donate resources and materials, and the pros may pull from their own collections to outfit their spaces as well. It’s a unique project for designers who, in standard projects, must work within the boundaries of a client’s preferences. In the show house, limits don’t exist.
The show house will be open to the public for three weeks. Opening day is Thursday, Oct. 24; general admission is available Friday, Oct. 25, through Wednesday, Nov. 13 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily). General admission tickets are $50 in advance and $60 at the door, subject to availability. Tickets for opening day admission are $500. It takes approximately an hour and a half to two hours to view the entire property.
Can’t wait for a tour? Lucky for you, we have dozens of gorgeous photos. We also sat down with some of the show house’s D-FW designers to learn more about the process and the inspiration behind their striking spaces.
Maestri Studio’s music salon
For the firm’s first foray into the Kips Bay Decorator Show House event, Dallas-based Maestri Studio drew from French, Japanese and Art Deco influences in the design of “Le Salon de Musique.” It was an extremely rewarding exercise, says principal Eddie Maestri, who explains that the show house gave his team the opportunity to design “without pushback.”
For this intimate and cozy room, Maestri incorporated a number of new products. The mantel is a collaboration between Maestri and Arcana, and the sofa is by Maestri as well. He tapped local brand Mous for the tallboy dresser and bar console, and sourced the bar lamp from David Sutherland.
Room recommendations: Maestri ranks Traci Connell’s cigar lounge and Javier Burkle’s bar as must-see spaces to stop by on your tour.
Burkle Creative’s tequila tasting room
Burkle Creative decorated a tequila tasting room dubbed “Sobremesa Lounge,” complete with a custom bar made of an antique library table from France and brass agave leaves along the ceiling that reference the spirit that inspired the room.
Founder and principal Javier Burkle says the lounge was designed to transport visitors to a bygone era in Mexico’s history while paying tribute to the art of the after-dinner drink and the Jalisco jimadores, the farmers who harvest agave. “Being born and raised in Mexico City shaped my design aesthetic as well as my appreciation for slowing down and enjoying life,” he notes, “and this room is the perfect space to reflect both.”
The team sourced many of the decorative items, which lend the room a collected feel, on a trip to Mexico.
Room recommendations: Burkle cites Jan Showers’ gilded Cipango Room as a source of abundant inspiration and called the salon by French & French Interiors as “a masterclass in layers.”
Swoon, the Studio’s rotunda
Swoon, the Studio designed the rotunda of this year’s show house and dubbed it “Atrium Tisane” in reference to its conservatory-meets-tearoom concept. The 2024 show house is Swoon’s debut at the event, and founder Samantha Sano called the experience “a total whirlwind of creativity, problem solving, moxie and some alcohol.”
Among the many sources and brands Sano and partner Joslyn Taylor included in their work is Dallas-based Casci Ornamental Plaster, which was founded in 1930. Casci created plaster bases for the tea tables and a vitrine that is a focal point in the room. The designers also incorporated vintage decor from their own store, Shop SWOON, and “wiggle chairs” from Scott + Cooner. “Our goal was to highlight the elegant, classical architecture of the space while creating an homage to the imperfect beauty [of the] natural world and the transformative power of spaces designed for gathering,” shares Taylor.
Room recommendation: Sano and Taylor especially love the room designed by Minneapolis-based Prospect Refuge, calling out the way that the designer reimagined her Midwestern childhood home in a modern way.
Ink + Oro Creatives’ restroom spaces
Tiffany Woodson, founder of Ink + Oro Creatives, says the French Renaissance was a starting point for the firm’s design of the show house restrooms. The women’s room is designed to look like a French boudoir; the men’s room was inspired by a French smoking jacket. “We wanted to create a space that changes your mood and allows for a moment of composure,” Woodson says.
Her firm’s show house debut was overwhelming at first, she adds, but it became a confidence-building endeavor. Ink + Oro used Dallas-based New Leaf Custom Homes as the contractor; local shops including Embree & Lake Antiques and Scout Design Studio are also among those who collaboratorated on the space.
Room recommendation: While Woodson’s list of favorite rooms is long, she calls Dallas-based Sherry Hayslip’s room “a fairytale.”
More images of the 2024 Kips Bay Decorator Show House Dallas
Each year, the show house taps local, national and even international talent. The 2024 participants include:
- Burkle Creative
- CeCe Barfield Inc.
- Champagne Designs
- Creative Tonic Design
- French & French Interiors
- Henry Street Design
- INK + ORO Creatives
- Jan Showers & Associates
- Kate Figler Interiors
- Katie Davis Design
- Kim Scodro Interiors
- Lambert Landscape Company
- Lisa Henderson Interiors
- Loudermilk Jordan
- Maestri Studio
- Muse Noire Interiors
- Prospect Refuge Studio
- Ricardo Barroso
- Robert Brown Interior Design
- Robert Frank Interiors
- Shelby Wagner Design
- Sherry Hayslip Interiors
- SWOON, the studio
- Traci Connell Interiors
- Trish Sheats Interior Design
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