Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1482852
Preview D ay D ecorators to the starting line. Yes, the starting gun went off, and Kips Bay Decorator Show House Dallas opened its imposing doors to the well-heeled and eager to get a glimpse. And, it did not disappoint. Room after glorious room (with a few alcoves and grand dressing rooms) were ready to view, with 25 designers in attendance to regale guests with the charming challenges they faced and the dazzling finish-line moments. (See the best of Kips Bay, starting page 68). It wasn't until last year's Show House that I learned the technique of looking up first, then working my gaze down. To quote the ever-quotable Diana Vreeland: "The eye has to travel." If you start at eye level, you miss half the fun that's occurring above. And, there was a lot of that this year in the manse on Meadowbrook Drive. After I congratulated Nazira Handal, Kips Bay director of special events and corporate partnerships (and the mastermind of the three annual Show Houses in NYC, Palm Beach and Dallas), and Chad Dorsey, one of the Dallas co- chairs (alongside Jan Showers and Jean Liu), one of the first rooms I found myself in was concocted by Alessandra Branca. The Italian designer with offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, Palm Beach, and NYC created an enchanting and very livable living room in shades of verdant green. The garden-like space paid homage to the magnificent gardens visible from the grand windows. My favorite element was her Casa Branca Collection Foglia wallpaper, custom-created in a dégradé pattern for the extraordinarily tall space. AT THE LUSCIOUS KIPS BAY DECORATOR SHOW HOUSE DALLAS By Billy Fong. Photography Tamytha Cameron. (Continued) Shelley Johnstone Cearan Henley, Scott Griffith Kathleen Hutchinson, Allan Knight Andrew Fisher Jeffry Weisman Cecily Waud Lance Scott Natasha Baradaran Christopher Peacock Hutton Wilkinson Jim Dove Lee W. Robinson Alessandra Branca 94