If you love interiors (or just love scrolling through pretty spaces), the Kips Bay Decorator Show House is basically Disneyland for design lovers. Every year, top designers go all-out transforming a Manhattan townhouse into a fantasy home filled with ideas. The 2025 Kips Bay Decorator Show House edition was next-level. Here’s a casual, no-fluff rundown of the biggest trends that are about to take over homes everywhere.
1. All From the Heart
Leave it to Alessandra Branca to make “global design diplomacy” look this good! Her Kips Bay drawing room was basically the United Nations of fabulousness. It featured treasures from Japan, Italy, Norway, and who knows where else, all mingling like chic houseguests at a Paris soirée.
Channeling icons like Jean-Michel Frank and Hubert de Givenchy, Branca filled the space with pieces that whisper old-school French charm but wink with modern flair. The showstopper? A trompe l’oeil Gracie wallpaper that looks like wood paneling (but totally isn’t). It was topped with Lucio Fontana art and vintage mosaics for good measure.
“It’s all from the heart,” Branca says — and you can feel it. Every inch of the room pulses with personality, craft, and that je ne sais quoi that makes you want to move in immediately.
2. Cork Wallcovering
Photography by Matthew Williams
Picture this: you step into a Manhattan loft expecting sleek city glam, and instead — boom — you’re in what feels like the world’s most stylish treehouse. That’s the magic of James Huniford and his top-floor Kips Bay creation. He went full-on cork couture, covering literally everything (walls, ceiling, even the bookshelves) in a Phillip Jeffries cork wallcovering made from real bark. Yep, bark. Like, from trees. Nature, but make it fashion.
Photography by Matthew Williams
Huniford took a page from California design legend Michael Taylor, who was all about bringing the outdoors in. The result? A loft that’s earthy, textural, and totally zen — basically the opposite of the Manhattan chaos outside. Bonus: that cork doesn’t just look good; it’s a natural soundproofing hero.
Think of it as eco-chic meets urban calm — or as we like to call it, “the apartment version of a forest retreat with Wi-Fi.”
3. Italian Antiquity
Designer James Dolenc of James Thomas Interiors channels the spirit of old-world Italy through a modern, dramatic lens in his Kips Bay Show House space, The Painted Passage. Far from a quiet neutral retreat, this room makes an unapologetic statement. Its walls enveloped in deep cranberry tones that feel both regal and intimate.
Cut through that rich color, a band of Phillip Jeffries’ Toulouse Toile wallcovering wraps the room like a ribbon of history. It is a playful reinterpretation of classic toile that adds a sense of movement and storytelling. It’s traditional, yes, but with a wink.
Anchoring the space, Kohler’s Marrakesh sink offers sculptural contrast. The soft finishes balance the drama of the walls. The result is part Roman bathhouse and part contemporary atelier. It creates a setting that celebrates craftsmanship, bold color, and the timeless allure of Italian antiquity, all with Dolenc’s signature polish.
4. A Midnight Check-In
Setting the tone for this year’s Kips Bay Decorator Show House, Ovadia Design Group crafted an entrance that feels like stepping straight into a dream. The foyer, stair, and landing unfold in a sultry smoky plum palette. It envelops guests in a world that’s both mysterious and magnetic.
The drama builds through a custom Tai Ping carpet and runner. Their design echoes a mesmerizing Jennifer Hansen Rolli tiger mural — a symbol of strength and protection. Layered with statement pieces from Maison Gerard and Ralph Pucci, and illuminated by sculptural Apparatus lighting. The space hums with quiet luxury and daring confidence.
Titled “A Midnight Check-In,” the entry was envisioned as a passage into a dreamscape — that fleeting moment where night turns to imagination. It perfectly embodies Ovadia’s signature ethos: residences that feel like hotels, where mood and meaning intertwine. Courageous, confident, and undeniably chic, it reminds us that if you can dream it, you can absolutely live it.
Paris Brasserie–Inspired Interiors
Tiffany Skilling Interiors turned a shared Jack and Jill bath into a Parisian-inspired dream dressing room. Drawing from the iconic Bouillon Julien brasserie, she layered Gracie wallpaper, custom-cut Artistic Tile flooring, and Pierre Frey fabrics to create a space that feels straight out of a fairytale. The Art Nouveau vibe continues with lighting by Carlos de la Puente and Visual Comfort. Meanwhile, Benjamin Moore’s Antique Jade, Dedar textiles, and Samuel & Sons passementerie complete the jewel-box effect. The finishing touch? A collection of vintage Chanel accessories — a glamorous preview of Skilling’s upcoming retail store in Indianapolis.
The Final Word
From Parisian fantasy dressing rooms to cork-wrapped city sanctuaries, and from Italian-inspired passages to midnight dreamscapes, these designer spaces prove that creativity has no limits at the Kips Bay Decorator Show House. Each room tells a story — not just of color and craft, but of imagination, heritage, and heart.
What ties them all together is a fearless embrace of personality. Whether it’s a daring cranberry wall, a whisper of toile, or a tiger guarding the stairwell, these designs remind us that a home should move you — make you smile, calm you, or simply make you say, “Wow.”
The 2025 Show House isn’t just about trends; it’s about emotion, vision, and the bold beauty of dreaming in full color.
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