How do you transform a huge 1915 marble floored, and heavily curtained living room into a bright, warm, and elegant family social space? Just ask Ken Gemes of Ken Gemes Interiors. From the moment he saw the ornate living space in this historic 1915 mansion, Ken “could immediately see how [he] would do it.”

Designing for the 2013 Westchester Showhouse benefitting Cerebral Palsy of Westchester, Ken was inspired by the historic architecture of the home. “The detail in the room is incredible. I didn’t want to ignore the intricacy of the plaster moldings in the ceiling and on the walls, but at the same time I didn’t want the room to feel dated and old. The challenge was the balance; to make the room feel young, hip, and inviting, but still have a historic feeling as well.”

Ken was immediately drawn to the living room not only for its grandeur, but also its function as a social gathering space. Designing with this aspect of a home’s functionality in mind, Ken creates spaces that are both open and warm, and invite people to gather in groups.

“My biggest objective was to take a grand room, and show how it could serve as a young family’s living room. I wanted it to have three separate areas that people actually would use.”

“One of the biggest challenges of the room was how to transform that enormous white marble floor into something that was going to be more livable and inviting and make the room cozier. The floor itself was magnificent but it was very cold and overwhelming.

“When I explained the space to Roxanne, Merida’s Director of Business Development, she said ‘We have a new material that is a herringbone sisal, and we can seam it, we can give you whatever size you want.’ So when we ended up with a 33 foot wide by 18 foot long Stratum rug, it pretty much solved all of our problems. Merida rugs for me are like working with a natural material–it’s almost like a wood. You’re layering in texture and you have this beautiful backdrop but it’s not an attention getting thing, it’s one of the elements that tend to make everything sing or work together.”

When interior designers work on a showhouse, there may be a temptation to pay less attention to the usability of the space. Ken, however, works in such a way that social interactions are always at forefront of his design ideas. This allowed him to create a warm living space while also creating a stunning design that defines his aesthetic.

The Westchester Showhouse is open until June 9^th, and located at 2 Cooper Road in Scarsdale NY. Stop by and check out Ken’s fantastic work and the rest of this exciting showhouse.

To quote & order Stratum, log in to our Customer Center or call us at 800-345-2200

On April 11, Merida and Stacy Kunstel, co-founder of Dunes and Duchess hosted a book signing event for New York City interior designer, Amanda Nisbet, to celebrate the launch of her latest book Dazzling Design. The event took place at the rooftop of the Taj Hotel in Boston and a number of prominent Boston area designers attended.

Cocktail Hour at Boston Taj Hotel rooftop

After a festive cocktail hour, Amanda and Stacy took the stage to discuss Amanda’s take on the interior design business, her inspirations and guilty pleasures.

Merida CEO, Catherine Connolly, welcoming guests

Stacy Kunstel leading a Q&A with Amanda Nisbet

“My signature is fearless use of colors” – Amanda Nisbet on her style

Stacy Kunstel and Amanda Nisbet

“Besides my kids and family, I can’t live without chocolate…. AND… diamonds.” – Amanda Nisbet on her favorite things

Stacy Kunstel and Amanda Nisbet discussing social media

“Pick a medium that you can do well and stick with it. My personal favorite is instagram. I love the visual aspect of it.”  Amanda Nisbet on social media

A five-year-long project turns a drab New Jersey estate into a bright, fresh living space that more than matches the splendor of its verdant setting. With its interior design done by M. Frederick Interiors, the house uses a white and neutral palette to bring light and texture to a space that was once dark.

“It was a darker house, the wood tones were dark, the windows were smaller, they have 8 foot ceilings in most of the area. The client has an architecture background, so she could understand the physical space, but was having a hard time on her own putting together the aesthetics, brightening it up, having it all flow and be cohesive, and finding a level of quality that she was looking for.”

On a chance visit to Matthew Frederick’s storefront studio and shop in Far Hills, New Jersey, the client fell in love with Matthew’s taste in design.

Working backwards from an end vision and yet taking the time to collect objects that reflect the personality and taste of the clients, Matthew let the project evolve from room to room. Matthew typically approaches projects with this top-down, high-level view. He enjoys the process of bringing the client’s aesthetic and vision to fruition over time, but finds that if you do not keep the overall plan in mind, “you run the risk of having it look beautiful, but also like a furniture showroom.” This particular project is a perfect example: the five-year evolution allowed Matthew to create and find unique pieces that reflect the character and personality of the client and their wants. Matthew says that, “I look for vendors who are also similarly aligned, that want to support the value of the professional design trade, that offer custom capabilities, and they can do it in a reasonable time and on a reasonable budget.”

With a focus on textures and whites rather than color, the house takes on a calming, sculptural element in the midst of rolling lawns and landscape architecture. The lack of color does nothing to hinder the brightness of the space, which has ample windows to let light and the green of the outdoors in.

We’re excited that Matthew used Merida for this particular project in the foyer and on the stairs. The Broadway rugs have a subtle pattern, which highlights the texture and natural sisal color.

“I think there is something great about the Broadway pattern and the Tupelo colorway. It is at the same time so classic and so refined and so simple in the way it adds depth and has a really great presence in a space, but its also simultaneously very transitional, very clean, very fresh, and very current. It’s a product that works as well in an Upper East Side residence as it does in a California beach house or a transitional space in Brentwood.”

The five year effort and Matthew’s leadership in helping the client discover their aesthetic lead to a unique, bright, textural space.  As Matthew sees it, “That’s the challenge for the design profession today: it is not only the pieces that you buy, it’s how you put them together, and how you create spaces in these environments, but it’s also how special you can make them.”

Matthew’s project is featured in Luxe Interiors + Design this month.

To quote/order Broadway, login to Merida’s Customer Center or call 800-345-2200.