Bold color, masterful craft, and visionary design take center stage.
A great show house doesn’t just reflect what’s happening now—it forecasts what’s next. And this year’s Kips Bay Decorator Show House is doing exactly that. Set in a circa-1900 Greenwich Village townhouse at 20 West 12th Street, the 2025 edition celebrates the show’s 50th anniversary in striking fashion. The six-story, 9,000-square-foot residence—with its soaring 13-foot ceilings, seven wood-burning fireplaces, Otis elevator, eight bedrooms, nine baths, and private garden—offers designers a rare chance to dream big in a downtown context.
Into that architectural splendor steps Jack Ovadia of Ovadia Design Group, who debuts at Kips Bay by reimagining the entryway, stairs, and landing. His layered textures, sculptural detailing, and dramatic rhythm in that entry zone hint at the aesthetic conversations unfolding throughout the house.
Also among the 21 participating designers are luminaries like Alexa Hampton, who dazzled with her bedroom decked out in a bold Oscar de la Renta–inspired fabric and wallpaper crafted by Twenty2; Jim Dove, who turned a closet into a poetic, literary retreat, Olivia WIlliams Studio, whose tranquil studio apartment was a testament to chic yet functional small spaces, and Leyden Lewis, whose deep aubergine “Salon Analogue” is a moody ode to artists and makers alike—each bringing distinct voices to the house. The full roster of talent invites design lovers to stroll through the beautifully envisioned and meticulously styled rooms to observe the freshest trends in interiors.
This is a show house with a purpose: From day one, the Kips Bay Decorator Show House has existed not merely to shine, but to do good. Since its inception in 1973, the Kips Bay Decorator Show House has raised over $30 million for the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, which serves more than 11,000 children and teens throughout the Bronx with essential after-school and enrichment programs. From its opening on September 30 to October 19, every scan of a ticket, which can be bought here, helps turn this house into a catalyst for real change.
If you can’t make it to New York to see this space in person, read on to uncover the bold color stories, ingenious storage, artistic lighting, modern-day craftsmanship, material obsessions, and more that are shaping interiors right now, straight from this design showcase.
Huniford Design Studio's bright, spacious apartment, where the city meets calm, on the top floor of the show house, made not one but two strong cases for recessed shelving. Inspired by Mexican modernist designers such as Clara Porset, Luis Barragán, and Max Cetto—who often integrated furniture directly into their architecture—the built-ins were conceived as an extension of the space itself rather than decoration.
The recessed shelving in the dining nook—wrapped in Phillip Jeffries cork wallpaper—and the green lacquered inset shelf in the adjacent wet bar both showcase pieces sourced from renowned galleries and local makers, reflecting the thoughtful curation found throughout the space.
This glamorous bathroom by Tamara Feldman is all about the marble. The designer created a dynamic retreat by complementing the Casino Royale mosaic tile by Donghia for Artistic Tile with Cipollino Green marble slabs, supplied by Arca, and more marble colors pulled directly from the mosaic.
The dramatic room is complete with a custom vanity that conceals a hidden vanity chair you can pull out when you want to sit back and admire the immersive room (or yourself).
The Drawing Room by Ben Pentreath Studio brought classic English style to New York. A skillfully curated and styled collection of art and wares paired with a Morris & Co. wallpaper inspired by His Majesty The King's garden at Highgrove, Gloucestershire, creates a comfortable, relaxed space begging guests to curl up with a good book and cup of tea.
The space is bookended by gorgeous green lacquered lamps with contrasting shades. Other high-gloss luminaries can be spotted throughout the home, so we're officially calling this a trend.
Inspired by the romantic elegance of Paris's Bouillon Julien, designer Tiffany Skilling went all out in her dressing room. Conquering an ambitious feat to finish a space completely fitted with bespoke cabinetry crafted by 212 Renovations, finished in Benjamin Moore’s Antique Jade, and accented with Louis XVI hardware by P.E. Guerin in such a short amount of time. But it was well worth it—this sumptuous space is jam-packed with inspiration, including the high contrast coloring on the cabinetry.
If you're bold enough, continuing the room's color story through this small but impactful addition could be applied to cabinets in any space of the home, from the closet to the kitchen.
In this digital age, it only makes sense that there's a whole room dedicated to virtual meetings. In Pavarini Design's "Zoom Room," a tablet, connected to a high-resolution wall-mounted monitor and several cameras that follow you around the room, brings technology into the show house like never before. But just because it's tech-y doesn't mean it can't be fabulous.
The space has been outfitted to dampen sound in subtle ways, including Scalamandré upholstery that softens the surrounding walls, a graphic area rug from Stark Carpet, and the beautiful yet effective Arte trapunto wallcovering that wraps the ceiling to further deaden noise reverberation.
Alessandra Branca of BRANCA is single-handedly bringing trompe-l'œil back to the design table. The art technique, meaning to "fool the eye" in French, uses extreme realism and perspective to create an optical illusion of three-dimensional objects on a flat surface.
The drawing room appeared to have wall-to-wall wood paneling with a collection of Lucio Fontana artwork and vintage pieces hung along it, but in fact, the whole space was hand-painted by Gracie wallpaper.
Inspired by her childhood in Nigeria and an enduring love for Morocco, designer Andrea Schumacher created a speakeasy that transports anyone who enters.
While there are plenty of ideas to steal from this worldly space—including a pink Kohler sink paired with a contrasting oil-rubbed bronze base, folding screens wrapped in the same wallcovering from the designer's upcoming collection with The Vale London, and the out-of-the-ordinary architectural nooks—it's the chandelier by Feyza Kemahlioglu that immediately caught our eye. As seen in other spaces within the show house, the lighting on display here is a scene-stealing feature in its own right.
When interior designer Corey Damen Jenkins was creating his dining room, “Through the Looking Glass: A Dining Room Reimagined,” he set off on a mission to highlight makers and craftsmen who make this industry what it is today.
While you may think the incredibly intricate moldings and trim would be original to the home, Jenkin's actually commissioned local artisans to craft elaborate plaster moldings for the dining room. Every modillion, rosette, frieze, and egg-and-dart motif was crafted and applied by hand, proving meticulous craftsmanship is not just a trade of the past but something we should be celebrating as it is practiced today.
In this peaceful, primary bedroom, Eve Robinson Associates Inc. created the perfect place to recharge one's battery. "Much like New York City, this space is not without contrast. It is supple in its textures, rich in contrast, organic but refined, quiet in attitude—refreshing yet oh so enveloping," says the designer of the space. We can't help but agree—paying particular attention to the contrast of the case opening, where sapphire blue meets the bleached oak paneling of the sitting room. A dreamy transition emulating night fading into day that we can't help but want to recreate.
In James Thomas's "Painted Passage," we see perhaps the strongest example of how to expertly execute a space that exists within only one strong color story. While we love pops of contrasting color or technicolor maximalism, there is something so satisfying about a design that flourishes through a set amount of hues.
Inspired by golden hour in Ravello, Thomas stuck to a palette of rich blues, deep terracotta accents, and creamy neutrals, with shades pulled from weathered tile, antique Roman olive jars, and wild lemon trees. Phillip Jeffries grasscloth adorned with custom moldings and hand-stenciled patterns, paired with a custom Stark runner, envelopes the space.
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