“The kitchen design evolved out of listening to the house and leaning into the size and configuration of the room, as well as the location in Kingston’s historic Rondout waterfront area,” said designer Jesika Farkas. Of the wall-sized mural fragment by local artist Kevin Paulsen, Farkas notes, “I love the way this piece pulls together all the colors in the room and balances the tile on the opposing wall. Thematically, it speaks to the nature and the water that surround the house.”
In the Kingston Design Showhouse, the kitchen’s colors and materials are selected to capitalize on the natural light. Copper countertops bounce sun throughout the room. The interplay of light between glazed and matte tiles activates the wall behind the range, and the unfinished clay continues the warm color palette. Behind the sink, a hand-dyed curtain also contributes to the effect.
“The light that filters through the fabric creates even more pinky cheer in the space,” said Farkas.
In her design for the primary bath, Barbara Fisher of Barbara Fisher Interiors was inspired by the organic shapes and colors of nature, and she wanted to evoke the feeling of being in a tranquil garden. To maintain the room’s connection to the outdoors, Fisher used a low endcap at the tub, rather than the customary – and spatially intrusive – knee wall.
The inlaid ceramic tile floor, by Suzanne Cook of Atmosphere NY, is a thought-provoking combination of bold abstract forms with natural motifs. As the focal point of the room, it triggers additional decorative elements, such as the botanical-themed Fromental wallcovering and the sunburst ceiling fixture.
Powder rooms are generally petite, but this specific space was more of the ‘reach-in closet’ scale,” said Jennifer Morris of JMorris Design.
To keep the wall applications from visually and physically impeding upon the petite space, she used airy, light-colored finishes. Painting the flat, bleached-oak wall panels to suggest a carved surface creates an illusion of depth, and running a shallow storage shelf at their top increases the design’s functionality and decorative possibilities.
Morris mixed old and new to give the powder room a flavor distinct from the rest of the house. The salvaged toilet and sink add authentic vintage character to the space, while the painterly Voutsa wallcovering, portraits from Robin Rice Galleries and high-craft accessories inject a contemporary note into the design. A drapery tieback is an unexpectedly repurposed as a toilet paper holder.