The Kips Bay Decorator Show House 2015 opens to the public today and you are going to love all the rooms.  I had the pleasure of viewing the house on Tuesday and thought all spaces looked amazing. While I shouldn’t play favorites, I really thought Philip Mitchell of Philip Mitchell Design in Toronto did an excellent job designing his room that wasn’t really a room.  He named his stairs and landings of floors two through four Torridon Stair Gallery but I am calling it a stairway to heaven because it’s so lovely.

The name Torridon is the name of the new Mulberry Home wall covering from Lee Jofa. As Philip told me, “it was the sort of inspiration that started it all for our spaces. Ann Gafton from GP & J Baker presented the fabric to me a few months back in the UK and I fell in love with it. It so reminded me of my Mother Patricia  who’s memory I was sort of paying homage to by using it as the backdrop to my space. The wall covering version was classic, yet light and almost contemporary in feeling.”

As you know, I love gallery walls and collecting art so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that 95% of the art in the space is from Philip’s own collection.  After our chat, I’m pretty sure the other %5 will be joining his collection so don’t bother asking where you can buy anything. I jokingly asked if all his walls were bare now but it sounds like he has enough art left to fill the empty space.  A man after my own heart.

I have a friend who consulted on this home when it was owned by a former client.  It had previously housed offices on the first floor and apartments on the upper floors. The owner was the one who insisted on the spiraling staircase because she loved the one in her mother’s house. I would never have known it wasn’t original since it perfectly suits the townhouse. The skylight was also not original but floods the interior with wonderful natural light.

I really enjoyed talking to all the designers today but had such a nice time chatting with Philip and his friend Brandie who came in from Milan to support him.  Obviously being talented is important in the design world but being a good person is even more important in my opinion.

Make sure you stop by the Kips Bay Decorator Show House 2015 and see all the beautiful spaces before it closes on June 11, 2015. Admission is $35.

Kips Bay Decorator Show House 2015
58 East 66th Street
New York, NY 10065
Monday to Saturday: 11:00am – 5:00pm
Tuesday & Thursday evenings: 11:00am – 8:00pm
Sunday: 12:00 – 5 :00pm

Designer Philip Mitchell and his friend Brandie Silva on the landing. I usually ask the designers for a photos but it was so chaotic on the stairs that I forgot on Tuesday,

Photos by Heather Clawson for Habitually Chic