Hamptons Designer Showhouse: Donald Schermerhorn

The best laid out room at the Hamptons Designer Showhouse was the family room by New York designer Donald Schermerhorn. Bucking convention, Donald laid out the furniture diagonally in the room which not only was interesting but aided traffic flow. Similarly, his room at the Kips Bay showhouse in 2009 also had an interesting furniture arrangement and garnered a lot of attention. See that room HERE on Habitually Chic. I love examples of thinking outside of the box like this!

Hamptons Designer Showhouse: Keith Carroll

My favorite bedroom at the Hamptons Designer Showhouse was a 1st floor guest room that was just so charming I could have moved right in.Decorated by Keith Carroll, the room highlighted Scalamandre wallpaper with dogs in a yellow and gray colorway, which was then repeated through the colors found throughout the room. It certainly didn't hurt that the room was styled as if someone was living there, down to the NYtimes and oreos on the breakfast tray!

While small, the room still had space for a small seating area; always good for a guest so they can have somewhere to lounge privately other than in bed. The en-suite bathroom continued the yellow and gray theme but in a different wallpaper. Classic white bath fixtures finished off the space in a timeless manner.

As I said, the room was styled so well, down to the products; always my favorite part of any show house!

Hamptons Designer Showhouse: Raji RM & Associates

Another of my favorite rooms at the Hamptons Designer Showhouse, I'm proud to say, was done by a good friend of mine here in DC, Raji Radhakrishnan.

Raji, smiling here as always, composed a room very much in line with her work; Eclectic but edited, a fascinating collection of the most beautiful and interesting pieces which make the room feel to me as if an interesting person lived there rather than being 'decorated'. To my mind, isn't this the goal of high-style interior design?

Raji explained that the room she started with was basically bare bones, a staff bedroom on the lower level. The first task she assigned herself was to bring some architecture into the space through a painted wood chair rail and moldings. They MAKE the room. Raji interpreted the space as a ladies lounge for the mistress of the house. She wanted the room to tell the story of an accomplished woman who needed a stylish office to conduct her own business away from the family. Imaginary client: Hillary Clinton. The pieces throughout the space are all amazing -you could spend all day here just admiring each one. I loved these vintage pottery jugs.No inch of the room was forgotten with beautiful details throughout.Even the light fixture was incredible!I think we can all agree this is a room we would want to spend time in; especially this tufted leather chair!The most show-stopping item in the room is the glass rod encased cabinet in the corner. Created by a French artist that Raji and her husband discovered wandering around Paris, the borrowed piece has an asking price of over 50k! Look but don't touch!One of the most personal and asked-about spaces in the space, believe it or not, was the bathroom. Raji's talented daughter, Shruti Narasimhan spent countless hours painting a beautiful coral decoration on the walls with coordinating shower curtain. It's no surprise however that the apple didn't fall far from the tree; Shruti currently is studying interior design in NYC.For better pictures of the space than my own, go to My Notting Hill to see professional photographs.

Carpenter's Gothic

I'm back from a week in Provincetown, Mass. and while there on one of my many bike rides I came across a charming house. Designed in the vernacular "Carpenter's Gothic", part of the Gothic Revival Movement of the 19th century, the house and 2 side cottages have been little changed over the past century.

The influence is subtle but guides every footstep of this charming cottage perched on a hill overlooking the harbor. The steep gables, intricate woodwork mass-produced details and the arched windows on the side cottage all speak of the genre.

You can nearly see the couple from Grant Wood's American Gothic standing in front!