Esteemed interior designer Brian del Toro returned for this year’s exciting 46th Annual Kips Bay Decorator Show House in Manhattan for a second round at showcasing his creations. In support of the home décor event’s fundraising efforts for the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, the designer created “Laura’s Bedroom,” a romantic and relaxing space for the 2018 Show House – and House Tipster had the wonderful opportunity to speak with him to get the story behind his enchanting inspiration.
With this work, Brian del Toro proves that one truly unique furnishing can serve as the inspiration and jumping-off point for an entire space. In fact, one precious hand-painted outdoor garden scene piece serves as the focal point for this naturalist room.
“This room is a soft, feminine, more modern take on a feminine bedroom. I started with the antique vintage Robert Chowder screen which I bought at auction, it was picked on in the 1960s, and I based the whole room around that,” he tells us exclusively. “I pulled all the colors in the screen out into the room. The taupe of the background I used in the silk curtains and had a special fabric printed up for the walls, which was done by Quadrille. The rest of the colors in the room are soft greens, all the different shades of greens that are in the screen I pulled out into the linens on the bed, the lamps beside the bed, into the chair seats and benches, and the antique rug at the foot of the bed. I accented the room with different shades of pink and blush and rose to accentuate the feminine quality and make the palette a nice, soft, enveloping room.”
Abstract paintings, antique glass, masculine chests, and midcentury mahogany chairs can be found throughout this space. They are all tied together with feminine elements like iridescent silk curtains and mirrored glass paneling. One key to keeping a space cohesive is by repeating similar elements throughout the room in new ways, something del Toro showcased perfectly in his 2018 Kips Bay room.
“I brought the same color palette out into the two vestibules, which have a Farrow and Ball wallpaper in soft sage and green tendrils of grass that are hung upside down to bring the eye up, and accented with pink velvet on the bench, and pink flowers to bring the more intense version of the color palette out into the vestibule,” he shares. “[This makes] it all a suite of rooms that hopefully evokes a sense of comfort, relaxation, and warmth that gives somebody a cocoon to go into at the end of the day and relax and re-collect themselves.”
You can tour the Kips Bay Decorator Show House for yourself by visiting the multi-designer brownstone in New York City throughout the month of May.
Tipster TV has released the full video coverage from our special interview, be sure to check it out below.
