2021 Design Awards: Showcase Design by Martin Young Design

Author:Lindsey Shook

“The showcase was an opportunity to implement ideas, either new or not yet tried,” says designer Martin Young on how he approached the design of a 142-square-foot room inside the 43rd annual San Francisco Decorator Showcase. “I wanted to create a sense of quiet drama that gave the room enough mood while maintaining a feeling of lightness and approachability.”

Located at the end of a long hallway with kids’ bedrooms and bathrooms, the small space would deter some, but Young reveled in the challenge. “The room’s size reminded me of those types of domestic rooms that become
a depot for extra furniture too precious to throw away but that have no use except for maybe occasionally,” says Young. “I wanted to create a room that presented a sense of multi-functionality but with specificity, and I imagined the layout as a composition of activity—a lounging area, a reading and conversation area and a writing area.”

The room, while small in size, made a remarkable impact. Standout moments include an ombré lacquer-painted ceiling, a hand-tufted chaise that feels like it’s been draped in the Jasper Deauville fabric and a ripple-fold fabric wall made with a Melange wool by Holland & Sherry that masks windows on the property line that looked directly into the neighboring home. “Rather than reconstruct the wall, we used a ripple-fold curtain to create a fabric wall, which became a focal point for art and lighting,” he says. “The fabric wall is architectural and decorative, playing with the hand-painted pattern on sisal wallpaper and complementing other fabric applications on our chaise and curtain panels hung on rings and hooks.”

Young flawlessly combined a mix of old and new, including a postmodern desk by Hans Eichenberger, a postmodern stone shelving unit from France and Triple Tier Tall Hex Side table by Bari Ziperstein. “Ultimately, I hoped to achieve a comfortable and serene environment that felt like part of a family home,” he notes about the design direction. “My office is a small practice, and I’m a natural introvert, so getting out and meeting people in the business is essential and for that, the showcase was a fantastic event.”