Designers Get Personal at the 2017 San Francisco Decorator Showcase

Author:Lindsey Shook

It’s a big year for the San Francisco Decorator Showcase, the 40th. In honor of the program’s ruby anniversary, they have a jewel of a house: 2698 Pacific Avenue, a Classical Revival mansion on the corner of Pacific Avenue and Scott Street. In room after room, designers brought personal stories to life. Jonathan Rachman channeled the friendship between style icons in his living room; Martin Kobus reached to his Dutch roots for a library that balances between the old and new; Jon de la Cruz expresses his love of cooking in the kitchen.

You are greeted by Rachman’s green living room just off the entry. The grand room is inspired by the friendship of Hubert de Givenchy and his muse Audrey Hepburn. A black-and-white photo of the pair sets the old-school stage. The other inspiration point: a plate presented to the designer and his husband in Italy after lunch at The Gentleman Verona Hotel. Rachman, a collector, complimented the maitre d’hotel on the table setting. When they left, the management presented the plate Rachman most admired as a gift. 

The green-and-pink pattern of that dish inspired the hand-painted and embroidered de Gournay wallpaper that covers the room like wall-to-ceiling art. The plate, a treasured memento, is also displayed.

 

The ornate molding on the stairway landings provides a perfect frame for art, and it comes alive as a gallery with collages by Elan Evans and photography by Andy Freeburg from Simon Breitbard Fine Arts.

Upstairs, Beth Martin composed a dreamy master bedroom with a ceiling painted with delicate clouds, a fireplace covered with patinaed mirror, and curving blue-velvet upholstered sofas that embrace a bay view.

 

Krista Hoffman may have one of the smallest spaces, but she didn’t skimp on detail. In her San Francisco Decorater Showcase debut, the designer turned a narrow closet into a curated display of items she loves, and many—such as the Paper Mills wallpaper—are by local artisans.

Kari McIntosh is a mom and a businesswoman, so perhaps that’s why she created a woman’s office called the “Balancing Point.” It’s a where the woman of the house conducts business of the professional and family variety.

Perhaps designer Ian Stalling has the most personal of the rooms. His teen boy’s bedroom, dubbed “The Age of Innocence”, contains items that came from his own boyhood room: an R2D2 toy, a Victorian armoire, and even an issue of Architectural Digest he coveted at age 13.

The top floor has some of the best views and Catherine Kwong’s penthouse living room. The designer filled the space with what feels “California” to her right now, and she packs a lot of style into the space with a few elegant gestures. She calls the room “California Love” and it is, in her words: “…elemental and quietly romantic, but also layered and rich in meaning.”

The San Francisco Decorato Showcase opens this Saturday and runs through May 29. Proceeds benefit University High School’s financial aid program. For more tickets and more information, please click HERE. Stay tuned for more in-depth coverage here on California Home+Design. 

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