What sort of house encompasses a stately paneled library, a glam bedroom featuring a photo of Diana Ross in all her sequined glory, and a kid’s room with a tree brushing against the ceiling? A show house, of course: in this instance, the St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild Decorators’ Show House and Gardens in Indianapolis. Benefiting Eskenazi Health, a local healthcare system, the 2022 home is open from April 23 through May 8. Nearly two dozen design and landscape firms worked their magic on the two-story 1930s Tudor home and its grounds.
Can’t make it to Indianapolis? Below are a few highlights of the home.
Ali Marten of Marten Design relied on texture, rather than color, to make the living room suitable for spirited cocktail parties and quiet evenings in alike. With layers of bouclé, wood, linen, and plaster, the space is a tactile delight. The limited palette adds cohesion to the variety of silhouettes and styles.
Maryellen Hodapp and Christy Soldatis of Sassy Green Interiors made this child’s bedroom a not-so-secret garden year-round. Carpeting only this corner of the room separates the play area from the sleep area—important in a little one’s bedroom. The Monet Rocking Chair has a fanciful-organic vibe similar to that of the rocker here.
The powder room by Tiffany Skilling of Tiffany Skilling Interiors also has something of a woodland theme, thanks to the wallpaper and the vanity. Gold and polished marble, however, add sophistication. In fact, an ornate gold-frame mirror (like these) brings instant elegance to any space. (Find similar sconces here.)
Tiffany Skilling designed the kitchen as well, sticking with golden flourishes (those tiles!) so that even heating leftovers feels like an elevated moment. Painting the breakfast nook blue-gray defines it as a distinct, but equally elegant, space while preventing the entire area from feeling too elongated. (Find lanterns similar to those hanging over the island here.)
When designing the primary bedroom, MJ Coyle of Michael Jeffrey Design and Blake W. Richardson of BWR LLC clearly envisioned someone who appreciates whimsy almost as much as Old World elegance. How else to explain the rattan parasol lamp perched atop a nightstand with classic turned legs and below two traditional landscapes in lavish golden frames? At the same time, the natural-fiber rug (find a similar one here) provides a contrast to the sumptuous drapes puddling in grand-manor fashion.
If you think every bedroom could benefit from a well-stocked bar cart, this space is for you. Hope G. Pace of So Chic Home Design & Staging designed it as the sitting area of a suite, with an emphasis on fabulosity. The orange ottoman and pillow liven up the teal (blue and orange are opposites on the color wheel) but they’re used judiciously so as not to make the space too energizing—it is a bedroom, after all. The glass top and open legs of the cocktail table keep the small space from feeling crowded.
Wood-paneled libraries like this one can easily feel too somber or forbidding. Todd Otterman of Design Works kept the mood stately yet inviting by complementing the traditional millwork and fireplace with Mid-Century Modern panache: the splayed and tapered legs of the side table, the conical shade of the floor lamp (find a similar one here). The transparent waterfall-style coffee table (similar to this one) keeps things light, and the floral curtains are an unexpected splash of traditional femininity in a classically masculine space.
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