A larger-than-life photo mural, a courtyard gazebo made of colored string and DNA-inspired background in a vibrant research are just a few of the special designer touches on display in this year’s Holiday House NYC. Currently in its fifth year, the Holiday House Designer Showcase, benefiting The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, displays the work of 25 leading designers from across the nation.

This year the designers transformed a historical limestone mansion in Manhattan to a striking holiday display. It is available from October 25 through November 18, 2012, however if you can not view it in person, take inspiration from our policy here, together with creative tips about how best to elevate tabletops, bring the reindeer out to play and use natural materials to give your home some holiday sparkle.

Location: 2 East 63rd St., New York City
Hours: 11 a.m.–5 pm; Tuesday and Thursday till 8 pm
Cost: $30 general admission

Rikki Snyder

Remembrance of Things Past
Style team: Geoffrey Bradfield
(This photograph and following)

Inspired by Marcel Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past along with a sense of nostalgia for a bygone era, this black and white living area set against the background of a custom photo mural celebrates both past and present. Plush white seating with velvety damask detailing provides a stylish nod to a white winter in its way.

Rikki Snyder

Rikki Snyder

Seasons of Joy
Style team: Lee Najman Designs

Inspired by the Jewish Sukkot holiday, where a structure built around a festive gathering symbols that the enveloping of the soul, Lee Najman and Edward Chou wanted to instill a sense of wonder as individuals enter the courtyard. Different-colored series and corner lights that may be changed to any colour (blue in this photograph) welcome visitors to partake in the spirit of giving to a great cause.

Rikki Snyder

Earth Day
Design team: Archives ID
(This photograph and following)

The designers in Archives ID transformed the stairwell to an advanced green space motivated by the metamorphosis of a seed. A translucent photograph of character plays off Exotic containers of plant varieties that bring freshness to an otherwise abandoned space.

Rikki Snyder

Air plants and succulents create a simple indoor garden, while a Moravian star pendant lamp shines overhead for subtle seasonal sparkle.

Rikki Snyder

A Holiday Luncheon and Gift Trade marred with a Modern-Day Marie Antoinette
Style team: Huntley & Co.. Interior Design
(The photograph and following two)

The concept of a modern-day Marie Antoinette motivated the mix of conventional and romantic within this contemporary dining area. The aim was to create a stunning but welcoming setting in which to gather friends for a few of those centerpiece events of the season — the holiday meal.

Rikki Snyder

Rikki Snyder

Rikki Snyder

Carnavale
Style team: Inson Dubois Wood
(This photograph and next)

As an ode to the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen, photographer Steven Klein and Venice’s Carnavale, this stunning room features a mix of high and low elements, such as pieces by Hermès and Lladro. A striking art bit anchors the mantel, drawing the eye to the ceiling detail put in a royal holiday colour scheme.

Rikki Snyder

Rikki Snyder

Father’s Day
Designer: Ally Coulter
(This photograph and following)

Inspired with a modern update of an old English gentleman’s club, Ally Coulter mixed black leather, suede and rosewood to create a living space filled with masculine detail. The layering of steel and nickel with lotion tones adds glow.

Rikki Snyder

Rikki Snyder

Valentine’s Day
Style team: Brett Design

This room is meant to be a Valentine’s Day respite, somewhere to go alone or together with your loved one to relax, clear your thoughts and de-stress. The area includes Brett Design’s exquisite wallpaper and custom furniture combined with Neidermaier bits.

Rikki Snyder

Celebration of a Father
Design team: Dyfari Interiors

In memory of her father, who had been a tailor, Diane Guariglia of Dyfari Interiors produced a room motivated and made to feel like a well-made suit. She used a brown herringbone cloth wall covering out of Phillip Jeffries and incorporated pink accents throughout the space in honor of breast cancer awareness.

All stitching things, as well as the drawings on the wall, are out of Guariglia’s father.

Rikki Snyder

Golden Jubilee
Style team: Javaras Kennally Associates

With this collector’s library space, the designers in Javaras Kennally Associates translated a golden jubilee, a 50th-year anniversary party, as an overall celebration of life filled with hope. The space utilizes a rich palette of golden elements using a mix of antiques and artwork, including both vintage and modern photography (motivated by Evelyn Lauder’s love of the medium).

The area includes a custom hand-knotted silk and wool rug by Shir; furniture by Joseph Hoffman, Gustave Siegel and Otto Wagner; and antique cut-velvet curtains by Antique Textile Gallery.

Rikki Snyder

Mother’s Day
Style team: Dineen Architecture + Design

In honor of Mother’s Day, this 21st-century boudoir was motivated by its 18th-century counterpart: a woman’s power centre for work, romance, self and family. Designer Joan Dineen worked to celebrate powerful feminine design with elegance in mind.

Rikki Snyder

Deck the Halls
Style team: The Roger Thomas Collection for Maya Romanoff

Red is the colour of passion, sensuality and party, which motivated Roger Thomas to deck the hall with his hand-painted vermillion Tremelo wall covering for Maya Romanoff. As a historical reference for the colour red, there’s a picture gallery using elegant drawings and collages by artist Ruth Marten.

Rikki Snyder

President’s Day
Style team: Donald Schermerhorn

Inspired by a traditional and historical men’s research, this comfortable and enclosed space has a subtle holiday palette of blues, olives and teals, using overlapping patterns and textures.

Rikki Snyder

Halloween
Design team: BG Studio International

Dante Alighieri’s Purgatorio of The Divine Comedy functioned as the foundation for this tiny space, titled “The Portal: Deceptive Reality.” BG Studio added a bit spook to its seasonal space by inviting people to “experience a transition along with a transformation to the netherworld.”

Rikki Snyder

Christmas
Style team: Stephanie Odegard Collection

Many men and women find it difficult to remain centered during the holidays, as to-do lists grow more. The plan of the room is meant to remedy this, including calming ancient themes from Tibet, Nepal and the subcontinent of India.

Rikki Snyder

Winter White
Style team: Vicente Wolf for ALB
(This photograph and following two)

This light and bright bedroom features the new, airy simplicity of Swedish-inspired layout.

Rikki Snyder

Rikki Snyder

Rikki Snyder

Spring Forward
Style team: Tobi Fairley Interior
(The photograph and following)

In honor of the spring equinox in addition to a play on the words “fashion forward,” Tobi Fairley used couture detailing in the drapery embroidery, grosgrain ribbon trim on the couch and station ribbing on the banquettes in this sitting area. Both the gilded accents and emerald green vintage Murano lamps act as jewelry for the space.

Rikki Snyder

The classic colour palette of black and white is tried and true in the interiors and fashion, and is created current here by the pastel pink tones. This glamorous and feminine sitting area could be a secondary living space, a workplace or a dressing room for a fashionista.

Rikki Snyder

An Elegant Affair
Style team: Janet Rice Interiors

If you live in 250 square feet or 20,000 square feet, every day may be an elegant affair. A jewel-box corridor bedecked in hand-painted background by Gracie encourages guests to sit down, relax and be motivated.

Rikki Snyder

Chinese New Year
Style team: The Lee W. Robinson Company

Considering that 2012 is the auspicious Year of the Dragon, this room combines dragon themes, fretwork, malachite background and antiquities in the Ming and Tang dynasties, as well as a champagne cellar and an upscale bar to produce the sense of a chinoiserie-laden party pavilion.

Rikki Snyder

Origins of Life: A Birthday “Studiolo”
Style team: Suzanne Eason Interiors

A background layout from Trove, motivated by the double-helix structure of DNA, Makes a centerpiece in this classically motivated study. Designer Suzanne Eason filled the space with objects depriving us of the ebb and flow of life and birth. It’s a area about rebirth and renewal, evoked by naturalistic landscapes, whimsical pieces and dream objets d’art. Art and sculpture by Kathy Buist and Daniel Williams also contribute to the space.

Rikki Snyder

Girl’s Night Out
Style team: Claudia Giselle Style
(This photograph and following)

This dressing table room serves as a type of liberty zone for a sensual woman who needs a glamorous but enjoyable space to get ready for a festive night out. Traditional and contemporary elements merge to create a space that makes getting ready for that holiday party just as fun as the festivity itself.

Rikki Snyder

Rikki Snyder

Winter Solstice
Design team: Paula + Martha
(This photograph and following)

The design of the space was invented just like a celestial calendar, including furnishings and fine artwork, like dimensional paintings by artist Ron Gorchov, that orbit around a striking Baccarat-crystal-encrusted chandelier and a stunning Jacques Jarrige sculptural screen.

Rikki Snyder

Rikki Snyder

Sweet Sixteen
Style team: Robyn Karp Interiors
(This photograph and following)

Inspired by the song “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” out of The Sound of Music, this bedroom includes chevron stripes and polka dots playfully colliding. The enjoyable and happy room blends adolescent rebellion with the ideal number of female whimsy.

Rikki Snyder

Rikki Snyder

Each Day Is a Holiday
Style team: Charlotte Moss
(This photograph and following three)

This room is motivated and devoted to Charlotte Moss’ former worker, Lilliana, a decorator and art collector who passed a year ago. The area was created as a studio apartment for a worldly woman who’s fearless, loves scrapbooking and art, and is a collector. A canopy bed produces a private refuge, where each day can be celebrated as a holiday.

Rikki Snyder

Rikki Snyder

Rikki Snyder

See more photos from the NYC Holiday House

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