Kips Bay Palm Beach 2026 Unveils Stunning Designer Houses

Denna Jones finds herself lavished with the newest form of maximalism in Palm Beach

As featured in COVER 82, the 2026 Kips Bay Decorator Show House Palm Beach is the ninth edition of this satellite to the flagship New York City event. And it’s the first edition to feature two houses.

Each house has provided blank canvases for twenty-three interior designers. It’s only open to visitors until the 24 March, so be sure to secure your ticket now if you don’t want to miss out on these boldly chic designs.

Shell Décor and Soft Maximalism Take Centre Stage

The Lewis Gallo Design Group’s ‘Champagne Conservatory’ leans into shell decor, a major trend in 2026 (spied in other rooms too), but expands beyond shell decor’s kitsch history.

A fearless chromatic and crustacean-adjacent journey, the room is colour-drenched in a peach schnapps blush that is both nostalgic and up-to-the-minute. This glow provides a striking backdrop for the shell-encrusted mini-bar, which expertly expresses the room’s rattan rocaille recherché vibe.

Maximalism has grown into its ‘adult’ phase of soft maximalism, expressed by an abundance of soft furnishings such as on-trend textile curtains in all rooms including bathrooms. Alexander Interiors’ ‘Chintz by the Sea’ bathroom overflows with it, and is a vessel for Messel. A foremost English stage designer in the 20th century, Oliver Messel’s 1953 suite at London’s Dorchester Hotel is lavish with swags, curtains and a gathered dressing table skirt.

Firefinish Interiors’ ‘Terra Calma’ bathroom provides a whimsical counterpoint. The green, multi-headed pendant light is a joyful, alienlike presence, while playfully patterned marble tiles wash over sink surround, floor and shower space.

Several Kips Bay rooms exploit the fifth surface (ceiling) trend. Bamo Inc’s ‘Architectural Mirage’ expertly pairs floor with ceiling. A Palladiana terrazzo marble floor pairs with an Alvar Aaltostyle wood wave ceiling, while the voids created by the vertical pleats of the floor-to-ceiling, all-encompassing curtains align perfectly with the ceiling’s slatted voids.

This soft maximalism gesthetic is based on Le Corbusier’s Mur Neutralisant double-glazed curtain wall. This contemporary version is composed of a solid mass or glass wall (or sliding door) lined by fabric curtains and valance. Bamo Inc’s geometric-organic fusion includes a wool rug veined to resemble marble.

One of the more stunning rooms, Pappas Miron Designs‘ ‘The Citron Salon’, is anchored by what the firm’s founder describes as the room’s starting point: an early 20th century Savonnerie carpet loaned by Rug & Kilim. Instead of claustrophobic curtains, the sun pierces sheers to illuminate a citron velvet sofa whose colour sings.

Curtain Walls and Creative Ceilings Transform Every Room

Mario Praz, author of An Illustrated History of Interior Design and expert on the concept of horror vaccui, might take a pause in Eerdmans’ ‘Mrs Howell’s Salon’. Or perhaps he wouldn’t, if he were a fan of the kitsch US 1960s television show Gilligan’s Island, whose marooned shipwreck survivors inspired this room.

A prominent pleated curtain wall and matching valance create island-like containment, while the grandma-core curtain pattern enhances a sensation of intriguing disquiet.

Danielle Balanis Design’s ‘The Mame Dennis’ is a masterclass in pattern-drench which should be renamed ‘Garden State’ after the indie film of that title. The floral shirt worn by Zach Braff’s character in an iconic scene is a graphic match with the wallpaper. It demonstrates the push-pull dynamic of asymmetrical wallpaper and fabric patterns versus their symmetrical repeat.

A similar dynamic flows throughout this room, including the ceiling. The pomegranate cloqué wallpaper and fabric enrobe valances, pleated curtains, chubby floor cushions and upholstered slipper chairs. A blue bed cover and the blue fabric underside of the tester bed create an island retreat in a busy landscape. An elegantly lived-in traditional carpet grounds the scene.

A key takeaway from this year’s edition is the widespread use of curtain walls for exterior and interior. Sherrill Canet Interiors’ ‘The Primary Sanctuary’ went the distance and used curtains plus a pleated linen hanging behind the bed. Mario Praz believed rooms were a ‘shell’ for the soul. Curtains, he said, were where architecture salutes the soft fabric of interior design.

In this respect alone, Praz-who admired curated, layered, lived-in interiors-would applaud this year’s Kips Bay Palm Beach Decorator Show House. 

Words by Denna Jones