Categories: Design

The 2026 Kips Bay Decorator Show House Just Closed the Case: “Quiet Luxury” Is Done

Design by Dunnam Zerbini

Every year, the most creative minds in design descend on New York City for one month for the Kips Bay Decorator Show House, and as you can imagine, each room is more extravagant than the last. After all, that’s what happens when the industry’s brightest stars are in town. Each designer is assigned a different room to decorate as they please, and, when the process is finished (it’s a tight turnaround), the show opens to the public, with all of the proceeds from the ticket sales benefiting local youth programs.

What’s more, while each designer has carte blanche to decorate their designated space however they choose, we noticed one thing tying nearly all of them together: a complete rejection of restraint. There are jewel tones, wall-to-wall carpet, wildly veined stone, sculptural furniture, pattern upon pattern, and rooms so enveloping they feel like worlds unto themselves. In other words, the sterile, pared-back interiors that have dominated design for the last several years are nowhere to be found. These rooms are sophisticated, punchy, and, above all, loud.

Keep reading and let us show you around the maximalist dream that is this year’s Kips Bay Decorator Show House, where quiet luxury was officially pronounced dead.

Photos by Nick Johnson

The Return of Rust Red

John Ferguson, the founder of his eponymous New York City-based firm, took over one of the many bedrooms in the show house, and unlike many interior designers in his cohort, he opted out of serene neutrals. Instead, he layered in jewel tones from the floor up, starting, quite literally, with the plush geometric rug that is making a serious case for bringing wall-to-wall back. Bold brick hues aside, the New Yorker also made sure that pretty much every textile in the space—from the canopy draping across the bed frame to the headboard itself—is touchably soft. Now that’s what makes a cozy bedroom.

All-Frills Neutrals

Yes, Jesse Carrier and Mara Miller, the husband-and-wife duo behind Carrier and Company Interiors, chose to swath this sitting room in neutrals, but let it be known: These are not your grandmother’s neutrals. This space, though small, is utterly cool with dark wooden finishes, a medley of throw pillows, and one hard-to-tear-your-eyes-away-from armchair. To tie it all together, the pair installed a piece of artwork to the ceiling and called it lighting. The best rooms tend to feature one item that doesn’t quite go with the rest, and that is what makes it interesting, in our opinion.

Powder Rooms That Don’t Play It Safe

More often than not, the toilet is white porcelain—no matter how cool the powder room. Designer Eva Jean, though, took a sharp left turn off that traditional road. Instead, she chose a bright turquoise toilet and a matching pedestal sink. After all, white just wouldn’t go with the heavily veined pink marble, Murano sconces, and sumptuous wallpaper the way turquoise does. It pops in all the right ways. Normally, the powder room is a get-in-and-get-out situation, but we’d be happy to spend some time in this one.

Comfort Is Decadent

Dubbed the “velvet lounge,” Dunnam Zerbini’s ultra-cozy family room certainly lives up to the name—and not because it’s chock-full of velvet. In fact, there isn’t even that much of the material, but rather, there’s an overwhelming feeling of comfort in here. Like velvet, nothing is too precious or delicate, and the room itself almost invites you to sit wherever you please—even on the floor, where a high-pile rug may be the most comfortable place to take a seat.

Red, But Not as an Accent

Interior designer Andrew Torrey did not simply decorate a home office and call it a day. Rather, he created a very sexy smoking lounge with one main theme: red. He calls the space “Le Femoir,” which quite literally translates to “the smoking room.” While we don’t recommend taking a puff in here (especially with a rug that will absorb that signature odor quite quickly), we are big fans of the vibe in here. What makes it so cool, though? It’s definitely Torrey’s approach to design: He buys only what he loves, and because his style is so distinct and concrete, everything he brings into any space lives happily together. Nothing feels off or random.

Extreme Maximalism

Erik Gensler is not afraid of the word “extra,” and that is abundantly clear in his 1970s-inspired salon, which he calls “After Dark Aerie” for good reason. Personally, we are on board with bringing bits and pieces of perhaps design’s most charismatic era because cognac leather, wide-seat lounge chairs, and a little bit of playful patterns truly never go out of style. And the best part of the 1970s is the fact that the concept of “enough is enough” doesn’t really exist—and we’re here for it.