Need some inspiration to transform your home into inviting spaces that evoke the fantasy and glamour of the Holiday season? Then maybe it's time to tour Holiday Splendor, a design installation at the mansion on the grounds of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota. Ten professionals, all members of the Florida West Coast Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), have taken on indoor and outdoor spaces at this elegant historic house to show what can be achieved with furniture, glittery metallic accents, fabric, wreaths, sparkle and some creative artistic thinking.
Designer Gary Ficht has imagined the bedroom as a Sugar Plum Fairy dream using silk fabrics, antique headboards and candy colors. In the French parlor, design mother/daughter duo Bonnie Lancaster and Keffie Lancaster envision what might happen if you were inside a big blue box from a famous jeweler. The creamy silk-taffeta drapes in the Tiffany-style blue room are festooned with hand-made ivory fabric roses and the tie-backs are encrusted with rhinestones. The Christmas tree is decorated with white orchids, peacocks and reflective blue balls for a holiday look that is the epitome of European elegance and sophisticated merriment.
By contrast the stately living room with its impressive fireplace and traditional features such as crown molding and chair rails, has been treated by Holly Dennis to a more contemporary look than the room originally wore when the house was built in 1934 for Christy and Ann Payne. The Colonial Revival home, was a neighboring property to the William and Marie Selby estate. The Payne mansion and grounds became part of Selby Gardens in 1973 and house is on the National Register of Historic Places. Dennis used watery blues, citrine, lots of mirror and glass surfaces. "I love the effect you can achieve with reflective surfaces," she said. "It's an easy way to get a big impact. The blue glass lamps on either side of the sofa are among my favorite pieces in this room." Dennis' challenge was the size of the room and space planning so that tour goers could get close to the decor.
The living room features large botanical prints that reference Selby Gardens. The style of the furniture is transitional. (Herald-Tribune staff photo by Dan Wagner)
"Doing a home like this comes with significant restrictions," said Jeff Hart one of the designers and a veteran of many showhouse projects. "The house has museum standards, which means no fresh flowers and no lit candles. All art has to be hung from the picture molding and we have to place furniture to ensure a safe and efficient traffic flow because there are times when the house is quite crowded with visitors who want to see what we've done."
Hart chose to do the sunroom off the living room. "Since the room is small, I only used a few pieces of furniture and my holiday symbol is actually tree branches and crystal lights in a container with black poinsettias and white matte balls, he said. "Homeowners who don't have a lot of space can make this kind of holiday decoration work in tight spaces. You don't have to be committed to a standing tree."
Floral arrangements for Holiday Splendor are supplied by Lux-Art Silks/Christmas Traditions. The designers and their to-the-trade sources supply the furnishings, most of which are for sale. There's an inventory and price list in each room. The designers are allowed to paint and paper the walls, hang window treatments and drape the ceilings as long as they return all the spaces to the way they found them. The mansion is normally used as art exhibition space.
Some of the members of the design team who worked on the Holiday Splendor installation at the Payne Mansion at Selby Gardens. From left to right: Louise Stewart, Jo Ann Calleia, Jeff Hart, Keffie Lancaster, Gary Ficht, Bonnie Lancaster, Micheline Laberge, Diane Boyhan, Holly Dennis, Tracee Murphy and Harriet Stephenson. (Herald-Tribune staff photo by Dan Wagner)
The formal dining room is an Art Deco installation by Cheri Neary and Diane Boyhan. It's grand and sumptuous with pink walls, a gauze-draped ceiling, black accent furniture and raspberry chairs that feature big peacocks in the pattern. The room makes a bold and confident holiday statement and the table setting is worth a close look.
In the brick-floor sunroom at the back of the house, designer Micheline Laberge saw the space as an homage to the famous Russian Tea Room in New York. Anyone who has ever eaten at that iconic restaurant will recognize the two hanging light fixtures. "I did it to conceal two ceiling fans," said the designer, "but the whole scheme and color palette for the room came from the carpet I chose. The room is small but rich with claret drapes and antiques including an 1850 settee from a Paris hotel." The needlepoint chairs in the Russian Tea Room are heirlooms and were done by women in the designer's family, including Laberge herself.
The Russian Tea Room probably has the most glamour packed into the smallest space, but that's for tour-goers to judge. Continuing a practice started last year, project chairman Will Brown is inviting guests to vote for their favorite spaces in various categories. Winners will be announced the third week into the tour.
