Pasadena Showcase House of Design
The Pasadena Showcase House of Design is the oldest and most successful showcase house in the nation. Every year people flock to see these beautiful old mansions from another era that have been renovated inside and out.
What's the experience like from a designer's perspective? Let me tell you my story designing this teenage boy's room.
The before photos are pretty ugly but that's where it all starts. Designers are invited to see the house and fill out an application showing our design concept for any rooms we're interested in transforming. The bedroom and bath I chose required a very creative solution and that attracted me. I imagined a suspended bed in one corner of the room. The committee loved the idea and said yes. The photo above shows the finished bed. My vision was to suspend the bed with pipe fittings for an industrial look that hadn't ever been done. My partner, Don Boline of Concept Builders, built the bed by hand. Be sure to see in-process photos on the additional pages of this story.The ceiling was highlighted with handpainted stripes. At first the owners said no to this idea and we proceeded knowing we might have to repaint the ceiling after the show. Fortunately, the owners were happy with the finished room.
There are really multiple decision makers for every design house. The benefit committee may feel one way, the benefit chairwoman may have another opinion, and the homeowners will have their input as well. The colors for this room were chosen from a list of colors selected by the benefit committe. For this teenage boy's room, I wanted a rock 'n' roll vibe with an industrial feel. This blue felt masculine and moody. I enjoy adding the unusual and unexpected in my work and the one of a kind vintage paper cutter made into a side table drew a lot of attention at this show. The art was commissioned for the space. The rock 'n' roll series was a favorite for people coming through the room. Many people don't know this but you can buy most of the items at showcase houses. That artwork was sold to someone who played guitar.
There were doors or windows on every wall of this suite making the space a creative challenge. Most unusually, the son's bathoom had a door opening into the master bedroom which of course had it's own bathroom. It took some discussion but eventually the committee said we could close off the bathroom door going to the master bedroom. The after photo below shows the beautiful sink vanity and mirror surround that I designed in place of that old door.