By Christine Davis
The 2010 Red Cross Designers’ Show House takes up residence at CityPlace South Tower in West Palm Beach through Feb. 20. This year, 18 designers transformed four units on the 19th-floor middle-penthouse level of the 20-story luxury tower.
Two designers are from Delray Beach. One of the four units, a 1,968-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath unit with a den houses Excentricities South’s boutique, organized by Frank Maguire, and Virginia Courtenay decorated the living room, dining room and kitchen in one of the other three units.
Frank J. Maguire, co-owner of Excentricities South, has organized the Red Cross Designers’ Show House boutique for the last four years. In the past, he’s set his space up in a garage and in a lobby. This year, though, he has an entire apartment to display furniture, art and accessories, as well as offering a little bistro catered by Tim Trill.
Since the boutique is set up in a unit just under 2,000 square feet, it affords the perfect opportunity to see how best to display furniture and items in a smaller space, he said.
Maguire’s tips:
• Don’t overload. Keep it as simple as possible and use a tape measure.
• A spot of color is good. If you paint your farthest wall a color, for example, it can give the room a little depth, and even exaggerate the size.
• Sometimes, in a smaller space, big works better. A mirror will make a room appear larger. Don’t choose a little tchotchke one, though, he warns. Use a big, framed, hunky mirror — that will hit the spot.
Virginia Courtenay’s imaginary green-conscious cosmopolitan snowbird clients decorate their first Florida home with pieces that they love and, over time, will move with them.
“They are coming here to see if they like Palm Beach and to see if they fit in,” Courtenay said. “This is a chic address, and it’s is a good place for them to start out. If they like the area, they want to move easily to another larger home, so their choices of furniture and art for this apartment are pieces that they plan to take with them.
Courtenay’s tips:
“Since they are green-conscious, they chose a sofa with soy cushions. Fabrics are 100 percent wool. And you can’t get any greener than 18th century antiques: They’ve been saved through the ages.”
• Don’t overlook, or be fooled by, scale and proportion. One entire wall features a grouping of Richard Tobias’ water photography (water is our most precious commodity). Groupings are nice in small spaces, but you can go big, too. In the dining room, one large Tobias piece fits just as nicely.
• Edit. In the living room, what fits are one loveseat and two chairs. Stop right there. That does the trick. • Rugs. The right size for a small place can be moved to a larger home. So, not to worry.
The show house is at 550 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach and runs through Feb. 20. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are $30. For more information, contact Maura Nelson at 561-650-9131 or nelsonm@redcross-pbc.org, or visit www.redcrossshowhouse.org.About the American Red CrossFor more than 90 years, the American Red Cross Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter, which includes Glades, Hendry, Okeechobee and Palm Beach counties, has provided relief to victims of disasters at home and abroad, taught life-saving skills, and supported military members and their families. The American Red Cross, a charity and not a government agency, depends on voluntary contributions of time and money to perform its humanitarian mission. To learn more about the work of the Red Cross or to make a donation, call 561-833-7711 or visit www.redcross-pbc.org.
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