2019 Designer Showcase

Last weekend my husband, sister, and me attended this event held every other year at the Columbus Museum of Art.

According to the description on CMA’s website:

“Designer Showcase”
April 19 – Sunday, May 19, 2019

           This year, Decorators’ Show House becomes Designer Showcase (DSC) and moves into the first floor of the Walter Wing. Fourteen local designers will transform blank galleries into 18 creative living spaces, including bedrooms, living room, bath, and kitchen.

           All proceeds support Wonder School and other creative initiatives.

Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what Wonder School is, and I don’t really care. I just know that I like looking at fancy room furnishings dreaming about what I would buy if money were no object (and if I had a big enough house to fit it all).

I figured my sister would enjoy this sort of thing as a fellow viewer and fan of HGTV, and I wasn’t wrong. Even my husband could appreciate the creativity and style of the rooms.

Part of the fun was looking at the price list posted in every room. We were told the decorators would rather not have to haul everything back to their studios if they could just sell off the various pieces.

My husband and I agreed these “hand” chairs (which he said reminded him of something straight out of “Beetlejuice”) would certainly be a fun feature, though we don’t have the space, and were told they really aren’t that comfortable to sit in.

If we had the space, this set of infinity mirrors would be a lot of fun to look into every day, or maybe you would feel like you were trapped in an Alfred Hitchcock film?

As we were in the car heading back home we each discussed our favorite room. Mine was definitely the children’s bedroom because of the cute bus/loft conversion. It almost felt a bit like tiny house living (or what I imagine tiny house living to be like) climbing a ladder to the loft-like room with a couple bean bags and a television up there. It was nice to feel so cozy and secluded.

We admired and appreciated all the space savers and practical way the various drawers and cupboards opened in the kitchen even providing for a pull-out work space where you could store your Kitchen Aid mixer when you’re not using it (which would be most of the time for the three of us).

My sister noticed the little shower built into the corner of the Laundry/Mud Room which was designed to be somewhere to hose off your muddy pooch or perhaps your muddy wellington boots.

One of the more unusual features that we all liked were the walls lined with organic materials to mimic the out-of-doors.

I’ve seen that occasionally in magazines or on the television, but have rarely ever seen one close-up. Not sure it’s for me, but certainly an interesting and rare installation that your neighbors surely won’t have.

2017 Designer Showcase

All in all, I think I preferred the rooms in the previous (2017) Designer Showcase. That might partly be because it was the first time I had ever attended the event, but I think it was mostly because those rooms were more to my taste than this year’s were.

my favorite room from 2017

Still, I plan to attend the next Showcase in 2021.