"Camp Citron - Before and After . . . "

photography by Marco Ricca

Greetings,

Where has the year gone ?!?!??!?! 

Cast your mind back to late May of 2015 - and try to imagine me showing up in New York (on practically no sleep) to review the rooms in the Traditional Home Hampton Showcase House - and make some VERY important decisions about spaces and design ideas.

This is what I saw on my first visit to the house.

I looked at several rooms as options for our participation 

in the house - but, I LOVED the light in this little Mud Room.

But, what should we DO with it . . . 

We decided on an Adirondack starting point for the space.  

That certainly felt perfect for a room in the Hamptons - 

but, I wanted to give it a more individual point of view.  

I didn't want a room filled with vintage props and 

musty lake-side textiles.  

I wanted it to feel modern.  Sexy.  Sporty.  

The beautiful rendering by Jane Gianarelli

We started with a colour idea -

combining a brilliant red, a clear green, and a citron yellow. 

I've loved the "President's Chair" from Palecek forever -

and found that they had a new hi-gloss paint finish to help bring 

the room into the present.

My next stop was at Arthaus Gallery here in San Francisco.  

I had seen these dreamy black-and-white paintings by Jhina

 Alverado of lakeside swimmers - but, with a perfect, 

modern edge to them.  And then I found a glorious 

Patter Hellstrom abstract piece that *really* 

started my mind to spinning.  

Some quick textile shopping - 

including a planned debut of a few 

textiles from SMW Home - 

and things seemed to be coming together.

All I had to do was make some final decisions - and ship everything across the US.  

Soon everything - including me! - was Hamptons bound . . . 

Hilariously - the movers arrived before we did!  

So this is what I walked into after my red-eye 

flight to NY - and the long drive up at Sag Harbor.  

Everything seemed to be here.  

Kayak?  check.  

Armchairs? check.  

Artwork? check.  

Props?  check.

Ok.  let's see how this all fits together . . . . 

Drapes up.  Furniture placed.  Getting ready to 

get that artwork up off the floor and on the walls. 

Since the room didn't have wiring for a central light fixture,

I had the idea of hanging a kayak in the middle of the room - just

to give the space a center-point.

Let me tell you, getting the kayak up was an adventure all unto itself.  

Somewhere in my mind - I decided that I could get it 

installed without any assistance.  

Silly designer . . . lol.

But the best part of working in a showcase house - if 

a problem comes up - the project is practically 

crawling with contractors and workmen - lol.  

And these fine gentlemen just grabbed 

the bull (or the kayak) by the horns 

and within 20 minutes is was perfect. 

I loved this great built-in seating!  

So all we needed to do was get it dressed 

and ready to be stylish and functional.

A 7 foot long custom cushion in our new SMW HOME Drew Tartan - 

as well as artwork and pillows helped bring it all to life! 

That's actually my own Patagonia jacket - and tartan bucket hat -

 that was immediately converted from travel wardrobe to design prop!

  'Cause you've got to get it all done! 

Here's the main wall - from my first visit to the house . . .

. . . and now it's all decked out in its modern Adirondack finery 

and the amazing artwork from Arthaus!

I want to thank the entire team at Traditional Home (the complete Showcase House is in this month's glorious issue!) for their ongoing support of showcases houses across the country!   

Cheers,
Scot

progress photography by SMW
final photography by Marco Ricca