Insider

The Insider: 2021 Year in Review by Clinton Smith and Sophie Donelson

2021 was unique for many reasons, but one thing is for sure: it was a great year for great design. Virtually or in person, we were able to experience beautiful, inspiring and innovative interiors everywhere from decorator show houses to the screens of our smart phones.

Check out some of our favorite style moments, and look for a preview of 2022 trends in our January installment of Inside Design.

Clint's Top Moments:

1) Very Proper

Design: Kelly Wearstler; Photography: Ingalls Photo

At the newest Proper Hotel location, designer Kelly Wearstler ushered in her signature brand of California cool to Downtown Los Angeles. The hotel collection has other outposts in San Francisco and Santa Monica, as well as Austin, Texas, and this latest reimagines a historic downtown landmark with a contemporary sensibility that still nods to the past. Wearstler marries the best of old and new in the 1920s California Renaissance Revival building with eclectic art and vintage-inspired furnishings. Each of the 148 rooms is subtly different, layered with color, pattern and texture. There are also global influences, including baths that exude Moroccan style. The hotel’s palette ranges from soothing neutrals to jewel and earth tones. Beyond the design, the Proper also features two restaurants by celebrated chefs Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne. At the Proper, it’s a dream team of design and culinary talents under one roof.

Design: Kelly Wearstler; Photography: Ingalls Photo

2) Show Time

Design: Martyn Lawrence Bullard; Photography: Stephen Karlisch

Everything’s bigger in Texas, or so the saying goes. The adage certainly applied to this year’s Kips Bay Dallas Decorator Show House, which drew legions of all-star interior design talent from around the country to transform a Texas residence into a show-stopping showcase of high style. From Alexa Hampton’s ravishing red bedroom to Martyn Lawrence Bullard’s exotic and glamorous guest bedroom, the home’s private quarters offered timeless inspiration. Working from home never looked as enticing as in the office area created by Pulp Design Studios. Corey Damen Jenkins’ tented dining room was made for great gatherings, while Ken Fulk’s celestial study provided true escapism in the chicest way. All of the home’s impeccable spaces provided inspiration, albeit for just a few short weeks. Lucky for us, however, more all-star design spaces are on the way—the next Kips Bay Show House will be held in March in Palm Beach.

Tile: Liaison by Kelly Wearstler, Garde; Design: Pulp Design; Photography: Cody Ulrich

3) Warm Welcome

Tile: Liaison by Kelly Wearstler, Solano Large; Design: Melanie Turner; Photography: Mali Azima

The grand entry of an Atlanta residence by Melanie Turner, featured in her new book, Inviting Interiors (Rizzoli), as well as on the cover of the January/February issue of Veranda magazine kicked off a year of high style and dazzling design. So much about the room is a conversation starter, but what’s underfoot is what got people talking. The staircase features an amazing ombre runner that lures the eye upstairs with its subtle shift in colors. Encountering guests as they arrive is Ann Sack’s own large Solano tile from the Liaison collection by Kelly Wearstler. The high-contrast juxtaposition adds just the right amount of pattern play, and is an unexpected twist on a classic black-and-white motif. If all entries were this welcoming, who would want to leave?

Tile: Liaison by Kelly Wearstler, Solano Large; Design: Melanie Turner; Photography: Mali Azima

Sophie's Top Moments:

1) Return of the Workshop

Cabinets and Trim: Farrow and Ball India Yellow No.66 ; Design: Stephanie Sabbe; Photography: Stephen Karlisch

There was a collective pause — and then applause — when this cheerful utility room landed in our feeds. For her contribution to the House Beautiful Whole Home idea house, Nashville designer Stephanie Sabbe put forth a kitchen and this all-in-one workshop, a thing of dreams. Sabbe envisioned it as a space for laundry, gift-wrapping, dog-washing, flower-cutting, and storage — “a catch-all for anything functional you do in the house,” she told the magazine. And if desire for a room like that wasn’t enough for design lovers, its execution is really what lit us up: the coupling of a William Morris wallpaper and an oh-so arresting cabinetry hue. All at once it seemed we were asking ourselves: Why not yellow? Color buffs immediately recognized the deep mustard hue as an iconic Farrow & Ball offering: India Yellow no. 66, but seeing it so expansively made the best argument yet for yellow. Expect to see more of it.

2) Cozy without Cute

Tile: Context Field in Jasper; Design: Guggenheim Architecture + Design Studio; Photography: Haris Kenjar

Kitchens warmed up this year; exposed stainless steel seemed to slip itself under a blanket of Shaker-style cabinetry and the trappings of daily life — veggies and cooking oils — remained on counters. (We have been using our kitchens more than ever before.) Proving that warmth and elegance aren’t mutually exclusive, the husband-wife duo dubbed The Guggenheims showed up with an Oregon kitchen exhibiting a hefty dose of both. Tapped for Luxe magazine's Red award, the room is an artful product of its surroundings: homey and a tad woodsy, but with high drama — that’s Mount Hood in the distance after all. The handsome materials palette includes walnut cabinetry, ceramic cobalt tile by Ann Sacks and end-grain solid fir floors sourced locally. It’s a kitchen that excels in the implausible: a stylish trinity of simplicity, authenticity, and modernity.

Tile: Context Field in Jasper; Design: Guggenheim Architecture + Design Studio; Photography: Haris Kenjar

3) Take A Dip

Design: Studio Proba; Photography: Madeline Tolle

Is it even a pool party without a sprinkle of decorative confetti in the deep end? Last spring all eyes turned to Palm Springs last spring when Studio Proba turned out an oh-so-photogenic underwater mural at a vacation rental property dubbed Hill House. With a wink and a nod to David Hockney, whose real life pool (and plentiful paintings) featured swimmers amidst lively geometry and squiggles, artist Alex Proba and team transformed another charming mid-century desert hangout into a strong argument for more fun please, both poolside and beyond.