Who's Really Behind Palm Beach's Best?

Spring Break is here…welcome to peak Palm Beach Season

We went out to find the faces behind the Best of Palm Beach Dining - chosen and celebrated by our community

The Kips Bay Decorator Show House was one of the earliest injections of magic I ever experienced in Palm Beach. What do you mean, I can walk through a labyrinthine mansion in which 30 designers have unleashed their unbridled fantasies?

Coupled with the shock of saturated glamour, I left my first showhouse (in 2021) with so many questions: How do they find a house, and who pays for all this? How are the designers chosen? How do they land on a concept? How long do they have to install? What happens after the month that it’s open?

This year, I come with answers — and then some. I got an early look at the house and was able to ask the designers for the backstory behind their brilliance.

Here’s how it works: Nazira Handal (who has overseen the showhouses for 14 years) finds an empty house through realtors or an article calling for submissions. It has to be big enough to accommodate at least 25 separate spaces, indoors and out. A committee from the Boys & Girls Club — the organization that benefits from ticket sales — reviews designer applications and portfolios and ultimately selects a combination of established and emerging talents.

The designers are given a maximum of eight weeks to makeover their space. They have access immediately, but many start only with floor plans, "before" pics, and dimensions. They pay for all their own materials and installations, aside from materials donated by sponsors or lent by artists or other businesses. Most spend $50,000 to $200,000 of their own money.

For the final furniture delivery, each is given a four-hour window on a staggered timeline, starting from the back of the house and moving to the front. They have an 8 am deadline, and if they aren’t ready in time, their space is closed off, or at least not photographed. (This, miraculously, has only happened once.)

The designers all felt so liberated to create without the constraints of a cautious client. Some finally used a favorite pattern or print; others used bolder colors. And most had a singular inspiration to set off the whole concept: a saturated pic by Slim Aarons, a bright pink mahjong board, and Princess Margaret on holiday, to standout pieces like a sculptural light fixture or an exquisite rug. That’s the fun part.

Most also had a major challenge or hiccup before everything came together — major design elements lost in customs, a couch that wouldn’t fit, a bathroom shelf forgotten, kitchen cabinets that didn’t fit, or a surprise bathroom added to a project — to name a few. They all pivoted, found solutions, and pulled it off. Constraint — this time in terms of timeline and budget — really does inspire creativity.

I share all these details, and much more, in the full video, linked here. This includes before-and-after photos of the space, insights into the designer's inspirations, and — the part we don’t usually see — the dramatic horror stories hidden behind the curtains. -Maghan