Florida Design – Digital Edition Volume 32-3

With all the new superior design that’s taking place in Florida these days, we sometimes forget the "old" outstanding design that’s already there. As part of this fall 2022 issue, we decided to highlight the properties that give our state its design prestige, our Florida treasures if you will. Putting the article together reminded me that I am overdue for an architectural road trip of the peninsula. Although I’m in-person familiar with all but three of the places we chose to highlight, I’d love to spend more time just walking the streets of Seaside and getting reacquainted with its small-town charm. I’ve already enlisted a friend for a return visit to the Healy Guest House in Siesta Key (and a few of the other structures that define the Sarasota School…

At a recent lunch with an industry partner, I was somewhat surprised (well, not really) to hear that he had relocated his family to Florida. A Michigan native who’d been living in the Northeast for many years, my contact decided the time was right to take the plunge and move to these shores. “Since I can work from anywhere now, why not work from where the sun is always shining?” he said. Why not, indeed? In the last two years, this has become a common refrain from people across the United States and abroad. Investment firms from New York and Chicago have recently opened offices in Miami and Palm Beach, moving employees here permanently. Some even provide workspaces that give teams access to a traditional office environment when they are…

PATTI BARNETT KELTER Kelter Schwartz Design “Starting Anew,” page 174 Bringing the Palm Beach home on this issue’s cover into 2022 proved to be a rather inspiring prospect for Patti Barnett Kelter, a designer who never shies away from a challenge. “This was an exciting, new update for a Spanish Colonial style home on an existing property,” says Kelter, who is based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. “We updated the interior with modern amenities while staying true to the client’s tastes. It was all about color, lifestyle, and comfort, while staying honest to my design philosophy.” ALLEN SAUNDERS Allen Saunders Design “Style & Substance,” page 184 Refined is a good way to describe the Delray Beach residence designer Allen Saunders shared with us in this edition. “The elegantly appointed home is…

A trendsetter, society fixture, and royal, Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece has been a leading figure in baby fashion and related accessories since debuting her eponymous brand in 2000. Her latest effort, however, focuses on a tot’s surroundings rather than his or her personal style. In collaboration with Schumacher, the tastemaker has launched a full suite of fabrics, wallcoverings, and trims with motifs that make them ideal for a child’s room or nursery. The seven prints that make up the line (which can be adapted as fabrics or wall textures) include imagery such as rabbits, buffalos, cowboys, forests, flowers, and stars. “Since [launching my company], a love of design and craftsmanship, and a focus on family have been the driving forces behind my collections,” says the mother of five. “I’ve loved…

Talk about checking off multiple boxes. The new Metamorphosis collection released by Paola Lenti in collaboration with the Campana Brothers is a testament to sustainability, the joy of color, and the limitless possibilities of artisanal design. Made from materials that would otherwise end up in a landfill or polluting our oceans, Metamorphosis consists of five seating options and a rug inspired by the natural world. Many of the amorphous pieces recall crawling creatures before they emerge from their chrysalis, transformed and renewed. “This is an awareness raising project,” says Lenti. “In this period characterized by limited access to materials, the design of this new collection is a creative and tangible proposal that can reunite us with the cultural values of our not-so-distant past when reusing objects and materials was considered…

Utopian Ideals FANNY AND MICHELLE HAIM IMAGINE THE ULTIMATE SANCTUM WITH SUSTAINABILITY AS THEIR GUIDING FORCE Q. How did the Earth lounge we see here come to be? MH: At Casacor Miami 2019, artists and designers were asked to create a space using sustainability as the theme. We were given the opportunity to create something completely unique, carte blanche, as long as it offered a strong backbone supporting the concept of sustainability. Q. What did you envision this room being used for? FH: As a place for humans to interact with one another, void of digital life for a moment, and be present with each other. Q. In what ways did you address the sustainability theme? MH: The approach for the installation was to create a system of modules that…