The Seacliff neighborhood of San Francisco is the site of the 44th Decorator Showcase that runs through May 29 and features 23 Bay Area design firms, including three talented ones from Marin.
The stylish transformations take place at a stately three-story, Mediterranean Spanish-style home built in 1927, with views of the San Francisco bay, Golden Gate Bridge and Marin Headlands.
Designers reimagined 28 design spaces that cover five bedrooms, five-and-a-half bathrooms, a game room, movie room, elevator, laundry room and more.
Marin’s participating design firms are Lauren Berry Interior Design and Shelley & Company Interior Design, both from Ross, and EJ Interior Design from Tiburon.
Lauren Berry (laurenberry.com) founded her interior design firm more than 20 years ago and was a previous Showcase participant.
In the 2019 Showcase house, she designed an en-suite espresso and cocktail bar but, this time around, she turned her attention to a larger space, the “Sea Salt Kitchen.” Her vision was to create “an open gourmet family kitchen with commercial-grade appliances that easily transitions into a dramatic backdrop to the breakfast and dining rooms,” she says.
Berry’s timeless color palette of warm whites, creams and soft grays, she says, was inspired by the California coast.
A Calacatta marble waterfall island anchors the sleek kitchen with its shape referenced 10 feet above by a large LED-lighted tray ceiling.
Marble also surrounds the large Hestan range, conceals the hood and slides to hide a pair of shallow shelves that flank the range.
Bespoke white oak cabinetry, wall panels and panels over the appliances lend a warm, quiet backdrop to the marble.
A built-in sectional sofa, complemented by a Holly Hunt wall covering and locally sourced artwork, is a comfortable spot to visit with the chef, check emails or watch the wall-mounted television
Berry hopes visitors will notice the “amazing plastic-free pantry organization system by Blisshaus and the eco-friendly Zip Water filtration system offering on-demand cold, hot and sparkling water.”
Eugenia and Emma Jesberg, the mother-daughter duo of EJ Interior Design (ejinteriordesign.com), a 30-year-old firm based in Tiburon, took a vibrant, playful approach to a young girl’s bedroom with en-suite bathroom and dubbed it “Sadie’s Arty Party” and “Bubbly Bash.”
Although this is Eugenia Jesberg’s fourth Decorator Showcase over the years, it’s Emma’s first, as well as their first joint Showcase space.
“It has been a lot of work and a lot of fun,” Emma Jesberg says. “Showcase is an opportunity to go big and bold and layer it up, design for a dream client, explore new product and also highlight our favorite collaborators.”
The bedroom, which is flooded in wonderful natural light, is the fun setting for Sadie’s Arty Party, where the Jesbergs wanted a space that would foster creativity and imagination to please Sadie, their “client,” who they describe as someone who is “the life of the party, loves pink and has a strong sense of imagination,” Emma Jesberg says.
Eugenia Jesberg agrees, and while it may have been designed with a young girl in mind, “we think it can appeal whether you are 6 years old to 66 years old.“
The focal point in the bedroom is a custom statement bed, inspired by the 1980s Memphis movement, and designed by EJ Interiors with seven cotton velvets from Pierre Frey.
The unexpected ceiling wall covering and window treatments, both in Pierre Frey’s Arty pattern, balance the bed “by creating a playful contrast to the soft geometry of the bed,” Emma Jesberg says.
A custom rug, a vintage desk, a pair of Gary Hutton cube side tables, art and a stuffed toy alpaca are among the curated accessories.
In the adjacent bathroom, the designers created Bubbly Bash, where walls are studded with custom-colored glass mosaic that resembles confetti. Floating countertop and shelves, colorful plumbing and suspended globe light fixtures continue the theme of play.
“While our bedroom looks quite pink and colorful, the walls are white, further reiterating that this room is Sadie’s ‘blank canvas,'” Eugenia Jesberg says.
The home’s boiler and wet room underwent a major makeover when Shelley Cahan and Sarah Wilson of Shelley & Company Interior Design (shelleyandcompany.com) took over.
There was a boiler, a sink, a brick chimney, closets, washer and dryer hookups, concrete floors, and tons of plumbing and exposed pipes, recalls Jenny Bittner Borden, director of operations for the San Francisco Decorator Showcase.
The design firm “expanded the playroom by knocking down the north wall and creating a dedicated boiler room, leveled the floors and created a bright and airy feel to what was a dark and cold room,” she adds. “I think it was very hard for most to see the possibilities with this space, and Shelley and team took on that challenge and nailed it.”
“Marin readers will love the location,” says Borden, citing the home’s proximity to nearby beaches, the Legion of Honor and interesting restaurants and bakeries. “Make a day out of it and have a fun adventure.”
Her insider tips? Look for the “little hidden gems around the house, including hidden spice racks in the kitchen, an espresso bar in her office, a wet bar in his office, a backlit marble bar and a wine cellar.”
She welcomes those who visit the Showcase on Friday nights to enjoy complimentary white wine and snacks outdoors during “Friday Nights at Showcase” from 5 to 7 p.m.
• The 44th Decorator Showcase runs through May 29 at 625 El Camino Del Mar in San Francisco. Closed on Mondays except for Memorial Day. The hours are from opening to last entry: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $40 to $45. Tickets are available online or at the door and are payable with Visa, Mastercard and Discover cards, or cash. Call 415-447-5830 or go to decoratorshowcase.org.
More: Tour should take 60 to 90 minutes to complete. Parking is limited and public transportation or rideshare is recommended. Proceeds benefit the San Francisco University High School financial aid program.
If you have a beautiful or interesting Marin garden or a newly designed Marin home, I’d love to know about it.
Please send an email describing either one (or both), what you love most about it, and a photograph or two. I will post the best ones in upcoming columns. Your name will be published and you must be over 18 years old and a Marin resident.
• Join the No Mow May or Low Mow Spring movements this month and give yourself, your lawn, and bees and other pollinators a break. For details and a free printable lawn sign, go to beecityusa.org.
• San Anselmo residents can trade in their (now-banned) gas-powered landscape equipment and apply for a rebate towards the purchase of new electric gear by going to the landscape equipment information page at townofsananselmo.org.
• Master Rosarians Paula Jaffe and Betty Mott will give helpful tips to anyone who wants to enter a rose or rose photograph in the upcoming Celebration of Roses in Greenbrae at 6:30 p.m. May 9 at the Mill Valley Community Center at 180 Camino Alto in Mill Valley. Go to marinrose.org.
PJ Bremier writes on home, garden, design and entertaining topics every Saturday. She may be contacted at P.O. Box 412, Kentfield 94914, or at pj@pjbremier.com.
