When Maryline Damour founded Kingston Design Connection in 2018, she wanted to connect the region’s designers, contractors, and architects, but she also had a much broader sense of community in mind. Since its founding, KDC’s annual design showhouse has raised over $25,000 for community organizations like People’s Place and Ulster County Habitat for Humanity (UHFH) and donated $100,000 worth of design-build services to the Kingston City Land Bank.
Using the five-year mark as an inflection (and reflection) point, Damour and KDC have decided not to produce their annual showhouse this year, but instead to move toward their long-term, big-picture goals of cultivating community through design. “The showhouse keeps getting bigger every year and more complex to produce, but we also want to be a nonprofit that has year-round programming that provides lots of opportunities for our design-build industry to connect,” says Damour, who is also lead designer and co-owner of the design/build firm Damour Drake.
KDC executive director and the founder of Hinterland, a Shokan-based art and design co-op of women female makers, Jennifer Salvemini adds, “We produce this amazing thing with all of these relationships that get developed and forged. What we would like to do is engage that community throughout the year, not just for the three weeks that the showhouse is on.”
To that end, this year KDC will present a series of events ranging from talks to networking mixers to design pop-ups all in collaboration with Ulster Habitat for Humanity (UHFH). But they couldn’t totally do away with the idea of a showhouse. So the first KDC event of the year is the Kingston Design Connection Habitat House, which will be open to the public for four days in April. The Habitat-built house in Saugerties will be staged by five Hudson Valley designers, then sold to a family who qualifies for Habitat’s affordable housing. Most of the furnishings designers used to stage the house were borrowed from the Habitat ReStore on Route 28.
“Habitat felt like the organization that most directly translated into the kind of community service work that our organization would like to become more involved in,” says Salvemini. “That keeps the circle closed in terms of reusability and upcycling.”
The staged event allows visitors a chance to view a Habitat home and see how ReStore items can be stylishly repurposed. Salvemini uses the ReStore as a resource for building materials, affordable furnishings, and home goods both for professional design projects and for her own home.
“This collaboration gives us a fun and experiential opportunity to show off the true quality of the brick-and-mortar homes we build and gain more support and appreciation,” says Lee Anne Albritton, Ulster Habitat ReStore general manager. “And I do really want to highlight the word home versus house. The mission of UHFH is to provide affordable homes for workforce families in Ulster County. And this collaboration is a brilliant way to set the scene of possibility that we offer.”
The home’s living room was styled by designer Michael Van Nort of Kingston’s MVN Design, who created an engaging interior by mixing contemporary furnishings in serene whites and grays with modern art and antique and vintage one-of-a-kind finds.
Brooke Lane of the Kingston-based design firm Transformative Spacing styled the adjoining dining room and kitchen, pairing a grainy taupe table with fluted edges with whitewashed live-edge chairs. Alongside the table, Lane placed a rustic sideboard topped by two playfully patterned Mid-Century lamps. “Rustic-modern ended up being the style of the room and I’m happy with it,” said Lane, who found almost all of the pieces she used at the ReStore.
Seasoned home stager and textile designer Nancy Geany created a soothing sanctuary in the primary bedroom with layers of hand-dyed fabrics. Geany made the ecru linen embroidered draperies that soften the window frames, as well as the bed’s luxuriously detailed sheets, finding just the right shade with natural, plant-based dyes. The Woodstock-based designer also borrowed a rustic-wheeled bench from the ReStore, and covered it with a plush layer of textiles.
Designer Ariana Winston styled the home’s office space by creating her own wallpaper. Inspired by vintage quilting patterns and the work of textile designer Annie Albers, the result is at once retro and modern, a melange of natural colors delineated in a stylish modern grid. “I always love to mix new and vintage into my work,” said Winston, who is based in South Salem. “But especially since we are highlighting pieces found at Habitat’s ReStore, the theme of quilting and weaving seemed particularly appropriate.”
The lounge created by Kingston-based muralist and decorative artist Audrey Davis is the most vividly colored room in the house. A cobalt blue couch and footstool contrast brightly with a brick-red antique rug and curtains. A shaggy teal pillow and navy throw help pile on texture and comfort.
The Kingston Design Connection Habitat Home is open to the public from 12pm to 5pm April 22, 23, 29, and 30 at 28 Broadway, Saugerties. Buy your tickets online. Follow KDC’s Instagram for information on future events. The Kingston Design Showhouse will return in October 2024. The application process opens in spring 2024.
