Celebrity Style

Designers often create rooms based around specific objects, colors or patterns. This year's Design Idea Center (DIC), however, has added a more personal touch as the personalities of well-known celebrities became the inspirations for three room designs.

To design the 2005 DIC, sponsors Woman's Day Special Interest Publications (WDSIPs) and the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) tapped the talents of Dianna Holmes, design manager for Canac, a Kohler Co., and Ingrid Leess, of New Canaan, CT-based Leess Design. The design duo created a trio of kitchen and bath showcases, dubbed "Ultimate Amenities," based on the distinct styles and interests of Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson and celebrity chefs Rachael Ray and Tyler Florence. It will be presented at K/BIS in Las Vegas, May 10 to 12.

CAUSE CELEB
Creating a showcase around the personality of an individual well-ensconced in the public eye might seem an intimidating assignment. Holmes and Leess had to first capture each of the private needs and wants of these three very public personas who are not only long-time television personalities, but also authors.

First off, Sarah Ferguson, Weight Watchers' long-time TV spokesperson, is the former wife of Britain's Prince Andrew, second son of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. The Duchess of York has penned five books for Weight Watchers, as well as a number of children's books. Her most recent junior title, Little Red's Christmas Story, was published in October 2004 by Simon & Schuster.

The star of two top-rated Food Network series, 30-Minute Meals and $40 A Day, Rachael Ray is also an author. She's written three books: $40 A Day: Best Eats in Town, Cooking Rocks! Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals for Kids and Cooking 'Round the Clock.

And Tyler Florence is the host of the Food Network's How to Boil Water and Food 911. Named People magazine's "Sexiest Chef Alive" for 2003, Florence released a cookbook that same year from Clarkson Potter, titled Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen. He penned Eat This Book, released in 2005 by the same publisher. This particular publication inspired the creation of a line of Real Kitchen cooking and serving products, marketed exclusively at Mervyn's, a department store chain with 257 locations in 13 states.

KEY WORDS: INNER DESIRE
Armed with this public information and more intrigued than challenged by the task of creating two celebrity-inspired kitchens and one bath, Holmes took the lead and decided to get behind the personas. She discussed design preferences with each of her famous clients beforehand, allowing her to find just the right combination of room elements.

"Each person gave us some key words to go by, like 'luxurious' or 'urban' or 'hip,' " Holmes explains. "For instance, Rachael gave us words like 'comfortable' and 'cozy.' Those words generate an image for people, and this provided us with [some basic design inspiration] for trying to create rooms that [evinced] these feelings."

Holmes believes using key words is an effective approach for any client, and traditionally uses this technique to be sure her design plans are in line with the client's design goals. "Whenever I design a space, I ask the clients for descriptors," she elaborates. "They may not know what they want, but they generally know the feeling they want, how they want themselves represented. It goes to the idea of individuality, customization, personality put into a space." After obtaining a client's descriptors, Holmes says she next identifies any specific needs - for instance, adequate seating space in a kitchen for entertainment purposes.

After extracting the key words that revealed who they are, their inner desires and the image they prefer to project, Holmes got together with Leess and set about the task of designing rooms that meshed with the celebrities' tastes. "Flow was really important," emphasizes Holmes, "and we wanted three very distinct areas because we had three very distinct personalities."