The good weather brings many activities, places to go, people to see, activities that the long winter and spring didn't allow. A rite of spring into summer are house tours, a fun way to fundraise, by bringing community together, coordinating efforts of designers, friends and local businesses. I was thrilled when interior designers Danielle Palmadessa-Lynch and Phyllis Freed asked if I would get involved with the home they were creating for the Upper Saddle River House Tour on June 5th.

The homeowners of this particular house graciously loaned their sprawling home for the kitchen tour. Since the home was fairly empty, Danielle and Phyllis decided that the main floor, leading towards the kitchen should be furnished, staged and accessorized as well, making the walk to the kitchen a tour of its own.The entry, was not finished as we were installing on Monday, but Architectural Garden, an encaustic wax and oil by Andrea Bonfils compliments the plan, lots of turquoise and summer color.Friends and colleagues, the two women have way too much fun to call this just business. With separate design businesses, DRP Interiors and Freed & Company, in Bergen County, after this successful collaboration, the two are now planning joint business and projects together.

The dining room was updated with new lighting and rug. While waiting for the rest of the accessories, we placed Xanda McCagg’s abstract painting, Tete a Tete, above the buffet, a focal point both in the room and as you enter the house.

The designers have a similar creative aesthetic, comfortably bouncing furnishing ideas off each other and laughing how after weeks together, "they are finishing each others sentences". I listened to them talk back and forth planning and plotting as I joined them for part of the installation. This vignette tells their color story. The color, texture and depth of Beyond Blue Diptych, another encaustic painting by Andrea Bonfils feels right at home.

Timeless, the classic black and white abstract by Kerri Rosenthal, compliments the detail on the sofa arm and grounds the large colorful room.

The women sent me images, colors and fabrics as they conceptualized the house. The plan was to make the house ready for summer entertaining, indoors and out. They asked us to provide artwork from Romanoff Elements artists to work with their fun colorful palette, turquoise, pink, lime green.

A framed pair of mono prints, Flare Series, by Anne Raymond provides color along the long wall of windows and brings the eye around the room. The designers created several seating areas and tied it together with color, creating a warm and inviting space.

Spending time with them as they moved quickly and filled the house and backyard with furnishings this week felt like being on a TV set. Actually, there was a film crew there with Backyard Living, an outdoor furnishing company that provided plenty of deck and poolside furnishings to accommodate a pretty big outdoor party. They filmed the installation, indoors and out.

The sunny breakfast nook overlooks the pool and entertaining area. The black and white horse photographs by Barbara Erdmann, Fringe and Attachment, compliment the zebra print dining chairs, without distracting from the colorful table settings and outdoor view.

The kitchen counters are set and ready…

There are 9 kitchens on the tour, this was the only house that was fully staged. The community is raising money to go towards a new ambulance for the USREMS. Danielle and Phyllis are selling most of the furnishings in the home, which was provided by many local businesses. A portion of all sales of furnishings and art will be donated to help purchase the much needed ambulance.

There are a number of organizations in the community that have joined efforts, time and resources to make the house and kitchen tour possible. It was a fun project to work on and collaborate with the designers. How nice that the good weather has brought us all out of our homes for different community activities.

It’s always great to see how artwork can compliment and enhance different spaces. Thanks for taking the virtual tour and browsing the photos!