You would never have guessed that Newport Design Week was in its first year. Even with the packed crowds at the Newport Folk Festival, Newport Design Week managed to sell out, with fans of interior design attending events among the architecturally stunning buildings of Salve Regina University. Headlined by legendary names in design such as Alex Papachristidis, Anne Fairfax, Suzanne Tucker, Charlotte Barnes and Eric Ross, interior and architecture afficionados were treated to elegant events that celebrated interior design’s past, present and future.
Newport’s inaugural design event offered a unique perspective. Rather than a design convention, Newport Design Week took advantage of some of the most enchanting locales that the historic city had to offer in its celebration of design excellence. World-renowned designers and experts headlined discussions set against the exquisite backdrop of Salve’s Ochre Court and Young Building.
“I had lots of inspiration from lots of different places,” said designer Charlotte Barnes, during her talk at Ochre Court on Friday. “You have to decorate for yourself, I think,” she added as she showed attendees the many regional influences she incorporated into her interior design projects.
The week kicked off with a VIP party at the Newport Art Museum, which also served as a sendoff with coffee and pastries on Sunday while viewing Nick Mele’s acclaimed photographs. Every day of the conference was meticulously designed with elegant lunches, book signings from some of the most accomplished designers, with two incredible events that closed out the week.
The last two evenings of the conference represented the very best of interior design, including the annual Newport Show, an Antiques, Art & Exquisite object auction, which raised over $4 million for the Newport Historical Society and the Boys & Girls Club of Newport County. The Newport Historical Society’s rare collection of manuscripts, portraits, silver, furniture, decorative arts, and genealogical items represents one of the finest historical society collections in New England, and it was fascinating to walk through the scope of items available that took over St. George’s ice rink.
Saturday night’s soiree was held at an architectural marvel, a private home that reminded me both of a French chateau and the von Trapp Austrian home in The Sound of Music. It even had an elegant ballroom outfitted with an equally impressive (and massive) chandelier. Not a bad way to culminate a week of design brilliance.
I don’t know much about design—at least not on this advanced level—but that worked in my favor because I was like a sponge taking in all the extraordinary knowledge of the design industry that was shared throughout the week. Among the highlights included a beautiful lunch where I listed to esteemed interior designer Alex Papachristidis, who interlaced his incredible design prowess with entertaining flare.
“They buy things that they love,” he said about his clients. “It’s not all about money. It’s about something chic and stylish. It doesn’t need to be expensive to be divine,” was his advice.
“It’s not only our goal to create beautiful rooms, but to create interiors that make our clients feel that it’s truly a part of them, that they love them, and it’s really their home,” Papachristidis said during his presentation.
“But you know what? There’s really no difference between traditional and contemporary decoration, because it’s all about proportionate scale. It’s all about multiples of textures and fabrics. It’s all about different shapes,” he added. He was fascinating to listen to.
Bearing in mind that The Gilded Age was just filmed here in Newport (and with S3 scheduled to shoot in the fall), there were talks on Newport and Design History, the Antiques Market, architectural proportion, luxury designing and yachting, and my personal favorite, a discussion dedicated to Edith Wharton’s design rules by Michael Carter from Carter & Company Interior Design. Who wouldn’t want their home looking like the set from The Age of Innocence?
On Saturday’s lunch, renowned designer Christopher Hyland presented journalist Mitch Owens with the Hyland Award for his contribution to the design world.
The Newport Show has already established itself as a staple of the Newport summer calendar. Integrated into the inaugural Newport Design Week, the scrupulously devised conference was a rousing sold-out success. Do not miss this fabulous event dedicated to the finest craftsmanship next year!