Tour Kips Bay Today!

 

If you haven’t had a chance to visit the 43rd Annual Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club Decorator Show House this spring, don’t delay​! This inspiring showcase of design talent, invention, and fun wraps up its run behind the Beaux Arts limestone façade of the circa 1909 Arthur Sachs Mansion, at 58 East 66th Street today, Thursday, June 11.

 

Best & Company​ is honored to have had an opportunity to work behind the scenes for the dream teams from Alan Tanksley Inc., Thom Filicia Inc., Michael Herold Design, and Rottet Studio. It is always exciting to see a designer’s vision come to life in a show house environment. One day, all you see is drywall and some sketches…and then, a little dust, hammering, drilling, nailing, painting, pasting, installing, and, in just a few short weeks…magic happens.

 

Congratulations and a huge thank-you to the creative individuals and corporate sponsors whose commitment brought these environments from concept to reality to support the important work of the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club in the Bronx, a youth organization that has made it a mission to improve the lives of New York City children for 100 years.

 

See our Press page for select coverage of our projects in this year’s show! And look for more fun events sponsored by the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club, here.

A Few Good Men

 

Behind every successful organization is at least one great individual with the vision, determination, work ethic, and charisma to bring an idea from dream to reality. At the 2015 Alpha Awards on May 12th, Best & Company founders Chip Brian and Mike Daddio were honored for their work in bringing a long-held dream of Executive Director Ken Wampler’s to life: to create a storefront gallery space where passersby and invited guests could experience the beauty of the furniture, wallpaper, and decorative pieces being made in the studios and classrooms of the Alpha Workshops up close, allowing them to experience firsthand how the workshops create beauty and change the lives of individuals whose lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS.

 

Wendy Goodman, Design Editor of New York magazine, presented Mike and Chip with an Alpha Award, which celebrated the business partners’ spirit of community, generosity, and dedication to making life better for all New Yorkers. Wendy prefaced her remarks with a tribute to Ken, whose idea of creating a place of art and industry where HIV is “neither a secret nor the focus” is brought to life every day at the Alpha Workshops. “Everyone here tonight is a hero,” Wendy said, “but Ken Wampler should be nominated for a Presidential award!”

 

We second the motion!

 

This week, Ken was named NY1’s New Yorker of the Week.  It’s a good place to start.

 

 

Practical Magic

 

Between the inspiration and perspiration stages of every major renovation project comes the planning stage. To the impatient among us [That’s all of us, right? We mean, this is New York, after all. We’re all here to Get. Things. Done. Now.], it can sometimes seem to go on forever.

 

It may seem obvious to those in the home building and renovation trade that it’s essential to determine a budget, consult with an architect and interior designer, negotiate contracts, draw up and present detailed plans and a timeline to building management, file permits (what????), warn your neighbors, and order custom materials up front to avoid delays down the road…but you’d be surprised to find how many first-time renovators trip over the rules and regulations they perceive as red tape on the way to the finish line.

 

To further complicate matters, there are some rules that apply “only in New York,” as the saying goes. For a quick review, here’s a handy influence by New York Times real estate writer Tim McKeough, which features some words of wisdom from Best & Company’s own Chip Brian: “Let ‘Er Rip? Not So Fast.”

 

And now…back to the renovations at hand!