This is an artist's depiction of the San Francisco Decorator's Showcase. It is located at 2950 Vallejo Street. This home is in the Pacific Heights District, a very exclusive part of The City. Normally this real estate is untouchable and is usually kept in families for generations. But when a home is selected for the Showcase it is in transition. In other words, unoccupied. In this particular case the home was inherited by the adult children of the deceased, and they are trying to decide if they will keep or sell the family home.
Each year designers from various firms decorate a home and then open it to the public as a fundraiser for a private high school. Usually the homes being showcased are for sale. So the designer showcase is like a starting point for updating and then essentially it is staged as if it were being put on the market. It gets lots of press and exposure and it gives the various design firms an opportunity to showcase their skills and the latest trends in design. Each designer or group of designers is given a room to do, so it is unlike staging for sale in a lot of ways.
In staging you really work on how the house flows and coordinates; not so much in a showcased home. I was not sure what degree of coordination there was as every room truly is different. I did speak to one designer who had worked on several and he thought this one tied together better than most. We'll let you decide.
A couple shots of the front of the house. It is a grand Italian villa and was built in 1927. It has not been updated since the 70's. The detailing is beautiful and the grill work on the windows and doors is quite ornate. The impeccable landscaping, the brick facade and everything about it lends to its instant curb appeal.
The heir, James Tarentino, a designer himself, said that once his parents were both gone, the home had a sad energy about it and he felt this showcase would be a fabulous opportunity to give it a rebirth. The owner pays for all the permanent changes like the kitchen remodel and bath renovations. The exceptions would be if a particular designer may want something in their area that is desirable but not essential. As an example, the man who did a "Cookbook Nook" off the kitchen had some built in bookcases done at his own expense. Then the various companies bring in all the decor after painting, papering or whatever else they do to the walls and floors. This particular showcase paid a lot of attention to the ceilings. There were some beautiful ones.
They will not let you photograph inside claiming "intellectual properties" as the reason so if you want to actually see inside you have to go to the link below and there are 29 photos of the interior of the house.
For a peek inside go to this website. They did let you take photos of the views out the windows from the inside and also from the porches. I guess they cannot claim intellectual property rights on God's creations! For all the flak about it, there are tons of photos of all the past ones on Flickr. The big WHATEVER, right? Id' like it better if they just said, "No photography in the house please." Not complaining, just sayin'...
From the front side porch~ the Bay in all it splendor. 
One of the pretty, manicured pathways.
Zooming in on the Palace of Fine Artsfrom an upper window in the library. 
The sun-kissed neighborhoods looking so pretty! As the wind came up quite suddenly,
it whipped those sailboats about
as they are scrambling for the safety of the shore. 
Looks like they all made it in safely.Check out those white caps
they are huge I am a long ways away.
They would not usually even be visible at this range. Alcatraz in the background.(At least they had a nice view!)
How would you like this nice roof top garden?
The bigger view of the billion dollar vista.It almost doesn't matter what you put in the room,
it cannot compete with the view.
Your eye will automatically go to
the light and beauty of it. It's like having
an involuntary focal point!"
The designer did try using a ginormous
painting in the living room to counter balance it
that you can see on the website linked above.
The windows won!
The Golden Gate near sundown.For me the fun of this Showcase was just the event itself. The location, the ambiance, the thirty- something designers in their fancy attire, champagne flutes in hand strolling through, seeing their competitors and peers. Seeing friends mingling at their best, enjoying what they do and what they love. I enjoyed all the lighting fixtures, the wall and window treatments, the colors, the hardware and appliances in the kitchen the 'kitch' around the house as defined in the urban dictionary.
What did not appeal to me was the lack of flow between the various rooms as I had mentioned above. I also prefer the decor of a home to stay within the confines of the genre of the home. Not in a boring, sameness kind of way, but so there is no dissonance. As an example, African art does not really appeal to me in an Italian villa. But that is just me and my training and my personal taste. For what it was, the Showcasers did a fantastic job of showing what is new in the design world and what appeals to the up and comers.
After the show case we went to dinner here.
"Have Cake, Eat It!" Not the most subtle way of getting your patrons to indulge.
Not that they need much prompting after seeing this!It was recommended by our "Woman About Town" Silva's Executive Assistant. It was very good, fun and a relaxing evening. And the dessert in this place is down right sinful. Jim and I split a Salty Carmel Chocolate Tart. It was small, made smaller by splitting but still not the best WW choice. But, sorry to say that did not stop me.
But the scale rewarded me today in spite of myself...adios 20 pounds. It really is more about great choices MOST of the time than about never having a little treat. Oh, and did I forget to mention the entree? Grilled halibut and veggies, delicious but a little on the hot and spicy side. Hope you enjoyed our Friday night out on the town as much as we did!
