ART OF THE TABLE 2019, Westchester, NY: I was thrilled and grateful to be a featured designer in the 2019 Art of the Table event presented by Bilotta Kitchens and Bloomingdales White Plains, in association with Westchester Home Magazine. The event featured six interior designers and architects dedicated to celebrating the fusion of design, art and lifestyle, incorporating the tabletop collections and home decor product from Bloomingdale’s White Plains.
I want to share this excerpt from the thoughtfully written Bilotta blog post “TABLE TRANSFORMATIONS” - Kim Mitchell’s design is more like a Hollywood set than a tablescape environment. At the entrance to her vignette, the wooden arrow directional signs indicate that this was a place where the well-traveled could convene to share their tales over great food & wine.(The signs all point to places where she has been!) But on entry, there is no doubt that you’d been transported to the Borana Conservancy in Kenya, the bottom arrow on the sign. In fact, this was an artistic expression of Kim’s most life-changing travel experience: going on safari in Kenya last summer.
The display space to which Kim was assigned was a small interior room lacking any natural light, so she decided to capitalize on those qualities by creating a cozy cocoon. She draped gauzy linen over the walls and below the ceiling and installed mini lights above the ceiling fabric. Voila! You were now in a tent dining under the star-studded sky of a Kenyan savanna.
At the room’s two thresholds, the linen panels were gathered with cascading jute and black bead tiebacks. A pair of weathered candle lanterns surrounded by arrangements of dried dogtail grass established the tent’s entryway. Kim’s photo of elephants from her trip, and the abundance of African baskets, masks and figurines scattered about the room defined the location. The folding canvas campaign chairs, accessorized with handmade pillows and warm woven throws, set the tone.
For Kim, the inspiration of a Kenyan safari translated into a space that was refined, yet still reflected the perfect imperfection of nature. She wanted the tableware to suggest the raw beauty of nature and wildlife that coexist on the savanna. The items needed to look hand-crafted, which she believes is a hallmark of quality pieces created with passion and artistry.