Step inside Meg Braff's iconic bathroom at Kips Bay Palm Beach—the very space that inspired the Meg Braff x Weezie collection. We sat down with Meg to chat about the inspiration behind her designs and how this project came to life.
Your Kip’s Bay Show House bathroom was the inspiration behind this entire collection! When Liz saw the Madame Butterfly wallpaper, she knew it had to be woven into terry—and here we are! Can you tell us about the vision behind this space and what inspired you to create it?
For the 2019 Kips Bay Show House, Palm Beach I designed a bedroom, bathroom and closet. The inspiration and name for the bedroom was the “Sunrise Jungle” drawing inspiration from Palm Beach, and the gorgeous sunrise views the room enjoyed. We designed a new colorway of our Rainforest wallpaper in shades of pink, apricot and yellow, and then coordinated papers for the closet and bathroom.
You have such a robust assortment of stunning patterns—it’s hard to pick a favorite! What made Madame Butterfly the perfect fit for this bathroom?
Madame Butterfly is a great simple pattern, a one color print with a slightly retro vibe. I love it in a bathroom with crisp white vanity and simple detailing. It's charming and easy to live with, art looks great layered over it, and the small scale made it perfect to translate into towels and robes with Weezie.
Designing a show-stopping space like this is no small feat. Can you give us a glimpse into the process of bringing it all together?
For the show house room, I knew I wanted to show off my papers, which are still, even now, a bit under the radar. Once we got the colors right and approved the strike offs, we designed the parsons four poster canopy bed inspired by a vintage bed seen in an old decorating book, and cherry picked special vintage pieces from my store.
A show house room is all about adding details for people to discover— we added a silk lining in one of my fabrics to the curtains, trims to the window treatments and lampshades, sourced gorgeous embroidered bedding and towels from Leontine Linens, and filled the closet with fabric lined baskets and a vintage wardrobe from Cabana Vintage. We were also lucky to borrow a few pieces of art from Wally Findlay Gallery in Palm Beach, lamps from Christopher Spitzmiller, nightstands from Vaughan, and Highland House made us a pair of vintage inspired acrylic arm chairs.
You have such a fun and effortless approach to mixing and matching patterns. When designing a space next to another room featuring one of your signature prints—like Rainforest—how do you approach pattern play to create cohesion while still letting each space have its own personality?
When mixing patterns, it's important to consider the scale color palette of your fabrics. Rainforest is such a large scale with many colors involved. For the upholstery on the bed and the chairs we used my Beverly Hills print, which, although it is still a large scale print, it has a lot less white space and the fabric is very tonal, so it almost reads as a solid, which is a great mix with the multicolor paper.
The closet and bathroom papers are smaller scale and with a more limited color palette, which works in contrast with the bedroom paper. Because the room is so vibrant, we kept everything else relatively sleek- white furniture, brass accents. It's a little more matchy-matchy than I usually design, but I still love this room and how it came together.
At Weezie, we’re all about No More Boring Bathrooms—and we think this collection speaks to that in every way. How do you approach designing a bathroom that feels anything but boring?
I do love a white bathroom, but always with a fun wallpaper! If you can’t wallpaper, fun towels are the quickest way to pull together a chic and playful look. Our Weezie collab is an incredible “instant design” win. If you already have a wallpaper, why not layer up the pattern play with towels and accessories? More is never a bore!
Before you go…
What are you reading?
There are several new decorating books that I am particularly excited to dig into: Gracie The Art of Wallpaper, Caroline Gidiere’s A life in Good Taste and Charlotte Moss’ Flowers.
Also for any decorator or enthusiast, Billy Baldwin's books and autobiography are must reads, as is the Sister Parish book from about 12 years ago. The Sphinx, by Hugo Vickers, on Gladys Deacon the Duchess of Marlborough is fascinating and so juicy. I also just picked up the latest book on Maria Callas: Casta Diva.
Who are you following? Are there other designers you are inspired by?
I am inspired by so many interior designers. The Kips Bay Show House in Palm Beach just opened and I love the whole house, some designers to check out are Marshall Watson, Caroline Gidiere, Amal Kapen, and Meg Lonergan
@watsonreiddeanganes @carolinegidieredesign @amalkapeninteriors @meglonerganinteriors
Recent interiors splurge, steal or unique find:
A recent splurge is custom Gracie wallpaper for my dining room. The ground is hand painted turquoise tortoise blocks, with white jungle foliage painted on top. I’d been eying it for years, and just recently pulled the trigger. It turned out beautifully and I cannot wait to begin entertaining in the room.
Now that you’ve got a towel partnership under your belt, what’s next for Meg Braff?
We are right in the midst of our busy season at my store in Palm Beach, and have lots of trunk shows and special events popping up through April. Also on now is our collaboration with Chairish at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City. We have a booth full of antique and vintage finds, available exclusively at BG through May 5. Lastly, we are introducing a line of dresses with Sue Sartor, launching on April 3 and inspired by several of our wallpaper patterns. .
