The Junior League of Detroit, a women’s group dedicated to education and volunteerism, has selected 19 metro Detroit interior design firms, six professional landscapers, and more than 30 designers to feature their work as part of the 2014 Designers’ Show House fundraiser. The finished house, at 1007 Bishop Rd. in Grosse Pointe, will open to the public in May.
The more than 9,000-square-foot Tudor home, built in 1921, includes eight fireplaces, five bedrooms, leaded glass windows, wood paneling, and a loggia, or gallery, overlooking the gardens. Each designer and landscaper has been assigned a room or feature of the estate to transform with very little direction from the league, says Caroline Marks, spokeswoman for the project.
“This project really allows the designers to push their boundaries and let their imaginations run wild,” Marks says. “We don’t hold the designers to a specific theme. One room will be very traditional, while another will be very avant-garde. From each room, you really get a sense of their personal style.”
This year, three new designers/firms have been added to the project, including Kristin Ross of Finish by Red Décor in Grosse Pointe, Barbara and Daryl Johnson of The Walls of Virtue in Southfield, and Jeff and Sherry Allor of Detroit Custom Framing and Gallery in Grosse Pointe Woods.
“The house provides great exposure for the designers,” Marks says. “It’s their chance to really show what they can do.”
Proceeds from the 2014 Designers’ Show House will support the Junior League of Detroit’s new health and nutrition initiative, called Project EAT, which provides and supports healthy eating opportunities for the children in Detroit and their families.
The completed Designers’ Show House will be open for public viewing May 3-18. The preview party, which will include a tour of the house, a cocktail party, and silent auction, will be held May 2. Plans are to eventually sell the home.
For more information, visit jldetroit.org.
The complete list of interior designers participating in the project includes:
- Barbara and Daryl Johnson of The Walls of Virtue, Southfield
- Brian Clay Collins of Brian Clay Collins Designs LLC, Grosse Pointe
- Daniel Clancy & Mark Manardo of Perlmutter-Freiwald Inc., Franklin
- David Michael Johns and Jennifer M. Johns-Miller of DMJ Interiors, Rochester
- Diane Woolsey, DJ Kennedy, and Ray Vuia of Diane Woolsey Interiors, Grosse Pointe Farms
- Elisabeth Meda of Elisabeth Meda Interior Design, Grosse Pointe Woods
- Gail Urso of Urso Designs, Grosse Pointe Park
- Gordon Robinson of Gordon Robinson Design LLC, Detroit
- Jane Shook of Jane Shook Painted Interiors, Grosse Pointe Farms
- Jeanine Haith of Showhouse Interiors, Grosse Pointe
- Jeff Allor and Sherry Allor of Detroit Custom Framing and Gallery, Grosse Pointe Woods
- Jennifer Gushen-Haver of Design in Time, Livonia
- John Kline of John Kline Color Design, Grosse Pointe Park
- Kristin Ross of Finish by Red Décor, Grosse Pointe
- Laura Radike of Ethan Allen Design Center, Sterling Heights
- Loretta Crenshaw of Crenshaw & Associates, Detroit
- Mary Lujan and Becky Lujan-Stoitsiadis of Hepplewhite’s Studio, Rochester
- Phyllis Whitehead of PJ Whitehead Design, Birmingham
- Renea M. Lewis of Design By Choice LLC, Troy
