An Affair to Remember

Last Tuesday night I had the pleasure of attending The 2010 Innovation in Design Awards presented by Connecticut Cottages and Gardens and Westchester C&G held at the Garden Pavilion of the Stamford Hilton in Stamford CT.

As the owner of a local Mid Century Modern gallery, and a design blogger, I was delighted when Beth Dempsey of Images & Details invited me to be a part of this auspicious evening, where design aficionados honored their own in this 4^th   annual celebration of innovation in design.  Both the competition and the celebration were revamped this year and the results were stunning.  For the first time, the competition was open to design professionals from Westchester as well as Connecticut and the inception of an annual Innovator Award was added to the evening’s honors.  The celebration was grander as well, showcased in a beautiful venue and most satisfying of all was the partnership CTC&G forged with buildOn, a non-profit organization “that empowers urban U.S. high school students through in-class and intensive after-school programs.”  buildOn was the fortunate recipient of a portion of the evening’s ticket sales.

And what an evening it was!

Upon entering the beautiful Garden Pavillion, resplendent with a draped cathedral ceiling and sparkling chandeliers, the tone for the evening was immediately established:  Simply set tables graced with Jamie Drake for Schumacher  “Temple Garden” fabric runners in “Appletini” welcomed all.  While nominees, sponsors and community members mingled during cocktails, student volunteers from buildOn circulated the room selling raffle tickets and describing the organization’s activities.  

I was delighted to have the opportunity to meet and chat with some of the nominees and attendees including Interior Design nominee & winner, Claire Maestroni of Mis en Scene in Greenwich, Rona Landman, and the incomparable Jamie Drake, the first recipient of The Design Innovator Award.

We were then off to our seats, where I was happy to share the events of the evening with good friend and blogger, Liz Orgera of Shorely Chic.  Both Marianne Howatson, C&G’s CEO and D.J. Carey, C&G’s Editorial Director spoke about the design industry and the publication’s commitment to showcasing innovative design and D.J. introduced and shared some little known and amusing facts about Jamie Drake, a design icon who needed no introduction.

The work of the nominees in each category was shared with the attendees and then third place, second place and first place winners were selected and honored.

Winners in each category are as follows:

Interior Design: Mis en Scene

Landscape: Robin Kramer Garden Design

Kitchen: Alisberg Parker Architects

Bath: Austin Patterson Disston

Architecture: Joeb Moore & Partners Architects

And the “trophies” themselves? I was delighted to see that they were none other than beautiful Juliska bowls; so appropriate, not only because they are aesthetically  dazzling,  but because Juliska is a local Stamford business that so generously works with designers all the time.

And while only one nominee in each category was the honored recipient of “best” in their respective categories, all who attended were winners that evening.  I look forward to next year’s celebration and the fine design and community work that will be showcased.