Designer Christopher Kennedy gives Modernism Week the scoop on his latest project, the Palm Springs Pad.
Christopher Kennedy is the designer extraordinaire behind The Christopher Kennedy Compound: Modernism Week Show House. Each year, he partners with some of the best designers and tastemakers in the game to create inspiring design solutions for Modernism Week visitors.
This season, things are getting personal as Kennedy opens the doors to his own Palm Springs Pad – a new town home located closer to downtown Palm Springs. Built in 2006 by Palm Springs Modern Homes and designed by Los Angeles’ DesignArc, 48@Baristo has been widely praised and credited for launching “A New Generation of Desert Modern.”
Unlike the Modernism Week Show House, Kennedy’s Palm Springs Pad is an opportunity to showcase design on a more relatable and attainable level.
“The Show House is very beautiful, but it’s also very aspirational,” notes Christopher. “Things tend to be on the ultra high-end side so while it’s inspiring, not everyone can take those items home…[The Palm Springs Pad] shows great design on a more modest scale.”
Kennedy’s former home was a spacious, 2,220 sq ft home located on a golf course. While his new town home is just slightly smaller, downsizing to 1,800 sq ft caused the designer to evaluate his possessions and lifestyle, and come up with creative ways to make the most of his home.
“There are ideas around every corner that you can take home,” Kennedy says. “How to utilize Nest and Sonos systems to full effect, how to maximize a small kitchen, how to give a smaller space some big style. How to do more with less. I feel more at ease than I have in a long time, and I like to think it shows.”
Kennedy hopes to achieve big style in a smaller space by featuring some of this favorite brands – including Arteriors Home, MODLOFT, and Lush Decor – in his home, all of which can found at ATGStores.com, a presenting sponsor for the Palm Springs Pad. Each element will contribute to Kennedy’s trademark Palm Springs aesthetic, but with a more urban touch and muted palette than people may have seen from him in the past.
“I‘ve taken the bright turquoise and lime colors – which are my favorite – and tempered them a bit so it’s a bit deeper green, with more navy and dark blue, grays and browns and blacks,” Kennedy shares. “It’s a little more restful for my eyes, since I deal with a lot of inspiration all day long. It still has the graphic-ness and the crispness for which we’re known for, and the modern elements tempered with organic details that is a signature to our design projects.”
Chic, comfortable, organized. These are the three words Kennedy uses to describe his Palm Springs Pad, which he hopes will exemplify the principles of modernism: doing more with less, “to surround yourself with fewer things, but things that are quality and that have meaning to you…that’s a principle I’m trying to live by in my own life now.”
Kennedy offers up a two simple tips for curating a modern, smaller space:
1. Think about where you really live.
“Are you using all the space you have? I’ve had clients with big homes, and honestly, they like being in the smallest, coziest room because that’s what’s comfortable. People have a natural tendency to want to cocoon and be safe and comfy, especially in this crazy world, it seems.”
2. Figure out what you really need.
“I’ve been going through things, and do I really need my high school yearbook that I haven’t looked at in 20 years? I don’t need those….I’ve been getting rid of things that aren’t important to me, either giving it to charity, or finding people who could make use of things that I no longer need.”
We can’t wait to see the finished work during Fall Preview! Make sure to check out the Palm Springs Pad in person with tours on October 22 and 23. Special thanks to ATGStores.com, Ferguson, and other industry leaders for bringing this home to life.
Christopher Kennedy’s Palm Springs Pad: Modernism Week Idea Home
October 22-23, 2016
10am – 3pm
Meeting point: Eisenhower Health Center
151 South Sunrise Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262
