HOME MONTHLY
Interior Insights
The Room of Choice
by Gillian Drummond
I am so excited to be sharing with you that I am going to be on a reality TV show. No, I won’t be chasing snakes
through the jungle! But I will be doing what I truly love – designing the interior of a space so that it is exquisite and
comfortable. And I will be helping to teach a wide audience about what we interior designers do to transform a home
and how we work.
The show is called The Room of Choice and is an innovative concept that highlights the world of interior design. It is
an American Showcase Home Presentation project of Talent Resource Centre, a television and film production
company. This is reality TV at its best – totally realistic, but no gimmicks or tomfoolery! As soon as the network, date,
and time is available to the public I will let you know via this column, or you can contact me at my office.
Using a unique format, the series begins by showing how a distinguished property is carefully selected, then
demonstrates how much the property benefits from the skills of professional interior designers. In an age when TV
viewers are looking for something new, this promises to be it. And for homeowners who wonder how to employ an
interior designer, the show will give them an incredibly valuable look into the interior design process, the ability to
access exclusive suppliers, and the end result of a truly beautiful home.
Each participating designer will be videotaped during the entire process, starting with the initial interview, the first look
at the space, and the discussion of design concept. Next the design will come to life as a presentation or storyboard.
Following that, designers visit exclusive design showrooms and suppliers, and supervise the installation of the design
elements. And, at the very end, you will see the finished rooms!
This is a great opportunity for the public to see what goes into a design project. You will see how much creative
energy is involved — and also plain hard work. You will also get a good look at the exclusive products that are
available only through the design trade.
I am thrilled to be awarded the honor of designing the guest cottage for the house, a truly unique historical property.
Built in Stamford in 1896, it was sold shortly afterwards and was a working farm, known locally as Grandfather’s Farm.
In 1934, the Wiebers from Cleveland bought the property. They did extensive renovations, enlarging the living room
and dining room, adding hardwood floors, and a telephone room in the English style to gentrify the farmhouse. Two
extra bedrooms were added closer to the master bedroom – because of the owner’s concerns for her children, I’m
told, in the wake of the infamous kidnapping of Lindbergh’s child.
In 1975 the house was rewired, the kitchen remodeled, and a gradual relocation of space was begun. In 1983, the
house was sold to new owners who subdivided the property, leaving the house with two plus acres. During the 1980s
a pool was built, the house was stripped to bare wood and stained. In the 1990s, the terraces and landscaping were
redone. And now, in 2004, the house takes center stage as a TV feature.
The house stands today as a beautiful and unique part of our architectural heritage. It consists of 17 spaces or
rooms in the main house including foyer, living room, dining room, bedrooms, bathrooms, playroom, office, and
kitchen. And, of course, there’s the guest cottage. I am having an enormous amount of fun working with it!
Franco Grimaldi, the producer of The Room of Choice, has had a long, rich history of producing more than a dozen
show houses in Manhattan, California, Connecticut, and Florida. His idea of a “show house” is to have it look like a
comfortable home with a decided focus on flow and due respect to the original architectural integrity of the property.
His primary goal with this series is to pay homage to the world of interior design and honestly demonstrate the past
and present accomplishments in this field. By preserving and documenting our work on film, he will share his
appreciation and love for these houses with future generations.
This show comes at a particularly good time for the design industry. Too often, members of the industry are
dissatisfied with how unrealistically we are depicted in many home show presentations today. We see our great
heritage of American architecture and interior design either ignored or presented in a negative light. Now we have a
producer, a theme, and a project that will showcase our work in the best way possible.
I am so fortunate to be included with designers from all over the east coast as we transform Grandfather’s Farm into
a home of immense beauty. Yenoin Guibbory of Dreamscapes in Norwalk is another local designer who will be
participating. I will continue to give you updates in the column, and invite you all to tune in to see us as designers in
action.
Gillian Drummond is an interior designer with an office on the border of Wilton and Georgetown. ©
03/06/2004