Luxury Interior Design On The Fly For The HighBoy

As luxury interior designers, we know from experience that artfully done walls can make a project remarkable. But unlike the adage that says, “if only walls could talk,” in this case they did. The artful walls we have created in our client’s homes led the new online antiques marketplace The HighBoy to choose us for our swiftest project to date: turning a barebones 8-by-10-foot booth at the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Antiques, Garden & Design Show April 16-18 into a chic setting befitting The HighBoy’s serious selection of curated antiques.

The HighBoy, now in its second year, simplifies the antique-buying process compared with similar online sources. The site features a streamlined, style-centric search system and an education-rich blog discussing people, trends, background and ideas that relate to antiques.

Fromental, one of our favorite and most-often-used sources for handmade wallpaper and fabrics, offered up product to help The HighBoy spruce up its booth. And knowing our work from the many projects we’ve done using their wallpaper, they recommended us for the job.

With 10 days until show time, we had to move fast. Fortunately, The HighBoy also partnered with another one of our beloved sources—The Golden Triangle, which also has a booth at the Antiques, Garden & Design Show. So that gave us a resource for most of the furnishings and accessories.

The first choice we had to make was which fabulous Fromental wallpaper to use. They gave us two options, and we picked the wonderfully wild one: Paradiso in an incredibly vibrant colorway that calls Miami heat to mind. There was a method to our madcap choice: The highly ornamental pattern creates a dramatic mood in the booth and distracts visitors’ senses from the booth’s tight size.

After a visit to The Golden Triangle, we drew a quick sketch based on the pieces of theirs we could use. But we were still missing a small but sumptuous carpet that would coordinate with the upholstery and wallpaper (a hand-spun, exquisitely dyed silk number from Jaipur from Oscar Isberian Rugs worked perfectly in the space). And at the last minute, we realized we needed a truly trim console for The HighBoy staff to use for its computer and sales materials (CB2’s Peekaboo acrylic console did the trick). For final touches, we headed to floral wholesaler Kennicott Brothers for some ‘graphic’ greenery that would add a lush vibe to the booth.

The results speak for themselves, and hopefully give The HighBoy an inspiring setting to use for their marketing efforts in the luxury interior design field—at least while they’re here in Chicago. As for the pieces we borrowed from The Golden Triangle, we’re betting more than a few of them will get snagged right out of the booth.