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Twenty-five days were left on Shawn Henderson’s countdown to the Kips Bay Decorator Show House opening when I caught up with AD100 designer. At that point, his north-facing bedroom on the home’s fourth floor was all but a rosy pink rendering—with its share of accompanying showcase headaches. Crunchtime in session, he was still more than willing to offer real talk for fellow designers considering their first show house, air qualms with today’s design monotony, and underscore the importance of a design education. Enjoy the read—and check out Shawn’s dashing bedroom, now on view on New York’s Upper East Side.
Mel: This is your second go at the Kips Bay Decorator Show House in New York. Have your past learnings come in handy this time around?
Shawn: The last time I did the Kips Bay Decorator Show House was back in 2012, and at the beginning of this year, I had been feeling like it might be time for me to do it again. When [design co-chair Alexa Hampton] emailed me to participate, I was like, OK, it’s a sign. They assigned me a bedroom, and it's going well—but these things are a moving target, right? Decisions are made and changed constantly based on availability and quantities. It’s all hands on deck up until the minute we’re installing. There's a lot of energy going into this one little room!
What was motivating you to want to participate this year?
I think it's the best show house in the country, and it's a real honor to be included in it. It’s also a great opportunity for press coverage, and after having published my book in 2021, I felt like it was a way for me to show something that highlighted my evolution in design right now—where I am in my career and in my life. For me, that’s embracing more color. It’s keeping things fresh and current and pushing the envelope.
What advice do you have for designers preparing for their first show house experience?
It is not for the faint of heart! You have to realize what an opportunity it is to present a space that you've created to the masses. You should really push it as far as you can go in terms of what you’re trying to create, and make sure that it’s visually appealing and different and exciting. But it should be within reason—it can be exciting and beautiful without being too editorial.
Outside of show house stressors, what’s been bothering you as of late?
I’ve been saying this for the past couple of years, but I feel like it’s more important than ever for people to apprentice and to put their time in and to learn this craft before launching out on their own and just, you know, deciding to become a decorator. It’s a real disservice to our industry when there is this lack of experience.
Listen, clients are tricky. And there are no real industry standards for us. I work in a certain way, and I’ve learned this from people whom I have worked for in my past. When people don’t have that base of knowledge and experience from the business point of view, it discredits how we practice as a business.
Why do you think this issue is more prevalent now?
Social media. It has been a great tool for all of us—and I don’t want to begrudge anybody making money and doing their thing—but it’s important that people are still putting good design out there in the world. It doesn't have to be my taste, but we’re seeing so much of the same thing over and over right now. People see that trending design and then it gets copied and spread out, and it's just not exciting.
In your call for more education, what wins: design school or apprenticeship—or both?
I talk to a lot of people—whether they’re just starting out, or people who want a change of career—and I think no matter what, some level of schooling is important. There are skills you need to learn—the real basics, like AutoCAD or how to sketch. And while you’re doing that, work and learn from a mentor. That is the most valuable experience you could ever get.
Totally. We had Nicole Hollis on a recent business panel, and she was saying how essential apprenticeship is for observing client relations and learning how to navigate tough conversations.
Absolutely. Good communication skills are essential both within the firm and in dealing with the managing clients. It’s all about managing expectations.
How do you approach those tough conversations?
It’s never fun, but you have to stand up for yourself. This is what I tell myself: This is a business that I'm running, and it needs to be treated as such. I'm showing up for myself, and there's nothing wrong with that. You have to take the emotion out of it, and leave it at that. Period, the end.
This interview has been condensed and edited for brevity and clarity.
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