How 26 designers gave back to Ronald McDonald House

This is something I've always wanted to do...I hope one day I get to use my talent and skill set to help others....

New York Cottages & Gardens recently unveiled its Project Design 2013, wherein 26 interior designers—including Bunny Williams, Jamie Drake, and Anthony Baratta, as well as younger talent like Tilton Fenwick, Nick Olsen, and Jon Call—brought vibrance to the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island. Professionals coming together to pretty up a single abode has become rather common in the design industry, but "showhouse" isn't quite the right moniker here, as the newly jazzed-up interiors will be used by the families of children undergoing medical treatment at the nearby Children's Medical Center of New York. Where there were once pink drab walls and flat green bedcovers there are now custom wall finishes and bed linens half a foot thick, not to mention Starck Ghost chairs and Saarinen tables. All 18 bedrooms got a redo, as well as the kitchen, common areas, and laundry rooms.

 

Though this location of the Ronald McDonald House provides free housing to families already ravaged by medical costs, before the designers got their hands on the place the accommodations—think bare, putty-colored walls and generic pastel art—weren't exactly deluxe. Now, though, the house has gone from a ho-hum medical facility to an environment bursting with color, with each room flaunting its own personality. The laundry rooms boast luxurious wallpaper—one even has the moody fish wallpaper spotted in this year's Kips Bay Showhouse—the bedrooms show off elaborate headboards, and the sunroom pops with candy-colored furniture. Other highlights: a playhouse inside Anthony Baratta's sun room, a floral ceiling in the bedroom by Mehditash Design, and rustic wood paneling by Suzanne Costa. All these details and more are in the gallery above.