As the 60th Pasadena Showcase House of Design rapidly approaches, decorative artist Shari Tipich (see more about her here) is in crunch time, preparing the aspects of her space in the house.

This is the ninth year that Tipich has participated in the Pasadena Showcase House. Each year, alongside other featured artists and designers, she receives an allotted space within the house to design. They are each responsible for curating the entire space, from the furniture to the accessories and wall design.

This year, Tipich is decorating a small outdoor loggia as a part of the 15,000-square-foot Bauer Estate & Gardens, which will be one of the largest Showcase Houses ever presented.

Though the show does not open to the public until April 20, the process of preparing the Showcase House begins in October, when the designers do their first walkthrough and get a feel for the space. This year, the house is a 1928 Monterey colonial estate, so the designers were provided with a color palette that would offer a nod to the history of the house. From there, the designers put together presentations for their visions of their spaces and share them with the group to ensure that the house has a flow, though each designer adds their own artistic flair to each space. Tipich said they get about 90 days to actually complete their designs in the space prior to the show opening.

“It's go, go, go [at the end], but it's fun,” Tipich says. “I've met lifelong friends, amazing resources and inspiration that is impossible to imagine. It's a great experience.”

Tipich’s plans for her space this year include an elaborate painted ceiling featuring an Italian ornament design mixed with landscape elements.

“[The loggia’s] one vista is of the spacious lawn with oak trees and beautiful landscaping,” Tipich says. “So I wanted to bring that in a bit.”

The theme for her design is “La dolce far niente,” which is Italian for “the sweetness of doing nothing.” She will place a daybed with lush fabrics and pillows in the space alongside accessories, drapery and floral arrangements. There will also be a double layer of rugs on the flagstone floor to add soft elements to the atmosphere.

Her goal is to create an indulgent, luxurious ambiance and to reflect her own personal design style, which she describes as “voluptuous.”

“I wanted it to have an Italian flair and just be all about romance and relaxing,” she says. “Slow living seems to be the goal of people in these times. So this is really just an area where you can read or enjoy music or just hang out and do nothing. You can eat cake in bed.”

The main challenge for Tipich in this year’s Showcase House was the limited surface area available for painting in her space. As a decorative artist, Tipich specializes in painting walls, ceilings, floors and furniture. In last year’s Showcase House, Tipich was given a bedroom to design, so all the walls and ceiling were available as canvas for her to paint. However, this year’s loggia is open on two sides and has doors along the available walls, leaving only the ceiling as the primary space for a large painted display.

In situations like this, Tipich says she finds ways to get creative with what she has.

“This is probably the fourth time in the last nine years where I've had a loggia or a patio, where I've had that challenge,” Tipich says. “In 2019, I did a very small porch. It was only 4 feet by 11 feet, and it was glass on three sides. It had a brick floor and a skinny ceiling. So I brought in a painted floor and I had live birds. It was called The Poet's Porch, and it was darling. Out of all the visitors that come year after year, that tiny but mighty porch is probably the most memorable. So even though there are those challenges, I think if you approach it with the right enthusiasm and the right idea, [you can make it work].”

To overcome the limitations of her space this year, Tipich is bringing in other elements in addition to the painted ceiling. For example, she plans to put a painted screen made of teak panels in the corner, and there will be painted elements on the daybed.

Tipich enjoys curating a space at the Showcase House each year because it allows her to connect with fellow artists and to take risks in a way she cannot when she is working for clients.

“It encourages me to always try to do something different, something better, and really design for my audience,” Tipich says. “They tend to give me a lot of artistic license.”

The showcase will run from April 20 through May 18. Tickets are available for purchase on the Pasadena Showcase House of Design website. Tipich said that many items displayed at the Showcase House will also be available for purchase from the designers.

“It's such a great all around experience,” Tipich says. “I [appreciate] the privilege of being selected and having the challenge of creating something year after year that touches my audience. If I can stir a memory, inspire somebody or touch their heart in some way, then I've done my job.”

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Bio:

Emily McGinn is a journalist based in the Los Angeles area. She enjoys reporting on and writing about a variety of topics from lifestyle to news, especially in her areas of specialty, environmental science and political science.