16 Acclaimed Designers Announced for 32nd American Red Cross Designers' Show House

WEST PALM BEACH, FL. (November 26, 2007) - The American Red Cross Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter has named 16 internationally-, nationally- and locally-acclaimed designers to participate in the 32 nd American Red Cross Designers' Show House, from Thursday, January 17 - Saturday, February 16, 2008 at luxury oceanfront condominium 2700 North Ocean on Singer Island.

"We are honored to have such a well-rounded and fantastic mix of talented designers to portray our Palm Beach Style theme this year," said Desmond Keogh, General Chairman of the Red Cross Designers' Show House. "We are thrilled to have the opportunity to create such a unique Show House and have a great roster of world-class designers this year."

Linda Ashley- Powder Room

Linda Ashley founded her firm eleven years ago to provide dedicated and personalized service to a limited number of discriminating clients. Linda Ashley Interior Decoration, a full service design firm, takes conceptual direction to a new plateau by blending a sophisticated design sensibility with the personal style of her client. Her philosophy is simple: to understand the needs and desires of her client and to infuse their ideas into a space that resonates with fresh and understated style. Ms. Ashley has completed notable projects in Florida, New York, Greenwich, Michigan and the Hamptons, and her work has appeared in the pages of Town & Country, Florida Design and The Miami Herald.

Kristi Lei Bryan of Kristi Lei Interiors- Master Bedroom

Kristi Lei Bryan, President of Kristi Lei Interiors, graduated with honors from the University of Oklahoma under the School of Architecture with a Bachelor of Interior Design and a minor in Art History. Kristi is an Allied Member of the American Society of Interior Designers and a member of Who's Who. Kristi Lei has been in the design business for over ten years with extensive experience as a Senior Design Director for some of the most prestigious high-end Interior Design firms. In 2005, Kristi ventured out from under the wings of some of Palm Beach's finest design firms to start her own business, Kristi Lei Interiors, LLC.

With her professional design projects, she has varied from commercial to residential with special emphasis on complete renovation and new construction projects for high-rise condominiums. Venues of experience include the Las Vegas Street of Dreams, Park Tower, Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, and private homes in Los Angeles, North Carolina, and the Florida Coastal areas of Naples, Boca Raton, Singer Island and Palm Beach

Diane Cantone- Laundry Room

Diane Cantone is a self-taught room stylist who has worked on various room design projects for friends and family. She believes that the right blend of ingredients and visual cues can lead to a relaxed body, quiet mind, and fulfilled spirit.

Joseph Cortes & Kevin Marnell of Homelife Interiors- Sitting Room

HomeLife Interiors, Inc.- a proud winners of a 2007 ASID South Florida Chapter Design Excellence Award- is a full-service interior design firm based in South Florida's Palm Beaches. Dedicated to the creation of custom interiors, the company prides itself on bringing together unique concepts and design professionals to complete projects tailored to the individual styles and needs of its clients. With over 40 years of experience, the firm approaches projects from an architectural point of view, and finishes them with a signature soft-modern style.

Following a successful 20-year career in his native New York City, where he worked for several prestigious design/build firms, Joseph Cortes, ASID, continues his success in South Florida. His portfolio includes hundreds of high-end projects for Fortune 500 companies and even fashion designers. He holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Pratt Institute in New York.

Kevin Marnell brings his expertise in construction and renovation to the firm. Also born and raised in New York City, he spent 25 years working for a Fortune 500 company in Facility Management, during which he oversaw the renovation of one of the city's premier landmark buildings. He is a graduate of Queens College in New York.

Nancy Corzine- Great Room

Design entrepreneur Nancy Corzine is one of America's leading home design talents. Her innate design talent, strong determination and entrepreneurial spirit are the driving forces behind her success in the design world. Over the past 21 years, her company has become a major success, encompassing 17 showrooms, two production facilities; and a textile line of over 2,000 selections. Nancy Corzine has attracted some of the country's leading interior designers and celebrities including, President Clinton, Donald Trump, Madonna, Brad Pitt and Sharon Stone as clients.

Virginia Courtenay Interiors- Kitchen

Virginia Courtenay

Schooled at the Art Institute of Chicago and Ecole de Beaux Arts, Paris, with previous practices in Chicago and Louisville, National Award Winner Virginia Courtenay has brought to Delray Beach an understanding of design founded in a blend of cultures and environs through Virginia Courtenay Interiors since 1976.

Virginia Courtenay is an honored member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and served on the National Board and as President of the Florida Chapter. She is nationally recognized for the Wilsonart Residential Award and the Florida Governor's Mansion Restoration. Her work has been published in: Architectural Digest, Interiors, Palm Beach Life, Palm Beach Illustrated and Boca Raton Magazine.

Abbe Clement Stein

Abbe Stein, Allied Member ASID, has been with Virginia Courtenay Interiors since the fall of 1998. Originally from New York, she has worked in design in various forms throughout her life, including advertising, magazine, book and graphic design. Abbe has a diploma in Residential Design and the better part of a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, and a degree in graphic design from Finch College as well. Abbe has a special interest in restoring or remodeling historic and older homes, but loves working on homes and buildings of every age and style.

Hazel McGuire

Hazel McGuire has been with Virginia Courtenay Interiors since June 2004. Originally from Michigan, Hazel has been involved in the design arena since graduating from Wayne State University, Detroit, with a Bachelor of Arts degree. For over twenty years she was involved in corporate, banking, and healthcare design. Refocusing on residential design and the joy of combining a hobby of antiquing and collecting with beautiful furnishings, she continues to rise to each occasion with the exuberance of someone who has never lost their enthusiasm for interior design nor wanted to be doing anything else.

Jennifer Garrigues- Library

London-born, former high fashion model Jennifer Garrigues gathers her inspiration for striking and unusual designs from her frequent world travel. A love for architecture and interiors drew her from fashion to the New York School of Interior Design to learn the "mechanics of the business."

Included in her portfolio are interiors designed for clients at the Carlyle Hotel in New York; a villa for HRH Prince Charles at the Palm Beach Polo Golf and Country Club; residences for composer/singer Boz Scaggs, the late artist Vidal Quandras and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.

Her work has aired on several segments of HGTV and has been featured in Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, House & Garden, The New York Times, Southern Accents, Robb Report, Palm Beach Life, Coastal Living, Florida Design, Florida International, Victoria Magazine and Palm Beach Cottages & Gardens.

Professional affiliations include ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) and IIDA (International Interior Design Association). Jennifer Garrigues, Inc. design studios are located in Palm Beach and New York City.

Cristina Keogh- Guest Room

Cristina Keogh has been an interior designer in Palm Beach Florida for 15 years. She gained experience at Smith Interior Design Group of renowned architect Jeffrey Smith in Palm Beach, designing homes for the most sophisticated clients in Palm Beach, Jupiter Island, Manhattan and South Hampton.

Known for a classic style with a young and fresh look, her work demonstrates beauty and luxury to complement the clients overall life style. Cristina has been featured in publications such as Palm Cottages & Gardens, Florida Design (cover story), Architectural Digest and Windows and Walls. She is also featured in the Savor the Moment -a book that features lifestyle, recipes and table settings.

Michael Leondas Kirkland & John Hall Nelson, Jr. of Halleon- Grand Foyer

Principal partners Michael Leondas Kirkland and John Hall Nelson, Jr. were both educated at the University of Alabama. They formed Halleon in 2002 to showcase their combined design efforts.

John Nelson grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he was influenced by color, his surroundings and decoration. His interior projects reach from Newport, Rhode Island to South Florida and influences include Sister Parrish, Jacques Garcia, Anouska Hempel, Phillip Johnson and Frank Gehry. Michael Kirkland's background is varied, but deeply rooted in the Americas and throughout Europe. After college, Mr. Kirkland spent several summers on a ranch in Wyoming where he refined his appreciation of architecture, music, traveling with close friends and literature. In 2003 he curated "Textiles of an Empire", an exhibition which showcased over fifty textiles associated with royalty, and heads of church and state, including period documents from Versailles, The Place Vendome apartment of the Sultan of Bruni and the Vatican.

Halleon's work spans the United States, Europe and the Caribbean, with current projects in Florida, Los Angeles, Colorado and the Dominican Republic.

Deborah McLaughlin- Guest Bedroom

Deborah McLaughlin is owner of Deborah McLaughlin Designs, Inc. in Palm Beach. She has served as President of the Interiors Division of Adache Architects in Ft. Lauderdale and has twenty years of experience in South Florida. Educated at the University of Georgia in interior design, McLaughlin is an Allied Member of ASID and an active member of the Palm Beach Historical Society, Palm Beach Preservation Foundation and Newport Preservation Foundation.

She has been published in Florida Design, Trends, the Sun-Sentinel and ThePalm Beach Post and projects include the complete interior design renovation and purchasing for a 750-room resort in Ocho Rios, Jamaica- including several restaurants, gaming rooms, a night club, three lobbies, and convention center. She has also worked on custom residential projects in California, New Jersey, Colorado, Aruba, New Orleans, Utah and Broward, Palm Beach, Collier, and Dade Counties in Florida.

Stephen Mooney of Richard Plumer Design- Dining Room

Since 1925, our award-winning designers, along with our dedicated design team, have been creating lifestyles for our clients. Interiors-from casual to formal, refined or eclectic-remain our commitment to our clients and their individual styles. Our designs have been seen in both local and national publications. Richard Plumer Design, with studios in West Palm Beach, FL and Osterville, MA, offers many design services including consultation, space planning, renovation and restoration, interior refinishing, furnishing and accessorizing. In Palm Beach, Richard Plumer Design offers design services and an exciting selection of domestic and imported furniture, unique case goods, fine art and accessories.

Lon Morris- Guest Bedroom

A native of New York, interior designer Lon Morris traces his fascination with interior spaces, and the way we inhabit them, back to early childhood. A prodigious young artist, he filled his free time with floor plans and drawings of architecture and furnishings. After a long career in advertising and public relations, Morris took another look at the fascination of his youth, and decided to make a change. He was accepted into the interior design program at F.I.T. in New York City and after completing the program summa cum laude; he immediately launched his own firm.

In just two short years he has completed and embarked on an impressive roster of projects, including a duplex apartment in Manhattan's fabled Dakota, an apartment in the Pierre Hotel, a waterfront house in Southampton, and an office in Rockefeller Center. With his belief that one's home should be a very personal expression of one's own style and interests, Morris eschews a packaged "look", in favor of interiors which are as unique and individual as his clients.

Angela Reynolds- Family Room

Angela Orrell Reynolds began her design career in London working for an international client base with a diverse sense of style. Angela's first steps into design, more than 12 years ago, were under the tutelage of Kelly Hoppen, the queen of "East Meets West." This experience left a lasting impression. Both a classicist and a modernist, Angela stimulates the senses with interiors that are cultured and elegant, striking a balance between lavish and comfortable.

Angela graduated from the Inchbald School of Interior Design in London-one of the most respected design schools in England and Europe-after earning a BA in Art History from American University. Angela's training is the foundation for her creativity and design technique.

In 1995, after working for Kelly Hoppen, Angela co-founded Orrell and Brown Interiors, a decorative antique and design showroom in London's fashionable antique district of New Kings Road. She designed residential and commercial interiors in London, Shanghai and the United States. She soon joined forces with John Stand, a contract furnishings company, and extended her services to investment properties in London. She designed model homes and furnished entire loft buildings, down to the forks and knives. Her clients included several large developers, such as St. George and Berkeley Homes. In 2000, Angela relocated Orrell and Brown Interiors to West Palm Beach. Although she maintains an international client base, her primary focus is Palm Beach County, Washington DC, London and New York City.

Angela favors a layered and collected approach to design. She creates a feeling of luxury with subtle layers of texture, color, objects of art and furnishings from around the world. This creates a well traveled look, and each object is an individual center piece for conversation and exploration.

Scott Robertson- Gallery

Scott Robertson's background in the fine arts and his London training in painted finishes have established him as one of Palm Beach's most accomplished decorative painters. Scott received his BFA from the University of Texas, and completed his training in decorative finishes at the Pardon School in London. Scott moved to Florida in 1989, after many years in New York where he worked decorating Manhattan apartments, Greenwich estates, and the weekend homes in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island. Current projects include the creation of stenciled cypress ceilings for one of the major new homes on Palm Beach, and a new residence in the Ocean Club on Paradise Island.

Scott and his team of professional artists have worked in South Florida with top local and national designers on projects ranging from large estates and individual rooms, to single pieces of furniture. Scott Robertson Decorative Painting has completed work on the restoration of the main public rooms at Whitehall, the Henry Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, as well as restoring and repainting the ceilings at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach.

Keith Williams of Mario Nievera Design, Inc.- Oceanfront Terrace

Keith Williams joined Mario Nievera Design, Inc. in 1998. Mr. Williams is Partner and Vice President of Mario Nievera Design, Inc. and has served as a Project Manager and Designer for several residential and commercial projects in New York, Texas, the Bahamas and Florida. Mario Nievera Design, Inc. is based in Palm Beach with an office in New York City, and currently has projects underway in the Bahamas, Indian Creek, South Beach, Bal Harbor, Miami, Windsor, Vero Beach, the Hamptons, New York City and Palm Beach. Mr. Williams is currently working on the restoration of the Old Fisher Estate on Miami Beach as well as several commercial properties such as the DCOTA in South Florida.

Melissa Ziober/Scotty Rawley of RZ Design Group- Master Bathrooms

Bringing more than 15 years of design experience to clients across the country, RZ Design Group offers its services to residential and commercial clients in South Florida and across the country. Melissa Ziober and Scotty Rawley, owners of RZ Design Group, met more than 10 years ago when Ziober was working as an assistant manager at Brunschwig & Fils- a premier fabric house in Atlanta, Georgia- and Rawley owned a private design company also in Atlanta.

After following separate careers for more than five years, Ziober and Rawley met again while shoe shopping in Palm Beach. Feeling that each could offer different design perspectives and experiences, the two decided to start a design consultant company that combined both of their personal tastes and experiences into a design style that could not be matched - RZ Design Group was born.

Ziober and Rawley have worked on high profile projects such as an interior makeover of NBA star Adam Keefe's house and outfitting the décor of the Atlanta Symphony Show House. Additional past clients include Arvida, spec homes throughout South Florida and North Carolina, and many residential projects across the country.

Ticket Prices and Admission

General admission tickets to the Show House are $30. Special pricing is available for groups of ten or more. The Show House will be open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from Noon to 4 p.m. All proceeds will benefit the American Red Cross Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter. For more information and to reserve tickets please call 561-833-7711 or visit the Website at www.redcrossshowhouse.org.

About the 2008 Designers' Show House

The Designers' Show House, from January 17 - February 16, 2008, is a much-anticipated annual event, bringing together acclaimed designers who will design and decorate the luxury oceanfront condominium at 2700 North Ocean on Singer Island room-by-room. The Show House will welcome nationally-known interior designers in addition to those from South Florida. The event will also incorporate the terraces with landscape designers lending their artistic touches to the Show House.

The theme for the 2008 American Red Cross Designers' Show House is "Palm Beach Style" and will depict where nature's palette meets luxury island living. With a color palette ranging from pale, electric yellow-greens to mellow pistachios verging on mint, the theme will be a reminder of why people live in, and visit, Palm Beach.

The 32nd Annual Designers' Show House will showcase exclusive designs by 16 nationally- and locally-acclaimed designers at the ultra-luxurious 9,180-square-foot Tower Suite at 2700 North Ocean on Singer Island, FL.

For more information, please call 561-833-7711 or visit the Website at www.redcrossshowhouse.org.

About the American Red Cross

The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization led by volunteers who provide relief to victims of disaster and help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. For 90 years, the American Red Cross Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter, which includes Glades, Hendry, Okeechobee and Palm Beach Counties, has been providing shelter for families during a hurricane, flood or fire, and teaching First Aid, CPR, AIDS Prevention and Water Safety. To learn more about the work of the Red Cross in communities, or to make a donation, please call 561-833-7711 or visit the Website at: www.redcrossshowhouse.org.

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