Modern, midcentury and retro meet in a Palm Beach vacation retreat, where unexpected doses of color create a joy-filled après-beach getaway.
Eames stools from Design Within Reach pull up to the island in the kitchen beneath an RBW light fixture. Arne Jacobsen Egg chairs from Fritz Hansen in Designtex fabric embrace the fun palette in the living room. PHOTOGRAPHED BY KEN HAYDEN
It’s hard to set eyes on the waterfront vacation retreat New York-based designer Ghislaine Viñas (ghislainevinas.com) dreamed up for her clients in Palm Beach and not feel happy. It’s open and airy, full of natural light and teeming with fun furnishings and contemporary art rendered in creamsicle orange, sunny yellows, sunset pink and soft blues—a palette that speaks to the ocean-meets-sky panoramas right outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. In fact, the first scene that greets the owners when they come home is a colorful cluster of woven lights made from recycled soda bottles and a grouping of popsicle sculptures called “You can’t take it with you” that follow the sequence of being devoured on a balmy South Florida day. “The popsicles by Tim Berg and Rebekah Myers were an instant hit when we showed them to the clients,” says Viñas, whose team included Natalie Kean and Anne Lins. “They are so fun and enliven the condo when you walk in and look down the hallway.”
HAY pillows top a Ligne Roset sofa in the living room alongside Bonacina 1889 poufs in KnollTextiles fabric PHOTOGRAPHED BY KEN HAYDEN
And the furnishings are bold. “Mixing South African influences, 1960s Florida tropicality, modern art and midcentury and retro forms make for a truly special hybrid,” says the designer, who grew up in South Africa herself and curates her interiors with whimsical yet sophisticated leanings. “While it embodies the energy and spirit of a city, it is a haven for the family, where they regularly escape the hustle and bustle of life in Manhattan.” Shapely Arne Jacobsen Egg chairs, for example, command attention in the living room alongside custom-colored yellow poufs and a simple yet architectural cocktail table. “The wife is no stranger to iconic design,” Viñas says. “Having grown up in a home with Eero Saarinen Womb chairs and other influential pieces, midcentury furniture and modernism are hugely important to her, which played a significant role in the project’s design.”
Moroso chairs with Sir Stripe-a-lot fabric by Ghislaine Viñas for HBF Textiles circle a dining table from Scandinavian Spaces beneath art by Alyson Fox from ArtStar PHOTOGRAPHED BY KEN HAYDEN
You would never know that the 3,900-square-foot condo, originally built in the 1980s, was once dark and dated. With construction helmed by George Beaver of Delray Beach-based Sexton House Interiors (sextonhouse.com), it now stands as a fresh and joy-filled beach haven. Circular forms throughout— note the round mirror in the primary bedroom corridor and the half-moon floating consoles in the entry—pair with playful yet calculated color choices. White coffered ceilings in the great room and crisp cabinetry and a powder blue backsplash in the kitchen keep the canvas bright, along with an ombre wallcovering in one of the bedrooms and a sandyhued, oversize palm print in the media room. To accommodate the owners and their two teenagers—and their penchant for entertaining friends and family après-beach—Viñas upholstered much of the seating with durable performance fabrics from her collection with HBF Textiles. In the primary bedroom, she incorporated gradient shades of blue and gray, drawing inspiration from the colors of the ocean and how they constantly change with the sun.
A PET Lamp Colombia joins a Ludwig Favre photo from ArtStar in the entry. The popsicles are from Dean Project. PHOTOGRAPHED BY KEN HAYDEN
“This couple loves color and they are attracted to enlivened interiors,” says Viñas; and she would know, since she’s designed for the owners before. “The colors of this project are much softer and more pastel than in our other projects. It’s all about the meticulous placement of color and making sure that those colors are balanced. It’s also really blue-centric because this kind of project works beautifully with blues—so much ocean and sky to look at through every window.” And that oversize palm frond wallcovering in the media room? It’s also a nod to the locale. “There are tropical leaves that we subtly incorporated into the design,” she says. “We didn’t want this to be a tropical scream but instead a tropical whisper.”
The serene primary bedroom boasts art by Alyson Fox, an RH bed in Perennials fabric, a Knoll bench and Louis Poulsen lamps. PHOTOGRAPHED BY KEN HAYDEN
Viñas designed the media room’s wallpaper for Flavor Paper PHOTOGRAPHED BY KEN HAYDEN
A mirror from Collector signals the primary bedroom along with art by Menghan Qi from SCAD Art Sales. PHOTOGRAPHED BY KEN HAYDEN
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