Dining Au Naturel

Designer Rick Livingston looks to the outdoors for inspiration in fashioning his dining room for the 2007 Hampton Designer Showhouse.

Mark McMenamin -- Interior Design, 8/17/2007 12:00:00 AM

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Rick Livingston doesn't just relax at his summer place in Quogue, Long Island. He goes to restaurants. More importantly, he takes notes. The culmination of his armchair research came to fruition this summer as the founder of New York-based interior design firm Period was called on to create the dining room at the 2007 Hampton Designer Showhouse.

Livingston's conceptualization of the space is hinged on not one, but two dual personalities—an indoor/outdoor environment that straddles both vintage and updated sensibilities. The key, says Livingston, is to "hit that blend."

The natural connection is most immediately and blatantly established by a panoramic of photo of South Fork trees by Martin Crook Photography that was transferred onto linen-textured vinyl by Applied Image and installed as wall covering by Penna. The image extends to the ceiling, giving the room an authentically open-air feel.

Above the dining table, this aesthetic turns three-dimensional with a custom chandelier in Manzanita driftwood by Trans.Luxe, its rustic demeanor tempered by dangling crystals. And it wouldn't be the Hamptons without a nod to the sea, so the custom-designed buffet by T&R Woodworks is covered with hand-cut mother of pearl from Etienne de Souza.

But as much as the room is about the interplay between interiors and exteriors, it is also about walking a fine line between the present and the past. The Niermann Weeks mirror, redolent of Grey Gardens antiquity, hangs just above a collection of modish Murano cut-glass vases from Armani Casa. The woven resin table base from Mecox Gardens reads like a less linear counterpoint to Southampton's signature wainscoting, while the '70 chairs reproduced by Empire Metal Finishing and upholstered in Pollack fabric by Phoenix Custom furniture add their own sharp stylistic contrast. These elements all coexist freely here, perhaps because the custom hand-woven mohair carpets and window panels by Sacco are designed to match, providing a textural backdrop for the space.

Other designers represented in the showhouse include David Scott, Comerford Hennessy, Rona Landman, Peter Lentz, Zoya Bograd, Celerie Kemble, Kathleen Hay, Rena Fortgang, Stephen Siegel, Mark Epstein, Jack Deamer and Elizabeth Bauer, Denyse Rinfret, Greg Lanza, John Champion, Jennifer Flanders and Greg McKenzie.

The 2007 Hampton Designer Showhouse is open now through September 2 at 536 Ocean Road in Bridgehampton, NY. For more information, call 631-537-3711 or visit hamptondesignershowhouse.com. Admission is $30, with all proceeds benefiting Southampton Hospital.