Marin designers selected for San Francisco Decorator Showcase

Muir Beach resident Denise Lamott wants you to “save the date” for the 2024 San Francisco Decorator Showcase, set to open April 27.

Five Marin designers have been chosen to reimagine the rooms of this year’s home, an 11,000-square-foot, five-story Pacific Heights mansion with expansive San Francisco Bay views, according to Lamott, the Decorator Showcase’s publicist.

Besides Katie Monkhouse of Katie Monkhouse Interiors in San Anselmo, who will give her tasteful update to a casual space, there are four other designers.

• Suzanne Tucker of Tucker & Marks was chosen as the designer for the dining room.

“Believe it or not, I designed this very same dining room when the San Francisco Showcase took place in this spectacular house in 1989, 35 years ago,” she says. “I could not pass up the opportunity to come back for the 45th anniversary of the San Francisco Showcase and reimagine this beautiful sunset-facing dining room as a then-and-now story — a chic, garden-inspired experience for all to enjoy.

“My team and I are conjuring up bleached textures, shades of green, tones of bronze and perhaps even a quirky yet elegant mix of furnishings.”

• Lauren Berry of Lauren Berry Interior Design in Ross will take on the main hall.

“I was intrigued by the strong architecture detailing, columns and pilasters and reimagining the space into a chic entertaining space,” she says.

• Ansley Majit and Stephanie Waskins, owners and principals of Lark + Palm, a Sausalito interior design firm, will be redoing a guest bedroom and bathroom in their Decorator Showcase debut.

“Our bedroom and bathroom are both petite in scale, so we took the opportunity to create little jewel boxes,” Waskins says. “A guest room with a pair of beds and loads of texture and dimension, and a bathroom that continues with our color palette.

“We wanted to showcase our versatility with material usage so we have a lot of custom pieces that are going into both spaces.”

Tickets for the San Francisco Decorator Showcase are $45, or $40 for seniors 60 years and older. They go on sale Feb. 1 at decoratorshowcase.org.

Backyard bees

If you’re ready to get busy with bees, Jim Normandi, owner of the Fairfax Backyard Farmer, has a suggestion.

Normandi, who closed his physical store in Fairfax but plans to offer online sales, off-site classes and pop-up events this winter, wants Marin residents to take up beekeeping, starting with classes this month and next.

“Beekeeping is an important opportunity for people to experience in a very personal and hands-on way the fragility and resilience of the natural world right in our own backyards,” he says.

Bonnie Morse, who Normandi says is the only recognized Eastern Apicultural Society master beekeeper in California, will teach the courses.

“That’s akin to a master sommelier in beekeeping,” he says. “Needless to say the level of information and guidance available in these classes is beyond compare. Bonnie is an amazing mentor and guide into the world of honeybees, native bees and pollinator plants.”

The beginner beekeeping class series will cover basic bee information, seasonal cycles of a colony, equipment options, where to place a hive, how to get bees and tips on working with equipment.

It costs $215 and includes two virtual classes from 9 a.m. to noon Jan. 27 and Feb. 3 and a field day in San Rafael from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. March 16.

The intermediate beekeeping class series covers cleaning bee equipment, expanding hive size, preventing swarm prevention, swarm capture, identifying and managing common pests and diseases, and dealing with aggressive hives, queen failures and laying workers.

It costs $215 and includes two virtual classes from 9 a.m. to noon Feb. 10 and 17 and a hands-on field day in San Rafael from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. March 16.

Register at fairfaxbackyardfarmer.com or bonniebeecompany.com/wp/classes.

Show off

If you have a beautiful or interesting Marin garden or a newly designed Marin home, I’d love to know about it.

Please send an email describing either one (or both), what you love most about it and a photograph or two. I will post the best ones in upcoming columns. Your name will be published and you must be over 18 years old and a Marin resident.

PJ Bremier writes on home, garden, design and entertaining topics every Saturday. She may be contacted at P.O. Box 412, Kentfield 94914, or at pj@pjbremier.com.