Well, it’s done!  
Possibly the largest design initiative in the country: the redecoration of the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island. Unless you have spent the past two years playing Farmville on Facebook (or living under a rock), you already know about the 74 designers, countless manufacturers, donors, and well-wishers who took part in the mammoth two-phase undertaking, Project Design 2013 and 2014. We published 33 fabulous rooms from the first phase last year, and now you can see the brand-new rooms from the second phase in our giant 24-page portfolio (see page 86), as well as on cottagesgardens.com/rmdh2014 and via #projectdesign2014.
The major fabric and home-furnishings company Kravet, Inc., asked NYC&G to partner on the project based on our experience leading the redecoration of the Connecticut Governor’s Residence, published by our sister magazine CTC&G (Connecticut Cottages & Gardens) in November 2011. “You guys have done this before and know what to do,” Beth Greene, Kravet’s executive vice president of marketing and strategic branding, told me when she called one winter day in 2012 with an idea she wanted to run by me.

Little did any of us know how big this initiative would become. As with all great endeavors, there are turning points that define the outcome. Jennifer Weil, NYC&G’s development director, asked designer Vasi Ypsilantis of the Breakfast Room in Manhasset to get involved—and Vasi promptly did so by donating five kitchens! “OMG, I am shaking!” Beth said when she heard the news. Another three kitchens, all designed by Vasi, with fixtures provided by Hansgrohe and cabinetry and appliances donated by Poggenpohl and Sub-Zero/Wolf, soon followed. Next, Jennifer called on Stanton Carpet and Country Carpet, which donated what seems like acres of carpeting and rugs, and our advertising director, Amy Tambini, and Avery Boardman CEO Darren de Matteo hatched a plan to deliver dozens of the country’s finest beds and upholstered furniture for each and every room. For both phases of Project Design, Jim Druckman, president of the New York Design Center, underwrote the expenses for temporary housing for all Ronald McDonald House families while the room installations, opening-night gala, and open house took place.

And on it went. A stream of unparalleled giving.

This holiday season, we hope that the families staying at the house, undergoing the greatest challenge of their lives, might have a measure of comfort in their brand-new surroundings.