We emerged into the light of the city via Penn Station, received by refracted sunlight, massive columns, yellow cabs immediately in my way, boom-box music, colourful voices, throngs of people…wonderful chaos. We walked past a line up for a Billy Joel concert - “New York state of mind…” how appropriate (was this a planned reception? If so, thank you).

In its 49th year, the Kips Bay Decorator Show House is considered a harbinger of spring in the city and on the day I visited the flowering trees and freshness in the air seemed fitting to what I was met with indoors. The mission of The Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club is to ‘enrich and enhance the quality of life for young people’, nurturing kids aged 6-18 in the Bronx to reach their full potential through arts, education, sports and life skill programs. With 24 designers, countless vendors, trades and sponsors, the 5-floor Lenox Hill (Upper East Side) neo-Georgian townhouse was bedecked with beautiful expressions of enrichment.