This is the day that designers and design junkies have been waiting for: the Boston Design Center’s annual open house. Only this year, it’s a bit different. Scaled down to a daylong event dubbed The Look, you could call it a redesign, a simplifying and a cozying up, much like the way people have been thinking about homes lately.
Most of the year, the double doors of this impressive granite building off the South Boston Waterfront are opened by designers on the lookout for ideas and products from the many showrooms. BDC is geared to match designers with luxury manufacturers — but that excluded an important part of the process: the homeowner.
“We want consumers to get to know who we are,” says Julie Rogowski, the BDC’s general manager. “We’re a big building with good stuff.” That’s 5,500 square feet of good stuff, in fact. “There are 43 showrooms — and walking into all that, well, it can be overwhelming.”
The Look aims to welcome all with a day of seminars, sipping wine, nibbling Hotel de Chocolat goodies and being inspired.
“We are one-stop shopping for ideas and for all kinds of high-end products,” says Rogowski. “We have a designer on call for guidance. Even people with a modest budget, and that’s most of us, can come here and find an inspirational piece to build a room around.”
The 342 Club
The open house also introduces a new service for its designer clients. Located on the third floor of the BDC, the 342 Club is a private space with Wi-Fi dedicated to designers. There are two conference rooms for client meetings available on a first-come, first-serve basis and dining areas with catering capabilities. Yearly membership costs $500; day passes cost $35. The 342 Club is free and open to all through Nov. 30.
If you go
The Look
Wednesday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Boston Design Center
One Design Center Pl., Boston, free, 617-338-5072
