Reimagining the Florida room

Before air-conditioning became a household staple, Floridians invented a solution to keeping cool while enjoying the climate: a pleasant indoor-outdoor room with plenty of windows that allowed for lots of sunlight and cross-ventilation.

Over time, the space got its own name the Florida room and it became a ubiquitous feature of thousands of homes, from cozy Bermuda-style bungalows to grand oceanfront mansions. With its roots in old-fashioned sleeping porches, the room served as a combination sunroom-and-loggia with windows often fitted with screens or jalousies.

Those rooms and how they have evolved over the years are spotlighted in an exhibit opening today at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach Countys headquarters in downtown Lake Worth.

Guest-curated by Palm Beach interior designer Joseph Pubillones and running through March 29, Interior Design: The Florida Room features room vignettes created by nine interior designers who live or work in the county. The programming schedule also includes two related lectures on Feb. 11 and March 11.

Pubillones said his participation in the project came about when Palm Beacher Rena Blades, the organizations president and CEO, called him with an idea.

She asked me if Id be interested in doing a show on interiors. In the Cultural Councils history, it has done different types of art shows, but never one on interiors, he said. After some thought, I came up with the idea of doing an exhibit on a room particular to our state, the Florida room, an indoor-outdoor room that actually was unique here but spread widely through the United States as far away as Michigan and Kansas.

The designers have translated the concept of the Florida room in a wide variety of styles some classical, some contemporary and some in-between, he said.

The exhibit will show that this idea is really malleable to any style of architecture and interior design, he said. Youll see seagrass in one or two of the rooms, but in other rooms, youll see more formal furniture. The idea of the Florida room is more of an attitude or approach to design.

Not only will the exhibit showcase the work of the design community, but it will demonstrate that interior design is an art form, too, said Nichole Hickey, the cultural councils manager of artist services.

Our team thought this would be a fabulous idea during season, she said. People coming in would be inspired, and everything would be for sale, so they can acquire a decorative vase, a carpet, etc.

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Reimagining the Florida room