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Photo by Brad Rankin Studio
Gray's sitting room gets a holiday makeover that maintains the aesthetic flow of his decor's existing color palette.
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Photo by Brad Rankin Studio
Gray family
Paducah designer Kenn Gray with his wife Kendra and son Fynn.
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Photo by Brad Rankin Studio
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Glamorous tall trees and bold centerpieces provide holiday flair to the dining room's elegant decor.
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Photo by Brad Rankin Studio
gray manor
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Photo by Brad Rankin Studio
The banister is draped with silvery greenery and sparkly butterflies that look surprisingly at home in their winter environment.
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Photo by Brad Rankin Studio
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Photo by Brad Rankin Studio
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Photo by Brad Rankin Studio
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Photo by Brad Rankin Studio
Magic is a concept most of us regard with both suspicion and affection. Intellectually, we understand the illusions of sleight of hand and smoke and mirrors, and accept that we are being tricked in some way. But on an emotional level, watching something “magically” change from one thing to another is nothing short of enchanting. Kenn Gray, Paducah designer extraordinaire, has a quality David Copperfield would kill for: His magic is real. He transforms bland and basic spaces into stunning artistic masterpieces, all the while maintaining necessary functionality and infusing personality that reflects each client.
Raised in rural Mississippi by a supportive and loving family, Gray nonetheless recalls feeling a bit stifled by his environment. “There was no outlet for my creativity, and this drove me to create my own adventure,” he says.
That adventure began in Los Angeles where Gray studied at the prestigious Otis/Parsons Design School. Not wanting to focus on fashion design, Gray created his own specialty painting company, Paint the Town, and worked with celebrities such as Glenn Close and Julianne Moore. Seizing an opportunity to work as a fashion model, Gray was off to New York, Paris and eventually Boston, where he settled for a number of years.
In Beantown, Gray owned the successful art space Media Gallery and worked as director of the renowned Judy Rotenberg Gallery. “I had a loft apartment on the water and was living life large,” says Gray, who in 2005-06 starred in the Travel Channel’s Travel Spies program and made Boston Magazine’s 2006 “The Fabulous 40.” “I felt like I had accomplished it all,” says Gray, “but I wanted to make a change and be closer to my family.”
A trip to Paducah to see a friend perform at The Carson Center was a love-at-first-sight experience for the designer. “I met the mayor just walking down the street and fell in love with the downtown and the people,” says Gray. “My parents were living in Tennessee by then so it all just seemed perfect.”
The next few years were a whirlwind for Gray. He met his wife, Kendra; became a proud father to Fynn, now 3; and was approached by the furniture and home interiors store Ethan Allen about joining its design team. “I had always owned my own business and wasn’t sure at first about working for a firm, but Ethan Allen has been wonderful,” says Gray. “I have a lot of independence and love offering their seemingly endless choices to my clients. It’s great!”
A visit to Gray’s stunning 1899 home—the eponymous Gray Manor—showcases many of those choices as well as the designer’s gift for infusing beauty, warmth and functionality into each room. “We use every inch of this house,” Gray says proudly. “Nothing is ‘just for show’ or too fancy to use every day.”
Using soft, elegant tones of gray, white and cream for his interior décor, Gray adds pop and character with yellows, oranges and silver. A reupholstered sofa that belonged to his grandmother is the focal point of the sitting room, while mirrored tiles add glitter and depth to the adjacent dining area. Even the home’s old red-brick exterior has been given a wash of glossy gray paint, and the entry garden boasts a whimsical treble clef-style arrangement of bright yellow flowers.
Gray is as giddy as a child when the talk turns to Christmas trees, wreaths and mantels swathed in greenery. “I am inspired by every aspect of Christmas and when I decorate, I do it with personality,” he says. He considers holiday design every bit as important as “regular” design and uses the same criteria for creating festive spaces. Decorations and washes of color transform Gray Manor into a holiday wonderland.
Gray maintains the aesthetic flow of his home by incorporating a holiday version of his décor’s existing color palette. Silver doesn’t just shine, it glitters; soft blues become frosty and vibrant; and shades of white take on the characteristics of snow while still conveying a warm sense of home and hearth. No detail is overlooked as Gray makes each room holiday ready by enhancing the different moods and décor already in place. The home’s tall ceilings accommodate big and bold centerpieces, and the corners of rooms host glamorous tall trees. In smaller spaces, he groups similarly colored items on a table or shelf to create pleasing displays. The banister is draped with silvery, frosted greenery, tawny ornaments and sparkly butterflies that look surprisingly at home in their winter environment, while an earthy painting and woven bench are accented with a traditional green tree and golden baubles.
His ability to adapt to differences and envision the best outcome is what makes Gray a dream for his clients—nearly all of whom become his friends. This social ease not only keeps his work at Ethan Allen hopping but has turned his home into a hub of endless activity. Family, clients and Gray’s partners in his many charitable endeavors stop by often, and Kendra just laughs when I ask, “Is it always like this?”
“Oh yes,” she says. “Someone is always dropping by. In fact, when it’s quiet, we feel like something is wrong.”
Clients Gerry and Kathy Weir and Lisa Shupe joined us for dinner and a rousing game of “let me tell you about Kenn” that, through the laughter and teasing, reflected the respect and affection each has for the designer. “Our experience with designers had been fairly good but nothing spectacular,” says Kathy Weir. “Kenn is different. I trust him. He makes your home a great stage for the way you want to live.”
Shupe discovered Gray’s artistic and compassionate gifts when she observed him setting up a Christmas display at Ethan Allen. “I said, ‘I wish you could come to my house,’ and he said, ‘I can,’ ” says Shupe with a laugh. “He created a scene so beautiful that, when a friend of my daughter’s saw a picture from her Christmas visit, she asked, ‘What hotel is that? It’s gorgeous!’ ”
Gray’s approach to his clients is the same as his approach to life: What can I do to help make your vision your reality? While some designers try to impose their own preferences, Gray instead gets to know his clients and learns what makes them happy, what means “home” or “celebration” to them. It is then that he works his artistic magic and—presto!—a room becomes a showplace; a house becomes a home.
When asked to describe the designing whirlwind in one sentence, former colleague and close friend Leah Sutphen remarked, “Wow, that’s tough. Kenn is so many wonderful things: kind, happy, giving. But if I had to say just one thing, I’d say Kenn is love.”