Design in Depth: The Drawing Room 2.0

By Stacy Kunstel

I like to say that I knew them when. When The Drawing Room in Cos Cob, Connecticut, was a quaint and colorful spot for the best pillows and small pieces of furniture is when I met owners Kenleigh and Mike Larock. I remember vividly when they opened up the adjacent café with the best coffees and teas, soups and sandwiches. I remember remodels and updates, favorite pieces that I purchased and seeing the homes of clients they decorated over the past eight years of business. But to know them now is wow. No more little rooms, as the entire store has moved to the Post Road and into a spacious showroom filled with furniture, lighting, artwork, rugs, gifts and jewels.

Photos by Stacy Kunstel

 

 

 

“Rooms” of furniture fill the space, decorated as you would your own home (if you were an amazing designer, and with perhaps a few more pillows than usual) and their signature eye for color is evident on the walls. A pumpkin-spiced background pairs with a neutral ensemble of sofa, throw pillows and finial, while the most shocking blue on another wall begs to be repeated in your own home.

 

 

As you would expect for a couple who met while studying painting, their eye is both daring and unerring. Bold seems controlled in their hands.

 

 

You’ll still find the same wonderful found objects and amazing selection of pillows, but you also get a sense of how Mike and Kenleigh dress a room. Plus, there’s space for furniture! Big furniture!

 

 

 

Luckily, there’s still the café out back to nourish you after your visit!