Favreau Design.

 On March 19, Boston kicked off its second annual Design Week. The city-wide festival celebrates all aspects of design, including interior design, architecture, and landscape design. Produced by Fusco & Four Ventures LLC, Boston Design Week boasts over eighty events ranging from book signings and panel discussions to exhibitions and open houses. The goal of the festival is to increase public awareness and appreciation of design, foster recognition of the vital role that design plays in our lives, and bring new audiences to an array of design industries and organizations. While the flurry of related events can be daunting, we’ve selected a handful of not-to-be-missed Boston Design Week happenings.

1. Sunday, March 22, Creating French Style at Home: John Kelsey and Sally Wilson, the husband-and-wife team behind Greater Boston’s Wilson Kelsey Design, Inc., recently completed two stints in France, where they studied hundreds of French period details and fixtures in order to understand what gives French interiors their particular je ne sais quoi. Wilson and Kelsey will unveil their findings in a visual presentation at the French Cultural Center. Expect a lesson in the history of French design and tips on how to apply the distinct aesthetic to today’s home.

2. Sunday March 22, Refresh: Design Intervention: Steven Favreau, one of the leading interior designers in the Boston and San Francisco areas, will be offering up some apartment therapy at the Ink Block, a vibrant residential and retail hub in Boston’s chic South End. Attendees are encouraged to pre-submit images of rooms that are in need of an upgrade. Favreau will then select three spaces, give them a virtual interior design makeover, and present the results at the Refresh: Design Intervention event. Favreau, who creates dramatic residential interiors by bringing together contemporary styles, fine antiques, bold colors, and whimsical elements, will also provide tips and tricks for transforming any room.

3. Monday, March 23, Designing the Next Generation: The Give and Take of Mentoring: Famed interior designer, television personality, and Boston resident, Taniya Nayak, will lead a panel discussion alongside the Grammy Award-winning singer and design enthusiast, Patti Austin, at the Boston Design Center’s M-Geough showroom. The event will bring together a variety of Boston's leading interior designers to discuss all aspects of mentoring, including first-hand stories of mentoring and being mentored, why they mentor, and their goals for their mentees. The discussion is supported by Austin’s Over My Shoulder Foundation, which aims to raise awareness of the impact of mentoring both cross-culturally and cross-generationally.

Taniya Nayak Design.

4. Monday, March 23, Elements of Style: Book Signing with Erin Gates: A true Renaissance woman, Erin Gates is the founder and principal designer of Erin Gates Design, a Boston-based interior, fashion, and event styling firm; the editor of the wildly popular (and exceptionally beautiful) design blog Elements of Style; and, most recently, a New York Times bestselling author. Gates will be signing copies of her book Elements of Style at California Closets’ Boston showroom. The volume, which is brimming with sumptuous photographs of Gates’ own home as well as homes she has designed for clients, is a uniquely personal and practical decorating guide featuring honest advice, inspiration, ideas, and lessons for creating a home that reflects your singular style.

Markham Roberts Inc.

5. Tuesday, March 24, Decorating: The Way I See It with Markham Roberts: Few designers are able to integrate modern elements and classic influences as seamlessly and beautifully as Markham Roberts. The New York-based designer, who has been called “a master of timeless American style” by Vogue, creates impossibly chic and visually stunning spaces using an inventive combination of layered patterns and color as well as bold juxtapositions of furniture of different styles and periods, custom designs, and works of art from around the world. Roberts will lead a discussion at the Boston Design Center’s Innovation and Design Building, walking the audience through his creative process. Beginning with the basic interior elements, working his way up to furniture selection and incorporation of design objects and art, and ending with the importance of integrating architecture and gardens into a project, Roberts will offer attendees a rare glimpse inside the mind of one of the design world’s leading figures. Roberts will present examples of his work, including his own country house, a nineteenth-century gentleman’s farm in New York’s Hudson Valley. A book signing will immediately follow Roberts' talk.

Antonino Buzzetta.

6. Tuesday, March 24, Modern Interiors for Men: Taniya Nayak will moderate a second panel, this time exploring how men can infuse their homes with more style, function, and personality, at Woodmeister Master Builders. The panel will feature members of the International Furnishings and Design Association, including Antonino Buzzetta, a New York-based designer who uses artworks and furnishings from different periods and movements, striking pops of color, and bold geometries to create classically elegant yet decidedly modern interiors; another New York designer, Eddie Lee, who creates highly individualized spaces that reflect his clients’ unique tastes and personalities; Dennis Duffy of Boston’s Duffy Design Group, who works closely with clients to create thoughtful, timeless spaces infused with contemporary touches; and Boston’s Christine Tuttle, who designs spaces that are distinctive, classic, and place a particular emphasis on the decorative arts.

Duffy Design Group.

7. Wednesday, March 25, Book Signing with Gary McBournie: Boston design legend Gary McBournie will be signing copies of his book Living Color at Kristin Paton Interiors in Cambridge. McBournie is celebrated for his distinct use of color and knack for creating palettes that are perfectly in tune with their surroundings, whether they’re in a New England cottage or a ski house in Montana. McBournie established his firm in 1993 and has been creating warm, elegant, and timeless American homes, always with a twist, ever since.

KMID.

8. Wednesday, March 25, Appreciating Beauty: Incorporating Fine Antiques Into the Contemporary New England Home: This panel event will shed light on incorporating classical elements into a modern home. Award-winning interior designer Charles Spada and experts from Trefler’s, providers of fine art and antique furniture restoration, will discuss how they work with clients to integrate antique objects of beauty into contemporary settings. Spada, who is based in Boston, boasts a classic style that is characterized by a well-edited color palette, fabrics that play with texture, and exposed stone and wood floors.

9. Thursday, March 26, AD20/21: Art & Design of the 20th & 21st Centuries & Boston Print Fair: AD20/21, the only show of its kind in New England, will open with a gala preview on Thursday evening. Held at  the Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts, the fair features approximately fifty exhibitors offering modern to contemporary fine art, mid century modern furniture and contemporary studio furniture, jewelry, decorative arts, and sculpture. The Boston Print Fair features fine print galleries, contemporary print publishers, photography, drawings, and other works on paper.

10. Saturday, March 28, Wayfair’s Trade Services Presents: Elevating Your Design Business: Join Wayfair’s Trade Services for a workshop focused on building your business in 2015. Speakers will include Kate Maloney Albiani, owner and principal designer of Cambridge’s KMID, who will discuss how you can turn your small business into a bustling brand. Albiani founded KMID in 2003 with the goal of creating spaces that are just as beautiful to look at as they are comfortable to live in. KMID designs understated yet bold spaces that are tailored to incorporate the demands of family living while maintaining a timeless appeal.

Boston Design Week will run through Sunday, March 29.