Kips Bay Funhouse

A mirrored ping pong table - with matching paddles. Need we say more about the 'wow' factor at the Kips Bay Designer Showhouse, which I saw during a press preview today? What about the bright blue recycled plastic carpet underneath the ping pong table? How about three-dimensional floral wallpaper on the stairwell? Or the kitchen with four separate stations (one to cook breakfast, one to cook for a party, one to whip up a snack, and one to decant wine)? Did I mention the Gloria Vanderbilt graffiti, the panic room with a silver toilet, or one of my absolute favorite objects, the custom-made dining table with legs in the shape of silver tree stumps?

This year's designer showhouse is huge and mostly unstuffy. It is, when whimsical, more fun than silly, more chic than gauche. That doesn't mean there aren't things that you'll be able to say you would never in a million years have in your own home, and that's part of the fun.

A double-wide mansion, the house is a fantasy, and yet it presents plenty of ideas to take home -- the dearly departed domino magazine aesthetic has definitely creeped up into Upper Crusty interior design world. And so the house hits a lot of the right notes for an Upper East Side mansion in 2009, at least for a visit, and certainly when the cost of the ticket helps support Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club programs, such as music and dance education for kids. As for the house itself: formerly the Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, it's for sale by Sotheby's. The showhouse opens Friday, April 17 and runs through Sunday, May 17, at 22 E. 71st St., between Fifth and Madison avenues, kipsbay.org, $30.