This "The Queen's Gambit"-Inspired Room Will Make Midcentury Modern Fans Lose Their Minds

Lexington, Kentucky-based interior designer Isabel Ladd (center) is the design mastermind behind the "Harmon Room," a witty, detail-oriented homage to the hit Netflix show The Queen's Gambit at the 21c Museum Hotel in Lexington. Guests can book a stay in the midcentury modern maximalist Harmon Room through May. On the right is Mid-Century Design League of Lexington founder Lucy Jones, who loaned much of the furniture from her personal collection to the hotel and on the left is Alex K. Mason of Ferrick Mason Inc. who designed the signature wallpaper for the room (which may be available to the public as soon as Spring 2021). "It really was a collaborative effort" says Isabel of the many Lexington makers, designers and talent who contributed to this project.

Anya Taylor-Joy stars in the retro design-dream The Queen's Gambit as Beth Harmon, a chess prodigy with a substance-abuse problem. The show is drawn from Lexington author and University of Kentucky professor Walter Tevis's 1983 novel. Like Mad Men, this series set from 1958-1968 has become a design lover's fantasy of exquisite midcentury modern clothing, architecture and interior design. Designer Isabel Ladd, who created the look and feel of the Harmon Room is a big fan of the show for "the wow factor and the attention to detail" in everything from "the clothes, the brooches, the handbags" and, of course, the stunning midcentury modern set design.

Isabel describes her own personal design style as "curated maximalist" a look she certainly channeled in this midcentury modern-evocative room. Local and vintage art also sourced from the Lexington design shop Scout and an avocado green statement wall continue the green and yellow motif that Isabel chose for the space. "Avocado and chartreuse are my favorites in real life" notes Isabel. For Isabel interior design "is so much more than furniture. It's an emotional experience," so she did everything she could in the Harmon Room to give guests a sense of being transported to another time and reality.

A scene from the Netflix show The Queen's Gambit shows the vintage use of color and pattern that gives the series set from the late Fifties to the late Sixties its distinctive look.