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By Chris Christen
Inspired Home Omaha Editor

Midtown Crossing is puttin' on the glitz this holiday season with an upscale design tour and perimeter lighting similar to the display at Kansas City's Country Club Plaza.

The Magic at Midtown design tour, which runs Nov. 18 to Dec. 4, is being presented by the Joslyn Castle Trust. The tour features 32 professionally designed spaces in 12 luxury condominiums.

Proceeds go toward the restoration and preservation of Joslyn Castle, the historic former residence of George and Sarah Joslyn a few blocks away at 39th and Davenport Streets.

The Trust presented Omaha's 2009 Designer Showhouse in conjunction with the American Society of Interior Designers Nebraska/Iowa Chapter. The tour featured the Brandeis Mansion in the historic Gold Coast neighborhood. The 1904 home, owned by Al and Delores Maser, drew 15,000 visitors and raised more than $120,000.

The Masers' son, Mark, oversaw the home's extensive transformation. This year, he's the Trust's point person on the Magic at Midtown steering committee.

Unlike a Designer Showhouse, Magic at Midtown is not a design competition, Maser said. "But the designers certainly are bringing their best design game."

Molly Skold, Midtown Crossing's marketing director, agreed. "The spaces are amazing. The designers have done an incredible job."

Sixty designers throughout the Omaha area are involved.

In the tour format, collaboration and coordination were not required nor even necessarily encouraged, Maser said. Yet the spaces have a cohesive feel with most designers employing gray, the "new" neutral in home décor.

Richard F. Klaas and Kristi Burnett put their decorating stamp on the George Joslyn Condo (show units have names relating to Joslyn Castle and Turner Park history).

The flow achieved in the monochromatic palettes of silver metallic, smoky gray and bluish white was a "happy accident," Klaas admits. The designers built their design boards independently and only discovered the compatibility of their choices upon move in.

"For guests, there is a lot to take home," Maser said during The World-Herald's sneak peek. Decorating styles range from traditional to eclectic, but the emphasis is decidedly upscale.

The show's Turner Park Condo is the epitome of society living. Lester Katz, Susan McMannama and Julia Russell spared no detail in their dramatic and luxurious design schemes.

Russell drapes the master bedroom with Parisian flea market finds; Katz embraces modernism in a living room bathed in luxe red, silver and black; McMannama rocks the guest bedroom with colors and patterns inspired by views of the downtown Omaha skyline.

"I could move into this one and be a very happy person," Maser quipped.

"It's incredible to see these spaces personalized," Klaas said. "You're not in cookie-cutter land."

Skold's observation: "Omahans are becoming more urban and more sophisticated. This is yet another example of that yearning to take interior design and upscale urban living to a new level."

Organizers suggest allowing a minimum of an hour for the tour. "Come as early in the run as possible," Maser advised. "The last weekend of a tour always is the busiest."

"Everyone will be able to take away something from the tour," Maser said. "What to choose? It's such a happy problem."

IF YOU GO
Magic at Midtown runs Nov. 18 through Dec. 4 at Midtown Crossing in Omaha.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily; closed Thanksgiving Day.
Twelve fully decorated condos are being showcased by 60 designers.
Proceeds benefit the presenter, Joslyn Castle Trust.
Tickets: Wohlner's or www.joslyncastle.com.
Info: www.magicatmidtown.com

Take a video tour of a few spaces on the Magic at Midtown design tour.