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No, this is no regular residence. Dripping with detail, the Kips Bay Decorator Show House opens its doors to the public every year as the premiere showcase for top designers around the country. Much like a runway show to a fashion junkie, the show house features some of the most extravagant and innovative interior design in the world. This year, the Show House finds its home in a 27-room townhouse on East 71st Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Previously owned by disgraced art dealer Lawrence B. Salamander, the home is on the market with Sotheby's for a ripe 75 million. 

In case you're thinking all of this opulence is over the top given the economy, don't worry because it's all for a good cause. The Kip's Bay Decorator Show House donates all proceeds to the Boys and Girls Club, and has raised over $15 million since it began in 1973. So you can feel good, and maybe a little jealous, as you take a tour through both the beautiful (and bizarre) offerings this year's Show House has on display. 

In muted blue and jewel tones, this St. Charles designed kitchen creates a sophisticated, yet relaxed feel. In one corner, jazz plays from a grand piano (magically sans pianist) and across the 1,000 sq. foot space is a breakfast bar complete with every last gadget imaginable (the coffee bar puts a small Starbucks to shame.) The island, which is bigger than most Manhattan kitchens, features a dual-level marble tabletop (to avoid your cooking spilling over onto the eating counter), innovative storage cabinets and drawers, and a banquet that easily pushes back under the island when it's not being used. Very clever. While the kitchen is outfitted with any top chef's top appliances, perhaps the best aspect of the space is that a) there's quite a bit of it, and b) it truly is a cook's kitchen. You can cook, eat and entertain -- all to your own melody -- in this light, airy space.

Did you ever think you'd actually want to find refuge, in of all places, your laundry room? Neither did we. But this small oasis, dubbed "The Secret Hideway" by designers Bonnie Steves and Carla Sandahl of BJS + Associates, provides a safe haven in between your piles of delicates and dry cleaning. Aside from its cheery ambiance, the functional features are really what make it shine. "The whole idea of this room is how you can use things creatively, but still have a function to them," says Steves. For instance, BJS took a coat rack and mounted it to the wall to create a drying rack for items. Rather than putting irrelevant art up, BJS created "how-to and care instructions" and mounted them on the wall, creating a unique, yet helpful environment. Between the artistic instructions, desk and comfy leather chair, all you'll have to worry about is resisting an afternoon nap as you listen to soft tumble of the dryer!

With a tribute to her mentor, Robert Adler, in mind, Bunny Williams transformed the grand salon on the first floor into a formal, yet comfortable living space. Successfully combining the old and new (an antique bookcase offsets a butcher block dining table), Williams created a multifunctional room. "I thought of this space as a modern loft apartment and created today's version of the great room where you can do everything, live, eat, work, and relax," she says. "Everything you need is here except a bed, but there are two deep sofas, just perfect for an afternoon nap." Afternoon snooze? Yes please! While the room perhaps initially evokes a formal feel, comfort is the name of the game. Debuting her own line, BeeLine Home, Williams included her plush, Nailhead Sofa and tufted coffee table, as well as soft lampshades and embroidered throw pillows, making nearly every surface tactile and inviting.

As you enter Charles Pavarini's lounge from the darker, more traditional hallway, you feel as though you're entering a cavernous glacier (minus the sub-zero temperatures, of course). His choice of neutral tones for the walls and floors contrasts with the angular nature of the furniture, artwork, and impressive ceiling, which is by far the focal point of the room. The hand-cast, nickel-studded geometric plaster work on the ceiling is framed by a hidden ledge of lighting. The lighting has a layer of colored film over it that is set on a rotation of reds, greens and blues; where the rest of the room remains monochromatic, the ceiling casts a shadow of color and shape, while constantly changing. All in all, after a long day, the lounge might be the perfect place to cool off.

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary-wise; what it is it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?" said the curious Alice as she discovered both the beautiful and sublime in Alice in Wonderland. While McMillen's dining room is in fact what it's supposed to be, its playful scheme alludes to Lewis Carroll's famous story, and much like the white rabbit, the story's plot pops out everywhere. From the chairs that resemble playing cards, to the tree-trunk legs that support the table, the dining room feels like a magical room tucked away in the far east corner of the second floor of the townhouse. There is even a dark foyer attached to the room's entrance, which by passing through it, might resemble Alice's experience of falling into a fantasy.

Known for her textural flare and background in art history, designer Amy Lau created this dreamlike experience for the stairwell in between the second and third floors. Lau partnered with the Maya Romanoff Corporation, which supplied the paper for the magnolia buds, flowers and leaves. The design, which appropriately introduces spring, also leads you up the core staircase of the residence, and is highlighted by a skylight from above.

If this room had a theme song, it would most definitely be Etta James' "Sunday Kind of Love." Like Etta, we'd love to get ready to meet our Sunday kind of guy on a Saturday night. Then again, we'd love to spend all day Sunday lounging in the elegant, oversized tub. The dahlia-patterned glass-tiled walls reflect off the beaded curtain and jeweled tub, making any woman feel like star. And while this room may scream glam in an economy that's gone south, designer Gail Shields Miller reinforced the idea that designers are the "purveyors of dreams, inspirations and imagination," saying "the public still wants to be entertained by elegant and unique interiors."

In contrast to "her" master bath across the hall, "his" bathroom, by the design firm Gunkelman Flesher, conveys a more serene and simple message. The antique wooden vanity mixed with the contemporary Kohler sink gives the room a fresh, yet comfortable feel. And while we're on the subject of comfort, what man wouldn't want to spend time in this roomy leather chair? Needless to say, this stylish, yet masculine master bath would surely provide the perfect frame for your man's freshly groomed face!

Wish you could be a kid again, minus all the rules? Designer Christopher Coleman, with the help of fashion designer Angel Sanchez, created the perfect adult playroom, complete with a polished steel ping pong table, a 65-inch flat screen television and aquamarine Astroturf. Amidst the gloom of an economic recession, the entertainment room offers up a healthy serving of the Bellagio, the bachelor party and the autumn afternoon tailgate all in one.

You might say this bright sitting room has the same affect as the cherry has on an ice cream sundae. After five floors of decadent rooms, Eileen Kathryn Boyd, of Boyd Interiors, provides a tart final bite, the one many save until the end. The room opens up to a garden terrace and introduces a unique balance between indoor and outdoor space. Its exciting colors bring the outdoors in, but contrast with the plush fabric and furniture. "This room was all about color, which was personified through the art, fabric choices, and every element in between," says Boyd on her blog.

With little outdoor space, Philip Roche and Graham Hubbard of Plant Specialists created two unique and relaxing environments, one on the garden level just off the kitchen and the other on the fifth floor terrace. With furniture and fabric that can be used both indoors and out, the garden space requires little maintenance, but commands high style.